Three-chord song

A three-chord song is a song whose music is built around three chords that are played in a certain sequence. Perhaps the most prevalent type of three-chord song is the simple twelve bar blues used in blues and rock and roll.

Typically, the three chords used are the chords on the tonic, subdominant, and dominant (scale degrees I, IV and V): in the key of C, these would be the C, F and G chords. Sometimes the V7 chord is used instead of V, for greater tension.

There are literally tens of thousands of songs written with I, IV and V chords. Almost all country, blues and rock and roll songs are three chord songs. A great many pop songs also are I, IV and V chord songs.

Songwriter Harlan Howard once said "All you need to write a country song is three chords and the Truth."

Examples

Examples of three-chord songs include:

• "Louie Louie" (The Kingsmen)
• "Wild Thing" (The Troggs)
• "Hotel Yorba" (The White Stripes)
• "Undone - The Sweater Song" (Weezer)
• "Into the Ocean" (Blue October)
• "I Wanna Be Sedated" (The Ramones)
• "Young Liars" (TV on the Radio)
• "Folsom Prison Blues" (Johnny Cash)
• "I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)" (The Proclaimers)
• "Heartbreak Hotel" (Elvis Presley)
• "What's up" (4 Non Blondes) (Features I, II minor, IV)
• "Sally MacLennane" (The Pogues)
• "The Irish Rover" (Traditional Irish)
• "Status Quo's Back Catalogue" Status Quo

See also

• Chord (music)
• Chord progression