popRockHarmony-pachelbel.md

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post	The Pachelbel progression (pop/rock harmony)

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||: I – V – VI – III – IV – I – IV – V :||

The Pachelbel progression comes from ‘Canon’ in D Major by ‘Pachelbel’ (the scare quotes indicate that the piece is neither a canon nor likely composed by Pachelbel). It’s prevalence in popular music has recently been made famous by the Pachelbel Rant (see below).

<iframe width="480" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/JdxkVQy7QLM?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

The full progression is given above, but there are a few common alterations. First, the cadential progression may be changed (substituting two bars of V or a cadential 6/4–5/3 for the final IV–V progression). Also, instead of moving in root-position triads, some composers and songwriters will invert every other chord:

||: I – V⁶ – VI – III⁶ – IV – I⁶ – IV – V :||

Lastly, some composers or songwriters will only use the first four or five chords and follow with a completely new second half. As long as the first four chords—in root position or with the standard inversions—are present, we can consider it an instance of the Pachelbel progression.

I – V – VI – III . . . (to begin a phrase; "truncated" version)

See the above video for song examples (though be careful: halfway through the song, he changes to a rotation of the sensitive female progression).