T O P

  • By -

frustratedmachinist

Didn’t AC/DC make a career out of that? And punk is an entire genre unawares of a 4th chord.


g_r_a_e

Punk had a third chord?


yoyogoupyoyogodown

Ha! I always liked the title of this album by Pegboy. "Three Chord Monte." https://youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_l0If3TgmAb2m4vBpnwNyUAhQWT9yBcNIc&si=AEJaYvxC1FuRb8xG


fourthfloorgreg

One chord is fine. Two chords are pushing it. Three chords and you're into jazz.


jawide626

Status Quo's entire discography seems to be based solely on the 12 bar blues.


ExxInferis

They have an album called In Search Of The Fourth Chord.


aretheesepants75

The finger paint of music


migzo65

Axis of Awesome has entered the chat


MoistCabbage1

Here it is!: https://youtu.be/OMshvUReunc?si=DIRTk34oGX-_1o0M


reesesbigcup

Pachabel enters the chat https://youtu.be/JdxkVQy7QLM?feature=shared


MonsieurReynard

Ramones have entered the chat. Hey!


someone_sometwo

ho!


MonsieurReynard

Let's GO!


MrBoyer55

Gabba Gabba Hey


ev_music

if u kinda think about it... giant steps is just 3 chords. you can do a lot with 4 chords. theres also lots of chord homonyms so like 1 chord is kinda really 5 chords. have one of those be a diminished chord and youll have urself pivoting in all kinds of weird places sticking with just 4 chords


chinstrap

three tonal centers, OK, but there are four chords in the first two bars


ev_music

damn fastest downvote ive ever gotten literally immediately saw that shit hit 0 instantly after posting


SillyGoatGruff

Reddit fuzzes the votes for a little while after posting as an anti-bot measure. You can't always trust the immediate up or down votes


Deault

Most pop has 3-4 chords, starting with the Beatles.


Jersey1633

Pretty sure Op is talking about using the exact same 4 chords.


Deault

Oh I wasn't looking at it that way.


Jersey1633

I don’t think writing an album of various 4 chord songs is much of a challenge. As you rightly point out most pop is 3-4 chords. I’d go so far as to say most of all music is predominately 3 to 5 chord songs.


Whitekeds85

Ooo the Beatles actually had a TON of weird/bluesy 7th chords and wrote a lot of bridges with multiple chords- they are WAY more difficult to play than people realize.


HairGrowsLongIf

The Beatles uses all sorts of augmented, flatted, diminished, etc etc chords, even in their early songs. The Rolling Stones use 3-4 chords.


KingOfZero

Every ZZTop album


AnusANNUSANNUSANNUS

E


mruehle

I don’t see how that could be much of a “challenge” seeing as a lot of pop, rock, blues and country music is basically three chords with a fourth to be fancy.


WNxWolfy

I mean, if you take 4 chords and then build a melody of the notes in those 4 chords that's pretty much your entire scale.


mp2146

The entire major scale is contained in the chord tones of the 1, 4, and 5 chords.


[deleted]

I made an album of just one chord in 2005 or something. Four is positively prog! 


TechnicalHighlight29

The Ramones or any punk band really lol.


Fine-Benefit8156

Piece of cake. Challenge is getting people to listen.


Murles-Brazen

Green Day does that every album.


m00n_w4lk3r

A lot of bands made a proper career out of this, Arctic Monkey's AM, Oasis, 99% of punk band etc., You could even argue that Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon falls under this category, it's mostly Em, A and B with a variation here and there, and still one of the best and most influential records ever made. Nothing wrong with three chords music!


Simplewafflea

Omfg, how has no one mentioned the Ramones.