“4 Chords Song” by The Axis Of Awesome (YouTube)

The Axis of Awesome. (2011). “4 Chords | Music Videos | The Axis Of Awesome”. Retrieved from youtu.be/oOlDewpCfZQ.
Did you catch the common
theme?
 You should be able to hear the movement of
pitches, unless you have amusia or the disability
to distinguish musical pitch.
 Four Chord Progression or Axis Chord
Progression – named after the band The Axis
of Awesome who popularized the idea that
most of the pop songs in the music industry
used this same chord progression.

Why does this chord progression work so well

with a lot of songs?

Wallpaper Cave. (n.d.). Retrieved from wallpapercave.com/w/wp1952557.

 Why Do I Hear This in Every Song?
— Basics of Music Theory
Presented by: Bañaga, Jehmary

Maasen, M. (2018). “Ancient of Days”. Retrieved from unsplash.com/photos/bu-6kNWQj6U?

utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditShareLink
 Music theory is defined as
 “. . . a practice musicians use to understand and communicate the language of
music. Musical theory examines the fundamentals of music. It also provides a
system to interpret musical compositions.” ~ Rory PQ (2020) in “Basic Theory for
Beginners – The Complete Guide”
 “. . . the study of the concepts and compositional methods involved in the creation
of music. Music theory examines musical qualities such as timbre, tone, pitch, and
texture, as well as compositional elements such as rhythm, dynamics, tempo, and
more.” ~ Encyclopedia Britannica (2022)
 Denoting “. . . the practice that musicians apply to communicate and understand
the musical language. However, this theory examines various musical qualities,
such as tone. The chief concern of music theory is a description of how composers
and musicians develop music.” ~ Scarlett Helfer (2022) in “Music Theory
(Study.com)”
 The frequency of a steady sound or tone is called pitch in music.

 A frequency of 440 Hz is equivalent to

a pitch of A4 (the specific A note
above middle C).
 A sine wave with a pitch of A4 sounds
like this.

Encyclopedia Britannica. (n.d.). Graphic representations of a sound wave. Retrieved

from britannica.com/science/sound-physics#/media/1/555255/3536.
 A note is a musical sound with a certain pitch and duration.

Notes of different pitches

Notes of different durations

There are seven unique pitch names named C, D, E, F, G, A, and B.
C D E F G A B
 C D E F G A B C

261.63 Hz 523.25 Hz
C D E F G A B C D E F G A B C D E
C D E F G A B C D E F G A B C D E

octave
 C D E F G A B C D E F G A B C D E

130.81 Hz ÷2 261.63 Hz ×2 523.25 Hz

 The notes are built on frequency ratios that follow the harmonic
series.

16:15 6:5 45:32 8:5 9:5

C D E F G A B C D E F G A B C D E
1:1 9:8 5:4 4:3 3:2 5:3 15:8 2:1

Roedy Black Music. (n.d.). “Chapter 4:

How Scales and Intervals REALLY Work”. Retrieved from howmusicreallyworks.com/Pages_Chapter_4/4_2.html.
 But we consider that the tuning system is the 12-Tone Equal
Temperament . . .

C D E F G A B C D E F G A B C D E

Monzo, J. (n.d.). “12-tone equal-temperament”. Retrieved from tonalsoft.com/enc/number/12edo.aspx.

 But we consider that the tuning system is the 12-Tone Equal
Temperament . . .

√ 212√ 212√ 212√ 212√ 212√ 212√ 212√ 2√ 2√ 2√ 2√ 2

12 12 12 12 12

C D E F G A B C D E F G A B C D E
(octave)
Monzo, J. (n.d.). “12-tone equal-temperament”. Retrieved from tonalsoft.com/enc/number/12edo.aspx.
 Whole step (interval of a whole tone); Half-step (interval of a semitone)

Whole step (W) Half-step (H)

C D E F G A B C D E F G A B C D E
 The intervals of a major scale is W-W-H-W-W-W-H.
W WH W W W H

C D E F G A B C D E F G A B C D E

This is the foundation of most Western music.

 Intervals of thirds
W W

C D E F G A B C D E F G A B C D E

Major Third
 Intervals of thirds
W H

C D E F G A B C D E F G A B C D E

Minor Third
 Chords
 A set of two or more notes played either together (harmonically) or individually (melodically)

m3

M3

 Usually stacked in thirds (major thirds, minor thirds).

 Triads
 Chords with three notes.

m3

M3

 Usually stacked in thirds (major thirds, minor thirds).

 For the sake of simplicity, we will start on C for the major scale to
only involve the white keys and not the black keys.

C major chord

C D E F G A B C D E F G A B C D E
Root 3rd 5th

M3 m3
 We can build another chord by focusing on the next note, which is D,
and then selecting the third and fifth again.
C major
D minor chord

C D E F G A B C D E F G A B C D E
Root 3rd 5th

m3 M3
C major D minor

E minor

C D E F G A B C D E F G A B C D E
Root 3rd 5th

m3 M3
C major D minor E minor

F major

C D E F G A B C D E F G A B C D E
Root 3rd 5th

M3 m3
C major D minor E minor F major

G major

C D E F G A B C D E F G A B C D E
Root 3rd 5th

M3 m3
C major D minor E minor F major G major

A minor

C D E F G A B C D E F G A B C D E
Root 3rd 5th

m3 M3
C major D minor E minor F major G major A minor

B diminished

C D E F G A B C D E F G A B C D E F
Root 3rd 5th

m3 m3
C major D minor E minor F major G major A minor B diminished
(M3-m3) (m3-M3) (m3-M3) (M3-m3) (M3-m3) (m3-M3) (m3-m3)
The intervals create the different emotions evoked by the chords

