Poker Face by Lady Gaga and Kids by MGMT are the same song? Say it ain’t so!
In this video by The Axis of Awesome, we are shown how a lot of famous music from over the years contains the same exact main chord progression: I, V, vi, IV for you music theorists out there.
Showing examples ranging from The Beatles “Let It Be” to Maroon 5 “She Will Be Loved,” The Axis of Awesome shows us how a lot of songs that we find incomparable due to difference in era or genre are actually extremely similar.
At least at an intuitive level, music producers and executives must be aware of the effect these four chords have on the human brain. Brain activity research actually suggests that certain chords evoke particular emotional responses. If music is viewed as merely sound waves that create and resolve emotional tension, then perhaps the I-V-vi-IV progression best embodies this cycle. We may not even be capable of not enjoying this particular progression any more then we can resist tearing up to an Adele song.
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