The I-iv-v Chord Progression | A Great Sounding Variation

I-IV-V

FYI, you may know that roman numerals are used to denote chord progressions.  So for the rest of our 1-4-5 article, we’ll use them.

In the key of C Major, the I-IV-V chords are C, F and G Major triads.

I ChordIV Chord

V Chord

By using chord inversions with these triads, we can create a smoother transition between these chords. A chord inversion is simply changing the position of notes within the chord.

I Chord-Root position

IV Chord-2nd inversion

V Chord-2nd inversion

With our I-IV-V chord inversion variation, we’re going to make some alterations to these chords that change their character and give them a different flavor.  We'll also spread the voicing out in both hands.

I Chord Variation

With the I chord, we’ll add the 6th to the chord.  This makes the chord a C6.  We’ll voice it as follows.iv Chord Variation

Even though the IV chord is Major, we’ll play it as a minor chord.  In addition to that, we’ll add a couple of color tones such as the flat 7th and the 9th that extend the chord beyond a simple triad.

v Chord Variation

We’ll also convert the V chord to minor, add the 7th as a color tone and also add the 11th to give it an extended quality.

Lower case roman numerals are used to denote minor chords.  Again, here’s the I-iv-v chord progression in C Major.

I Chord

iv Chord

v chord

Compare the I-IV-V chord progression to the I-iv-v variation as you play both of them.  The minor extended chords of the latter create an interesting contrast of the I chord.  

You can hear the effect the minor chords have on changing the progression.  But what is the concept of changing two of the primary chords from Major to minor?  I’m glad you asked so I’ll briefly explain. 

It’s a simple chord substitution.  One could see it as borrowing chords from the parallel minor key of the Major key.

In the key of C major the I IV and V chords are major as you’ve seen.  In the key of C minor the i iv and v chords are minor.  The idea is to borrow one or more of these chords from the parallel minor key.

Key of C Major

Key of C minor

Another way to look at this is through modes.  Without getting heavily into modes, I’ll explain the definition of a mode and how it’s used with this progression.  

A mode is a subset of a Major scale in which the tones are in a different order.  In addition to that, any of the tones in the scale can be raised or lowered.  In this case, we’re simply lowering the 7th tone.  This allows us to build a minor chord on the v chord.  

C mixolydian

This creates the mixolydian mode.  But we don’t stop there because we also need to lower the 6th tone to build minor chords on the iv chord.  By doing this, we end up with the mixolydian flat 6 mode.  

C mixolydian flat 6

Yes, I know this is beyond simple Major and minor keys so we’ll stop there.  If you don’t understand the modal concept of this progression, just don’t worry about it.  Knowing that we’re using minor chords on the iv and v is enough for now.