C D E F G A B C D E F G A B C D E
 Diatonic chords – chords built from the notes belonging to the same
key

C major D minor E minor F major G major A minor B diminished

C D E F G A B C D E F G A B C D E
Keys
 Systems of diatonic chords
with a certain tonality
 Since there are 12 notes in an
octave, there are 12 keys
 Indicated by the accidentals
(sharps or flats) bundled
together in staff notation
 The key of C major has no
representation in the musical
staff because it uses no sharps
or flats (only white keys)

Daikoku, T. (2019). “Tonality Tunes the Statistical Characteristics in Music: Computational Approaches
on Statistical Learning - Scientific Figure on ResearchGate”. Retrieved from
researchgate.net/figure/Circle-of-fifths-showing-all-24-major-and-minor-keys-in-Western-classical-
music-A_fig1_335946511.
 Tonic

C D E F G A B C D E F G A B C D E
 Now, in music theory, we derive formulas from the observations
from earlier to apply it to other keys.
Tonic

C D E F G A B C D E F G A B C D E
 We use the W-W-H-W-W-W-H intervals to find the notes of the key of
D major, for example.
Tonic

C D E F G A B C D E F G A B C D E
 We use the W-W-H-W-W-W-H intervals to find the notes of the key of
D major, for example.
Tonic

C D E F G A B C D E F G A B C D E
 Scale Degrees

Tonic

𝄰 𝄰 𝄰 𝄰 𝄰

𝄬 𝄬 𝄬 𝄬 𝄬

𝟏^ 𝟐^ 𝟑^ 𝟒^ 𝟓^ 𝟔^ 𝟕^
 Chord Degrees

C major D minor E minor F major G major A minor B diminished

Tonic chord

𝟏^ 𝟐^ 𝟑^ 𝟒^ 𝟓^ 𝟔^ 𝟕^
 Chord Degrees

I ii iii IV V vi vii°
Tonic chord

𝟏^ 𝟐^ 𝟑^ 𝟒^ 𝟓^ 𝟔^ 𝟕^
 Functional Harmony

 The heart of music theory

 It is the idea that chords have a harmonic function that involves
tension and release, i.e., the direction and intensity of where a chord
wants to “go” to

Chew, E. & et. al. (n.d.). “How music can literally heal the heart”. Retrieved from scientificamerican.com/article/how-
music-can-literally-heal-the-heart/.
 Aside from the tonic chord, other diatonic chords have different
names

I ii iii IV V vi vii°

Supertonic Subdominant Submediant

chord chord chord
Tonic chord Mediant chord Dominant Leading tone
chord chord
 Tonic Function

Implicates stability or release; central chord where all chords wants to resolve to

I ii iii IV V vi vii°

Supertonic Subdominant Submediant

chord chord chord
Tonic chord Mediant chord Dominant Leading tone
chord chord
 Tonic Function

I iii vi

ii IV V vii°

Supertonic Subdominant Submediant

chord chord chord
Tonic chord Mediant chord Dominant Leading tone
chord chord
 Tonic Function Subdominant Function

I iii vi
Introduces tension/conflict; weakly wants to resolve back to the tonic function

ii IV V vii°

Supertonic Subdominant Submediant

chord chord chord
Tonic chord Mediant chord Dominant Leading tone
chord chord
 Tonic Function Subdominant Function

I iii vi ii IV

V vii°

Supertonic Subdominant Submediant

chord chord chord
Tonic chord Mediant chord Dominant Leading tone
chord chord
 Tonic Function Subdominant Function Dominant Function

I iii vi ii IV
Introduces a lot of tension/conflict; strongly wants to resolve back to the tonic function

V vii°

Supertonic Subdominant Submediant

chord chord chord
Tonic chord Mediant chord Dominant Leading tone
chord chord
 Tonic Function Subdominant Function Dominant Function

I iii vi ii IV V vii°

Supertonic Subdominant Submediant

chord chord chord
Tonic chord Mediant chord Dominant Leading tone
chord chord
Tonic Function Subdominant Function Dominant Function

I iii vi ii IV V vii°
Rising
Action
Exposition

Climax

Denouement
Falling
Action
Analyzing the Axis Chord Progression
Why does this work so well in any song?
Because its functional harmony loops so well

I V vi IV
Tonic chord Dominant Submediant Subdominant
chord chord chord
 Sensitive Female Chord Progression
 Used in more emotional songs, typically sung by female singers.

vi IV I V
 Sensitive Female Chord Progression
 Used in more emotional songs, typically sung by female singers.

I V

vi IV
 Sensitive Female Chord Progression
 Used in more emotional songs, typically sung by female singers.

I V vi IV
 Sensitive Female Chord Progression
 Used in more emotional songs, typically sung by female singers.

vi IV I V

Tonic chord
“it always comes
back to being
sad/serious”
Sensitive Female Chord Progression
vi – IV – I – V
 Conclusion
 You can use music theory to analyze why and how music works
this way and not the other way.
 However, you do not need to learn this to compose songs or
become a musician.
 But I can assure you that music theory will help a lot in
composing musical pieces/songs (if you are planning to try it
anyway, that is).
 Unmentioned references
 Encyclopedia Britannica. (2022). “Music Theory”. Retrieved from
britannica.com/browse/Music-Theory.
 Helfer, S. (2022). “Music Theory”. Retrieved from
study.com/learn/lesson/music-theory-overview-concepts-history.html.
 Rory PQ. (2020). “Basic Theory for Beginners – The Complete Guide”. Retrieved from
iconcollective.edu/basic-music-theory/.