popRockHarmony-dooWop.md

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post	The "50s doo-wop" progression (pop/rock harmony)

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(Also called "Friday," after Rebecca Black.)

||: I – VI – IV – V :||
or
||: I – VI – II – V :||

This cyclical chord progression was very common in rock ballads from the 1950s and early 1960s, hence the name (example: “Duke of Earl” by Gene Chandler).

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However, it has continued to be used every since (examples: the verse and chorus of “Friday” by Rebecca Black, the chorus of “Total Eclipse of the Heart” by Bonnie Tyler).

<iframe width="640" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/kfVsfOSbJY0?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> <iframe width="480" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/lcOxhH8N3Bo?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Because it is typically employed in cycles, it can also be found starting on a different chord in the cycle and then proceeding through the same succession of chords. For example, “Viva la Vida” by Coldplay works through a cyclical repetition of the same succession of chords, but their phrases begin on IV rather than I:

||: IV – V – I – VI :||

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