The Four Chords That Almost Every Song Uses

The chords every song uses

There are four chords that almost every single song uses. And once I learned them, it forever changed the way I listened to music.

And the crazy part is: I learned them by accident.

Let me explain.

When I first started learning guitar, I was bad.

I already knew piano, but moving my fingers and pushing the strings down just didn’t click. For the first couple weeks, I’d sit in my parents’ living room and force myself to play… but I never made real progress. And after a couple weeks, I gave up.

Months went by. My guitar collected dust and stared at me from the corner, begging me to strum it one more time. I ignored it.

Then one day after school, I poured myself a trusty bowl of cereal, opened YouTube, and stumbled into a video that changed my music career forever:

“Four Chord Song” by Axis of Awesome.

These dudes made a medley of a ridiculous number of songs using only four chords. It was hilarious, inspiring, and it lit the guitar fire again.

I picked up my guitar, blew off the dust, looked up the chords… and sure enough, I learned them.

As I played, I kept thinking:

How can you play so many songs with just four chords?

That question sent me down a rabbit hole that I’m still exploring today.

It turns out: a huge percentage of popular songs rely on the same four-chord DNA.

The chord progression (I–V–vi–IV)

The “magic” progression Axis of Awesome introduced me to is:

I–V–vi–IV

In the key of C major, that’s:

• C – G – Am – F

Sound familiar?

• Don’t Stop Believin’
• Where Is the Love?
• Hey Soul Sister
• I’m Yours

Transpose it to any key

The reason this progression is so powerful is that you can move it into any key.

For example, in G major it becomes:

• G – D – Em – C

Examples you might recognize:

• Can You Feel the Love Tonight
• Let It Be
• Take On Me
• No Woman No Cry

Notice how changing the key affects the pitch range — where your voice sits, where the melody wants to live, and what feels “comfortable” to sing.

If you want a cheat sheet that shows this progression in all keys, I made a free PDF you can download:

Download: Four Chord Guide

Switching it up (same chords, different order)

I–V–vi–IV is insanely popular… but you can cover even more songs by rearranging the order.

More minor sound: vi–IV–I–V

In C major:

• Am – F – C – G

Songs that live in this vibe:

• Grenade
• Love the Way You Lie
• Numb

Another common one: IV–I–V–vi

In C major:

• F – C – G – Am

Recognize these?

• Pompeii
• Fast Car
• Let It Go

And honestly… you can throw these four chords in a random order and there’s a decent chance a popular song has already done it.

Why it works

It’s wild that four chords can power a lifetime of hits — but it works because (whether we realize it or not) these sounds are what we’ve been trained to hear, appreciate, and enjoy in popular Western music.

Would it feel the same if you only listened to Arabic music your whole life? Probably not — and that’s fine.

These four chords are a piece of the “formula” for Western pop music… and I’ve basically handed you a key to the kingdom.

My hope is that after learning these chords, you’ll be inspired to start using them immediately — maybe even dust off that guitar in your attic and start shredding it like a block of cheese.

Free cheat sheet + next video

If you want the progression in more keys and more examples:

Download: Four Chord Guide

And if you want to go deeper down the music theory rabbit hole, I made a video that explains the basics for producers: