All You need is Four Chords

Did you ever wonder why most pop songs sound eerily similar? I'm sure we all blame the corporate music monster for that.

'Pop' is the abbreviation of "popular"; most pop songs tend to be short, catchy, normally about something that is universally understood. I.e. love, happiness, loneliness, that girl/guy that you can't have, etc. Pop music is normally identified as a piece of music that has been developed as a series of singles, rather than as an extended piece of work. It tends to reflect the genres of the time. Pop also sounds really polished; the live aspect of the performance is normally eliminated from these songs (welcome to the world of auto-tune and drum machines). They might also make you want to... *gasp*... dance.

The truth is, most pop songs contain the same four chords: G, C, F, and A (all major, no minor chords or diminished chords). Many people have their doubts about this, but when you can string together 40 years of pop music as seamlessly these following acts why keep doubting?

Here's an idea, write yourself a four-chord song and it'll either be the next greatest hit or the next greatest internet meme.


As Benny says, "The reason why we don't have a hit song is because we don't have a four-chord song" This compilation has been covered by many a guitar/keyboard playing YouTuber. This is still the best (and funniest) version.


Freddy, here has great technique and manages to throw internet memes and classical gass into the mix.


This is Jim, singing with eight other versions of himself to prove the same point.