VII. Popular Music
Introduction to Harmonic Schemas in Pop Music
Bryn Hughes and Megan Lavengood
Key Takeaways
- Pop harmony can be understood through harmonic schemas—particularly common chord progressions.
- These schemas can be altered while still maintaining their resemblance to the prototype.
There are a number of common stock chord progressions that recur in many pop/rock songs. These stock progressions, or schemas, will often occur in cyclical patterns in a song; that is, the same progression will repeat multiple times in a row. This is particularly common in choruses of verse-chorus songs, but it also happens in verses, strophes, and bridges. Knowledge of pop schemas is helpful for identifying harmonies by ear, since in addition to listening for bass scale degrees and considering whether the harmonies are in root position or first inversion, you can listen for common patterns that you have heard in other songs. succinctly summarizes the most common forms of each schema.
| Schema name | Progression in Roman numerals | Progression in C major | Common variations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 12-bar blues | I | I | I | I | IV | IV | I | I | V | IV | I | I | |
C | C | C | C | F | F | C | C | G | F | C | C | |
• Dominant sevenths in every chord • 16-bar blues, repeating first four measures of I • IV in m. 2 • ii–V in mm. 13–14 instead of V–IV; applied ii-V in m. 8 (jazz blues) • Turnaround in mm. 15–16 |
| Plagal | IV–I | F–C | • Plagal "sigh": IV–iv–I |
| Double plagal | ♭VII–IV–I | B♭–F–C | • Rotation: I–♭VII–IV |
| Extended plagal | ♭VI–♭III –♭VII–IV–I | A♭–E♭–B♭–F–C | |
| Doo-wop | I–vi–IV–V | C–Ami–F–G | • Substitute ii for IV: I–vi–ii–V • Rotation: IV–V–I–vi |
| Singer/Songwriter | vi–IV–I–V | Ami–F–C–G | • Rotation to start on any chord: I–V–vi–IV; IV–I–V–vi; V–vi–IV–I |
| Hopscotch | IV-V–vi–I | F–G–Ami–C | • Replacing V (G) with V/vi (E) |
| Lament | i–♭VII–♭VI–V | Cmi–B♭–A♭–G | • Minor v instead of major • Major I instead of minor • Added passing chords, such as V (first inversion) between i and ♭VII, or IV (first inversion) between ♭VII and ♭VI |
| Circle-of-fifths | i–iv–VII–III etc. | Cmi–Fmi–B♭–E♭ | • More chords continuing the fifthwise root motion • Chord quality can be altered to create applied dominants or applied ii–V progressions |
| Puff | I–iii–IV | C–Emi–F | • Minor version: i–III–iv • "Deceptive" version: I–III♯–IV (III♯ sounds like a V/vi that resolves deceptively by step instead of authentically) |
| Subtonic shuttle | I–♭VII | C–B♭ | • Rotation: ♭VII–I • Aeolian version: i–♭VII |
| Aeolian shuttle | i–♭VII–♭VI–♭VII | Cmi–B♭–A♭–B♭ | |
| Aeolian cadence | ♭VI–♭VII–i | A♭–B♭–Cmi | • Major tonic (picardy third): ♭VI–♭VII–I |
| Dorian shuttle | i–IV | Cmi–F | |
| Lydian shuttle | I–II♯ | C–D | |
| Lydian cadence | II♯–IV–I | D–F–C |
A crucial feature of schemas is that they can be altered while still remaining recognizable as a manifestation of that schema. Think of the term “bird.” If someone asks you to imagine a bird without an