The 34th Season of the Ukulele: The I-V-vi-IV Progression

J-Peg

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Okay, the 34th season is officially closed for new entries and voting has begun.
Remember, if you entered a video into the contest (not just a bonus) you can vote for your first, second and third place picks. If you didn't enter you can vote for your one favorite. Just PM me with your choices (either their UU username or YouTube username is fine.) Voting closes at midnight next Sunday night October 21 Hawaii time.


Official Entries

Let me know if you're missing or on the wrong playlist or something.

And here's the bonus songs. Feel free to enter more bonus songs if you want. But don't neglect the ongoing 35th season to do so. ;)

Bonus Songs

---------------------------


It's the 34th Season of the Ukulele, and it's time for the most commonly used (some might say over-used) chord progression in modern pop music; the I-V-vi-IV progression, (a.k.a. the pop-punk progression, the four chord pop progression or simply the four chord song.)

So what does this "I-V-vi-IV" stuff mean to those of us who don't do Roman numerals? Well, if you're playing in the key of C (as we often are on the ukulele) the progression is C-G-Am-F. Simple, right? Just play those chords in that order, starting with the C, and hold each chord for the same number of beats, and you just played the I-V-vi-IV progression. But you don't have to play it in C. You can play it in G (G-D-Em-C) or in D (D-A-Bm-G) or any other key. You can hold each chord for one beat, two beats, four beats, doesn't matter, as long as they're all the same. You can strum it however you like (or pick it.) Any tempo, any rhythm, any style. Just as long as the song includes that progression.

Now I'm not saying you have to play just those four chords over and over and nothing else. Although there are songs that do just that, and I'm hoping to hear some of those songs. But I just want to hear the I-V-iv-IV in there somewhere. However, there will be bonus points for featuring it more prominently. (More on that in a minute.)

Rules:
  • must be an original video recorded for this competition
  • you must announce, either verbally or graphically. at either the beginning or end of the video, that it's for the 34th season of the ukulele
  • the song must include the I-V-iv-IV progression as described above
  • one-take videos only. I'm a big fan of multi-tracking, but this week I want to keep things simple.
  • although additional instruments are welcome, the ukulele should be the focus
  • one official entry per person. Bonus tracks are encouraged, but please label them clearly as such. If I'm unsure, I'll assume that your first unlabeled video is your entry.
  • multiple versions of the same song are not only allowed, they are encouraged. Maybe even inevitable. I like to hear what different people bring to the same song, so please please PLEASE just post it anyway, okay?

Scoring:
  • Winners will be chosen mostly by viewers' choice, but with a bunch of bonus points. I'm also stealing Ralf's rule that you're not eligible to win if you don't participate in the voting.
  • Everyone who enters the contest must vote for their 1st, 2nd and 3rd place choices. 1st place votes are worth 3 points, 2nd place are worth 2 points and 3rd place worth 1 point.
  • Any registered UU member who doesn't submit a video can vote for their single favorite video. These votes are worth 1 point.
  • Everyone will get some bonus points based on how prominently their song features the I-V-vi-IV progression, to a maximum of 10 points. Whatever approximate fraction of the song uses the progression, you get that fraction of 10 points. So if your song plays the progression over and over and nothing else, you get 10. If you play it half the time, you get 5. And so forth. Decisions regarding these points are solely at the judge's discretion (that would be me.)
  • 3 bonus points if you write an original composition.
  • I really like hearing different people's takes on the same song. So I'm giving bonus points for multiple versions of the same song. If 2 people do the same song, they each get a point. If 3 people do it, they each get 2. If 4 or more people do it, they each get 3.

Prizes:
1st Prize - Hal Leonard's Four Chord Songbook. Not necessarily those four chords, but still a good book of simple songs.
AND
a Snark SN-8 clip-on chromatic tuner

2nd Prize - your choice of either of the two prizes listed above

3rd Prize - whichever prize the 2nd place winner doesn't take

Resources:
UK Ukulele Orchestra's Pop Song Medley

Axis of Awesome - 4 Chord Song (live version) contains a small amount of profanity


Axis of Awesome - 4 Chord Song (studio version) contains a small amount of profanity

or just google "I V vi IV", "four chord pop song", "pop punk progression" or variations of the these.
But note that other people's ideas of what a I-V-vi-IV progression is might not always conform to the rules of this thread. So double check the rules.

