Songs that use the Major Scale chord progression

Added: 2026-05-30

[00:00:00]This video is sponsored by reverb.com.

[00:00:02]This is what I would call the major scale climb chord progression. Literally a chord progression that just climbs up the first four chords of the major scale. It's like if you just got a diagram out of your music theory um textbook of a harmonized C major scale and just went up and read it. But as basic as this chord progression seems, it's been used in loads of classic songs and it has a very sort of obvious effect, right? Which is of ascending.

[00:00:28]It's got a clear, bright, ascending flavor. Perhaps one of the most famous songs to use this chord progression is Like a Rolling Stone by Bob Dylan. Here in the key of C, he climbs up C, D minor, E minor, F. And he actually then kind of summits onto the chord of five as well. Gonz >> Another classic song that uses this chord progression is Boys Don't Cry by The Cure. This time in the key of A. So we're in key of A. Starting in the A chord, go to B minor, C# sharp minor, and B.

[00:01:12]Another classic song that uses this chord progression. This time in the key of G is Here, there, and everywhere by the Beatles. The verse of this song is based on a climb up the G major scale twice in a row before it diverges and goes somewhere else.

[00:01:42]You got G, A minor, B minor, C, and then it would go somewhere else.

[00:01:50]here.

[00:01:54]Making each day of the year changing my life with a way of in fact another Beatles track this time written by John Lennon rather than Here Then and Everywhere which is written by Paul McCartney that uses the same chord progression and once again in the same key is Sexy Sadi. In the bridge of sexis, we get a climb up from G to A minor, B minor, and C. So maybe John was inspired by Here, there, and everywhere, which had come out a few years prior. Or maybe it's just a coincidence, right?

[00:02:32]Because this is a pretty obvious chord progression to arrive at. You know, you're literally just climbing up the scale.

[00:02:40]The world was waiting for a lover.

[00:02:45]She came along to turn on everyone.

[00:02:51]>> Another song from the same time period that maybe was also inspired by the Beatles considering the background of the band is Daydream Believer by the Monkeys. This song also in the key of G climbs up major scale.

[00:03:10]I could hide the wings of the blueird as she sings.

[00:03:18]Now, an kind of obvious example of this chord progression that you may have been thinking about this entire time is this one, Lean on Me by Bill Withers. He's literally starts on the C chord and then climbs up our four chords and then stays on the four chord a bit and then climbs back down again.

[00:03:43]And what's really interesting in this example is it almost creates like a melody, right? This is technically a chord progression. These are chords, but it's got a real melody to it. So, it kind of creates a hook in the chord progression. And of course, he's not just climbing up, he's also climbing back down again. And sometimes only halfway times in our lives we all have pain.

[00:04:25]>> So the ascending nature of this chord progression gives it a really obvious um climb, right? It feels like we're getting higher and higher.

[00:04:34]And that is not only useful for making a pop song sound bright and uplifting, but also could be useful in a video game.

[00:04:41]Maybe a video game where we're going on a very high stakes race on Rainbow Road.

[00:04:47]In Mario Kart 64, the Rainbow Own theme, which of course for non Mario Kart fans is like the big finale to Mario Kart.

[00:04:55]Rainbow Road is the big race. It is based on this climb in the key of A up the major scale and eventually it like the Bob Dylan track sort of summits onto the five chord but rather than going straight to E we get this.

[00:05:16]So what was that? So it went up to E in a way you know up climbed up and the left hand there very much went to E. The right hand is playing an A chord over E second inversion. And then even when it went to E went to E sus 4 like that.

[00:05:35]So that is what we call a credential 64.

[00:05:37]That's another type of of cadence, another type of chord progression. I made a whole video about that before.

[00:05:42]Check that out if you're interested.

[00:05:43]It's linked down below. Um, but yeah, this is a a fantastically sort of grand sound climbing up the scale to a cential 64 and then for those who are interested, it goes to F as well, which is another sort of weird grand turn. So yeah, amazing piece of music.

[00:06:28]Now, to be a professional musician, to have a career and get gigs, you need to not only be a talented musician and a reliable person, but also have great gear, have professional level equipment at your disposal. And that can be difficult when it costs so much money.

[00:06:43]But reverb.com is a fantastic solution for this because not only can you purchase used music gear at cheaper prices, but you can also sell some of your old music gear that you're not using anymore to pay for said purchases.

