The I-IV-vi-V progression I-IV-vi-V
Level: EssentialMode: major
Piano sound loads on first tap. Resolved in the key of C — every chord links to its full analysis.
What each degree does
ICmaj
Feels like home — complete rest, where the piece departs from and returns to. The major tonic, where everything settles.
IVFmaj
A step out from home into the light — the subdominant. It sets up the dominant or resolves with a plagal ('amen') colour, opening space without sharp tension.
viAm
The relative minor — the tonic's reflective shadow. It often replaces I in a deceptive cadence, where you expected home and its sad side arrives instead.
VG7
Tension pulling home — the chord that 'wants to resolve' to I; it closes or opens sections. The dominant, the engine of the key.