Also remember that every arrangement of a song you find, whether it's in a book or on the net, is just one person's idea of what chords to play for that song. So even if somebody else says it's not a I-V-vi-IV song, if you like how it sounds, play it that way, That's your arrangement of the song.

And yeah, I realize this theme is a little different from the usual. But I ask that you give it a try. It'll be fun. (I hope.)

EDIT:
I forgot - deadline is midnight Sunday night October 14th Hawaii time
 
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Great challenge, J-Peg! You're sure to get a wild assortment of entries.

Cool scoring system, too; I like that everyone on UU is welcome to vote.
 
This looks like an interesting week, J-Peg...but you do realize that you're probably going to have to listen to many renditions of "Hey, Soul, Sister" - right? :)

John
 
I'll actually be disappointed if I don't get at least two versions each of "Hey, Soul Sister", "I'm Yours", "Let It Be" and "Waltzing Mathilda". :cool:
But I'm hoping for some variety, too.
 
I'm going to make this my very first entry to the season. I can't wait, nervous already.
 
Good list here: http://www.clicheprogressions.com/

and another one: http://youtu.be/OdVurJFMDUI

Of course it rules out a lot of folk songs as the melodies are in modes other than major (or minor) so need completely different chord progressions. Pity, but there we are. I will have to do something else.
 
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Good list here: http://www.clicheprogressions.com/

and another one: http://youtu.be/OdVurJFMDUI

Of course it rules out a lot of folk songs as the melodies are in modes other than major (or minor) so need completely different chord progressions. Pity, but there we are. I will have to do something else.

Good find. A lot of good stuff there.
Just to clarify the rules though, in that second link, the poster says :

FOR MUSIC THEORY GEEKS:
Most of the songs were in a major key, with the chord progression truly being I-V-vi-IV. There were, however, a few songs in minor; with a i-VI-III-VII chord progression. This minor-key chord progression is *enharmonically equivalent* to vi-IV-I-V. So for such songs, the chord progression is repeated at least twice during the song (e.g., vi, IV-[I-V-vi-IV]-I-V) you'll obviously see that right in the middle of the doubled chord sequence (in brackets) is "I-V-vi-IV."

I was hoping this topic would come up early in the thread.
To my way of thinking, the vi-IV-I-V is a different progression than the I-V-vi-IV. The fact that they overlap when repeated doesn't make them the same thing. I understand the argument otherwise, and everyone is entitled to their opinion, but for this contest, if it doesn't start at the same place, it's not the same progression. That's why the rules say you have to start on the I chord.

And I'm not sure how old a song has to be to qualify as "folk." (I am sure you know more about folk music than I do.) But there's a relatively modern Australian folk song that uses this progression intermittently. It would have a fairly low bonus point value, but I think it would suit your style quite well.

Or you could step further outside your comfort zone. That's fun too.
 
I'm going to make this my very first entry to the season. I can't wait, nervous already.

Welcome to the seasons! Looking forward to your entry.

And there's no need to be nervous. We're usually very nice to the noobies.
 
Good find. A lot of good stuff there.
Just to clarify the rules though, in that second link, the poster says :

I was hoping this topic would come up early in the thread.
To my way of thinking, the vi-IV-I-V is a different progression than the I-V-vi-IV. The fact that they overlap when repeated doesn't make them the same thing. I understand the argument otherwise, and everyone is entitled to their opinion, but for this contest, if it doesn't start at the same place, it's not the same progression. That's why the rules say you have to start on the I chord.

I noticed the comment but didn't take a lot of notice of it at the time. I do agree with you that what they are saying is actually a bit of a fudge, but then music theory is like that at times. There are "rules" which you learn, then once you have learnt them, you break them. However I agree with your stance on this one.

And I'm not sure how old a song has to be to qualify as "folk." (I am sure you know more about folk music than I do.) But there's a relatively modern Australian folk song that uses this progression intermittently. It would have a fairly low bonus point value, but I think it would suit your style quite well.

Or you could step further outside your comfort zone. That's fun too.

It's not age that that qualifies something as folk it's got more to do with music transmitted orally. Such songs and tunes, because they were transmitted orally often got changed in the process and so different versions of the song came to exist and there is no one definitive version. It pretty much rules out any music formally published in sheet music form.

Exactly what constitutes folk music has been the subject of long and heated debates as, like all musical genres, the boundaries are somewhat fuzzy. I tend to use the working definition of "Popular music of the past transmitted orally".

