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Most Common Chord Progression? Best Chord Progression?
- Recall from Chapter 5 that the more scale notes two keys have in common, the more closely they’re related. And keys having tonic notes a fifth apart have six out of seven scale notes in common. (For example, the key of C major and the key of G major have 6 of 7 scale notes in common.)
- The simplest frequency ratio after the octave (1:2) is the ratio that corresponds to the fifth (2:3).
For all of these reasons, the harmonic interval (chord change or chord progression) V – I plays the same role in harmony as do melodic intervals 7 – 1 and 2 – 1 in melody.
The V – I chord change is the strongest, most natural chord progression in harmony.
The V - I chord progression is probably the most common one in popular music. You could argue it's best one, too, being so useful in so many musical contexts. Just as melodic intervals 7 – 1 and 2 – 1 impart both unrest and direction with respect to the tonic note, so the harmonic interval, the chord progression V – I imparts both unrest and direction with respect to the tonic chord—the chord built on scale degree 1.