The Borrowed iv (Modal Mixture) I-vi-IV-iv
Piano sound loads on first tap. Resolved in the key of C — every chord links to its full analysis.
A bittersweet modal-mixture move. The progression climbs I–vi–IV, then darkens the major subdominant to a MINOR iv borrowed from the parallel minor. That surprise chromatic drop is a favorite emotional hook in alt-rock and power ballads.
What each degree does
Feels like home — complete rest, where the piece departs from and returns to. The major tonic, where everything settles.
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.
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.
The minor subdominant — a IV borrowed from the minor mode. That bittersweet, nostalgic plagal colour of a chord that 'should' be major arriving tinged with sadness.