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I-III/ Am-C: heard in 'War'.
I-IV/Am-Dm: 'Shakin' All Over', 'Fool To Cry', 'Miss You', 'Fireworks', 'Dub Be Good To Me'.
I-IVmaj/ Am-D: 'Another Brick In The Wall' v, 'Oye Como Va', 'Miss Sarajevo' v, 'It's A Family Affair', 'Jackie
Wilson Said', 'Drive v, 'It's Too Late' v, 'Kinky Afro'. A powerful change, especially in the major key where it
occurs from II to V.
I-V/ Am-E: 'Spice Up Your Life'.
I-Vm/ Am-Em: 'Losing My Religion' v, 'The Model'.
I-VI/ Am-F: 'Eleanor Rigby'. How you 'voice' this makes a big difference. I-VImaj7 (Am-Fmaj7) and I-VI7
(Am-F7) have a very different quality (the latter in 'Glass Onion' v). 'Dreams', 'Rhiannon' v, 'Live Forever' coda.
I-bII/ Am-Bb: Bob & Earl's soul classic 'Harlem Shuffle' makes astonishing use of this – and, to avoid
monotony, does a semitone (half-step) key change.
I-VII/ Am G: 'Maps And Legends' ch, 'Horse With No Name' (G as G/B), 'The One I Love' v, 'Matthew And
Son' v.
I-#VII/ Am-(G#) Ab: this unusual change can be heard in 'Try Whistling This' and 'O Maria'.Ways of Writing a Two-Chord Song
Use the "bar-stretching" technique: if the rate of change is one chord to a bar in the chorus, make it two bars to a
chord in the verse or vice versa.
- Put the emphasis on the melody and lyric – as in a narrative song.
- Vary the tempo or time signature.
- Change the order of chords in different sections.
- Use first and second inversions of the two chords.
- Change the key and play the same two chords in another key. 'Mull Of Kintyre' starts as a two-chord song in A and
changes to D. - Change the bass note to imply a change of chord. An E under G will imply Em (chord III) even if you're still
strumming a G.
The Three-Chord Trick
The three-chord trick is the commonest songwriting device. It means writing a song using chords I, IV and V of any
major or minor key. Since these are the three chords that are used in 12-bar blues, a vast number of 1950s rock'n'roll
songs by Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry, Carl Perkins, Jerry Lee Lewis, Little Richard, Bill Haley, Buddy Holly, Eddie
Cochran, etc, as well as ones by later rock acts who played a lot of 12-bar boogie, such as Status Quo, are three-
chord tricks. This is also the formula for many pop songs such as 'Twist and Shout', 'I Fought The Law', 'Should I
Stay Or Should I Go?', 'You're Gorgeous' ch, 'Common People', and 'La Bamba'. With care it can be expressive, as in
the verse of 'Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me', which uses just I, IV and V (the first minor chord is not featured
until the chorus). The three chords can occur in any order. 'Consider Me Gone' uses two chords to carry the verse
and one for the chorus. 'She Bangs The Drums' carries the verse with IV and V before hitting I on the chorus.