However that's an aside. I have one or two thoughts and one possibility is to write a tune to existing words. It will take me outside my comfort zone as I usually write melodies first then fit the harmonies afterwards whereas this means starting with a harmonic progression and fitting a melody to it.
 
I'm not a trained musician by any stretch but couldn't you use the initial two chords as an intro then pick up on the lyrics with the latter two?
Or is that just a double fudge?

I noticed the comment but didn't take a lot of notice of it at the time. I do agree with you that what they are saying is actually a bit of a fudge, but then music theory is like that at times. There are "rules" which you learn, then once you have learnt them, you break them. However I agree with your stance on this one.



It's not age that that qualifies something as folk it's got more to do with music transmitted orally. Such songs and tunes, because they were transmitted orally often got changed in the process and so different versions of the song came to exist and there is no one definitive version. It pretty much rules out any music formally published in sheet music form.

Exactly what constitutes folk music has been the subject of long and heated debates as, like all musical genres, the boundaries are somewhat fuzzy. I tend to use the working definition of "Popular music of the past transmitted orally".

However that's an aside. I have one or two thoughts and one possibility is to write a tune to existing words. It will take me outside my comfort zone as I usually write melodies first then fit the harmonies afterwards whereas this means starting with a harmonic progression and fitting a melody to it.
 
Long live fudge. what's not to like: chocolate, lots of fat and sugar. mmmmmmmmmmmm. and double fudge, I don't know , that could be fattening, and how do you double it? eat 2x as much I suppose, but that might be too much of a good thing.
decaturcomp, love your easy style, and the plethora of songs you're churning out. Fishing blues and Tennessee Stud, haven't heard them in years. thanks
 
Thanks brother. I'm a fan of your music, esp the grace and heart shining through the silliness.

Long live fudge. what's not to like: chocolate, lots of fat and sugar. mmmmmmmmmmmm. and double fudge, I don't know , that could be fattening, and how do you double it? eat 2x as much I suppose, but that might be too much of a good thing.
decaturcomp, love your easy style, and the plethora of songs you're churning out. Fishing blues and Tennessee Stud, haven't heard them in years. thanks
 
I'm not a trained musician by any stretch but couldn't you use the initial two chords as an intro then pick up on the lyrics with the latter two?
Or is that just a double fudge?

Well.... where you end it also matters. There's a fine line between fudging the rules and breaking them. Just as an example, take Sarah McLachlan's "Building a Mystery."

Code:
Am               F          C           G
'Cause you're working building a mystery
Am      F        C           G
holding on and holding it in
Am            F          C           G
yeah you're working building a mystery
Am   F          C  G
and choosing so carefully

It's pretty evident in this particular song that each line begins with the iv and ends with the V. Adding an intro doesn't really change that. Just play the chords without the melody and then stop and play C-G-Am-F and they just sound different. Related, yes, but not the same.

Now I'm not really a trained musician either. All I know of theory is what I've picked up along the way. But I look at progressions like sentences in an essay or story. In the same way you put words together to make sentences, you put chords together to make a progression. And a progression forms a complete and distinct musical "idea" and makes musical sense in much the same way a sentence stands alone and expresses an idea linguistically. That idea might not mean much removed from its context, but it still can stand alone and make sense.

So going with that analogy, let's say I write the following:

"I own a dog.
Jack, who lives next door, does not like my dog."

The following sentence was not in there, even though the words were there in the same order.

"I own a dog, Jack, who lives next door."

Just my opinion. But that's what we're going with this week. Bottom line, if it sounds like you're circumventing the rule, you probably are. Music isn't really as cut and dried as we try to make it sometimes. So I'm not gonna get all uptight about it.

But I do find the discussion interesting.
 
Just to be clear, I'm not gonna run around this thread beating people on the head with my judge's gavel telling them they broke the rules. Make your best effort to conform to the spirit of the theme. Play what you like and post what you play.

I'll save my nitpicky tendencies for when I hand out the bonus points. :cool:
 
Actually, may I thank you both for explaining a good bit of stuff I'd hear of but didn't understand?

Just to be clear, I'm not gonna run around this thread beating people on the head with my judge's gavel telling them they broke the rules. Make your best effort to conform to the spirit of the theme. Play what you like and post what you play.

I'll save my nitpicky tendencies for when I hand out the bonus points. :cool:
 
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