When did this chord progression become so popular?

The famous four chords, the "axis" progression, the classic and infamous pop song chord progression. It is considered utterly ubiquitous but when did songwriters actually start using it, and has it now finally fallen out of style?

📌 SMALL REVISION: 8:08 "Treacherous" by Taylor Swift doesn't actually use the Axis progression, my mistake! However, I've now found two more Taylor song that I had missed that DO use the Axis progression... "Christmas Must Be Something More" and "Crazier", so Taylor has actually used the progression at least 20 times! 😅😅

And, an extra special thanks goes to Douglas Lind, Vidad Flowers, Ivan Pang, Waylon Fairbanks, Jon Dye, Austin Russell, Christopher Ryan, Yu Kyung Chung, Toot & Paul Peijzel, the channel’s Patreon saints! 😇

0:00 Introduction
0:55 the earliest songs to use the Axis progression
2:45 the 1970s
3:38 the 1980s
4:17 the 1990s
5:08 the 2000s
6:26 the 2010s
7:25 which artist has used it the most?
8:08 the Axis progression in 2022
9:06 piano outro

[DavidBennettPiano]

📌 SMALL REVISION: 8:08 "Treacherous" by Taylor Swift doesn't actually use the Axis progression, my mistake! However, I've now found two more Taylor song that I had missed that DO use the Axis progression... "Christmas Must Be Something More" and "Crazier", so Taylor has actually used the progression at least 20 times! 😅😅

[iainlindley]

I’d never noticed that “Please Play This Song On The Radio” uses the axis progression but that’s entirely in line with the song’s joke - it’s deliberately as catchy and radio-friendly as possible before ending with a string of expletives and the refrain “can’t play this song on the radio”.

[DeGuerre]

Fun fact: In 1980, Status Quo did a "best of" album where every song is a gold-record-selling 12 bar blues. It's called, amusingly, "12 Gold Bars".

[Zveebo]

I wonder how much the Axis of Awesome skit directly contributed to its decline in the 2010s. I remember the sketch being pretty popular pretty quickly, at least in the UK, and I imagine any songwriters hearing it must have been very conscious of it if they started to think about including the progression in songs after that.

[theplaylister]

When you explained that this chord progression is the 12 bar blues progression of the 90s and 2000's - it made me want to know what are they other "go-to" chord progressions of each musical era in the past century. Maybe an idea for future videos?

[dggydddy]

I remember reading something I believe was a recollection by Paul McCartney where he was talking about writing I Want To Hold Your Hand. He and John had it in mind that they were going to try to write a song specifically for the American market, since all their previous huge British smash hits were failing to take off there. They had started off with the I V vi IV progression, but in true Beatles style, they started plugging in different chords. Which is why they wound up with the unusual I V vi III that we're so familiar with in that song.

[Chadner]

I feel like Don't Stop Believin is the classic song that established the I V vi IV forever into the pop lexicon. It came out in 81, sort of giving songwriters the mold for the perfect pop song, using the progression itself as the hook, playing it non stop throughout the whole song and showing how "dynamic" it could be. It's maybe the Axis of Awesome guys chose to start their medley with it.

[purplealice]

When I was in high school in the early 1960s, I was trying to teach myself to play the ukulele, and I learned a few chords. I discovered that I could play a series of three or four chords that would work with almost any "slow dancing in the gym" type of song (and that helped me understand how many acts were criticized as being "just a jumped-up three-chord garage band".

[mastodn]

I've been writing some pop punk leaning stuff recently and was trying to avoid the cliché of the axis chord progression. But I decided to write one with it just to do it and...it ended up being my favorite song that I've written and, based on the opinions of friends and family, the best one I've written so far. I use the axis progression in the chorus, and I use it in the verse but with another V chord between the vi and IV. I broke up the "monotony" in the bridge with a iii-ii-I progression in the dominant key after moving to the dominant after the 2nd chorus and hanging on it for just long enough to make it feel like the tonic. All in all the whole song came together in about 30 minutes not counting the 2.5 hours I spent tracking the base parts and all the layers and overdubs.

[dennisriddle]

For those who start their musical journey with a guitar, it is a pretty common progression to find while learning the easiest open chord forms: G D C Em (in standard tuning, of course). And with a capo, you can play it in in other keys. Its only one more chord than the 12 bar blues, and the addition of the Em shape is about as easy as it gets.

I know enough music theory to get myself into trouble, but I found that progression the first summer I picked up a guitar.

[mattiat.]

I think there's another reason why this progression is getting rarer nowadays: in the last ten years minor key (especially aeolian) has become more popular than major in charts' songs.

[zhaoli]

The 1564 chord progression may have come from the first half of Pachelbel's Canon. The 3 at the end has been swapped for a 4 to make it more loopable. (1563 vs. 1564)

[sarahschouveller]

Seeing you mention "Time" and "Carousel" (among others) by blink 182 made me feel like I was 15 again, browsing through the giant music store we had in my nearest city, and pulling out blink's early indie releases feeling like I hit the jackpot!!! I feel bad for kids today who will never know that joy. CD shopping and finding rarities, EPs, demos, singles, and imports and bringing them into your collection is truly an unmatched experience!

[onpoc]

I call it the "let it be" progression. It was the first song I learned to play that uses that progression.

[katiukulele]

Once again, you've piqued my interest in chord progressions. Thank you for the time you spent putting this video together, getting the list of songs, etc. I am sure it was time consuming and daunting! Thank you for this video and your knowledge of music!

[roo]

Very fresh look at an old subject. Well done

[robertpowell]

The first example that I remember of a song using this chord progression is the song Pachelbel's Canon in D! That was a long time ago! Good stuff! You also mentioned some variations. I learned at Berklee, from a friend, that after you play the IV chord then you can use a iv minor afterwards and this helps you to transition into some other chords. It gives it a more gospel quality.

[jenshaglof]

To me, vi IV I V is (kinda) the same progression. It has the same feel to it.The axis of awesome video switches in the middle of the video to that progression finding even more songs. It would be fun to see the popularity of that progression as well.

[thegothaunt]

I can't get enough of your chord progression videos. I love learning from you so much! I got sad at the end though because I am so out of touch with new music, I hadn't a clue who any of those singers were (well, aside from Muse). Anyways, thank you for the constant education and food for thought!

[Petch]

Interesting
Maybe a video about how different this chord progression can sound (happy, sad, up beat, slow, angry and so on). And what the bands and songrighters do to change the sound and energy of the same 4 chords.
Keep one thing constant and see if we can learn something about tempo, time signature, instrumentation, melody, baseline, beats and so on.
Maybe we can see how much of a song is the chord progression.