[00:06:56]I've personally bought and sold on reverb.com before and it's a really smooth experience to have really great customer service if you need it and it's just a fantastic way to discover your next piece of music gear that you're going to obsess over whilst also clearing out your studio of any dusty old guitars that you don't use anymore.

[00:07:14]To find out more about reverb.com, follow the links down below.

[00:07:18]Another lesserk known but great song that uses this core progression is the you and me song by the wannies. This song uses the same 1 2 3 4 chord progression for both the verse and the chorus, but in quite different ways. So in the verse, in the key of D, and they play it like this with these extensions on the top. So we have D major 7, E minor 7, F sharp minor 7, G6. So it's got quite a lush tone. And this ties in with the the Bosanova inspired drum beat they have.

[00:07:55]I kiss you once or twice and everything's forot.

[00:08:00]>> So that's the verse D, E minor, F sharp minor, G, but with these extensions on top. The chorus uses the same chord progression, but ditches the extension.

[00:08:11]So we no longer have sevens. They're just normal chords. And as you'll hear, it also kicks in with a far more typical alt rock sound. So there's a real contrast from verse to chorus. But technically we have that same ascending chord progression in both sections.

[00:08:35]Another song that uses this chord progression in the key of C is Breathe Again by Tony Braxton.

[00:08:43]But here it's used in a slightly different way. It's dragged out more.

[00:08:47]Rather than playing one chord per bar, he's spending two bars on each chord, which just sort of drags out that same sound.

[00:08:59]Same chord progression, but what we would say a different harmonic rhythm.

[00:09:04]The harmonic rhythm is twice as long.

[00:09:21]I love you. Now, >> another interesting use of this chord progression is in the track I knew I loved you by Savage Garden. Here in the key of A, the verse is based on the chord progression we've been talking about. 1 2 3 4. So that is a b minor c# sharp minor d.

[00:09:50]>> But what's interesting in this song is that the pre chorus then takes that verse chord progression and just moves it all up one scale degree. So now rather than starting the climb from one and going 2 3 4, we start the climb from two which is B minor and climb 3 4 5. So we have that sort of shared DNA between verse and chorus because it's essentially the same chord progression just shifted one scale degree up.

[00:10:27]A song that uses this chord progression but in kind of an interesting variation is The Last Man on Earth by Wolf Alice.

[00:10:34]Here we're in the key of G. And for the pre chorus, it goes to the chord C6.

[00:10:42]And then it climbs up from G, A minor, B minor, and then back to that C, a C6 chord. So, you know, we're getting that same essential chord progression of 1 2 3 4 G, A minor, B minor, C, but it starts kind of at the end and then loops back around again.

[00:11:03]And on on on top of that as well, it's not using an even harmonic rhythm. It's spending a different amount of time on each chord.

[00:11:12]>> The shelf has lines between lines between lines that you read about yourself.

[00:11:26]Another song that uses this climbing up chord progression is Up Town Gale by Billy Joel, but it's a slightly different variation. And that's why I've kept it kind of late in the video. It's not quite the exact same progression. What's happening in Billy Joel's Uptown Gale is this.

[00:11:53]So, did you see there's slight variation there? So the we have one C 2 D minor but then the three is actually one in first inversion. This is a C over E chord, not a E minor chord, which is the actual three. So not quite the exact same chord progression, but very very similar. And he also tops out onto five like that. But it has that same energetic climbing sound, right?

[00:12:28]up girl. She live in her up world.

[00:12:35]>> The last example we're going to look at today is yet another variation. And this song is actually still 1 2 3 4, but it's a little bit different. And that's because the two chord isn't minor like all of the examples we've been looking at so far. It's major instead, which means it's going outside of the key.

[00:12:53]It's what we call non dietonic.

[00:12:58]So, there's a slightly more interesting version of this chord progression. And the song that uses this um variation is Modern Love by David Bowie. For the chorus, we're getting C, D, E minor, and an F.

[00:13:21]Yeah.

[00:13:41]So, let me know in the comments if you can think of any other songs that use this 1 2 3 4 chord progression.

[00:13:49]So, if you've made it this far, then maybe you'll be interested in my music.

[00:13:53]I've just released an album of original songs, 10 original songs that I wrote.

[00:13:57]The album is called Under an Empty Sky.

[00:13:58]It's available right now on streaming platforms and also on Band Camp where you can buy it on vinyl, CD, or download.

[00:14:10]Anyone can see it. Going to pull it apart.

[00:14:16]Find what you will.

[00:14:23]Nobody knows.

[00:14:28]Give it just a moment. All accountability goes.