UPDATE: This video's title has been changed to better reflect its content. In the opinion of myself and others the previous title was inappropriately giving people the impression I was suggesting a 456 and its variations are somehow exclusive to anison and Japanese music in general (or that they're the only common progressions in those fields). Both of those arguments would be ridiculous notions to be sure. The actual content of this video never purports those claims so nothing in the video has been changed. This chord progression and its variations are however still relevant to fans of Japanese music and the music featured in anime because of the enormous frequency with which they've appeared in the last few decades. This conclusion was the result of a handful of years worth of transcription by myself and three other composers. For some anecdotal proof concerning their frequency please read the comments below. For something more quantitative please watch this video or search "The Royal Road Progression". Happy watching, folks!

Rick Astley's Never Gonna Give You Up uses the IV-V-iii-vi progression and so does his other hit song Together Forever.

As a Japanese musician, I have to say the fact:Half of what you call “anime songs” are not made for each anime (especially from middle of 1990s to early 2000s, most of them are not). They are made by Japanese musicians first, and then “tied-up” with anime by companies for promotion of the musician and song themselves. In other words, not only anime songs but also much of Japanese pop songs have that feature:Ⅳ-Ⅴ-Ⅵm chord progression and/or transformation of that. I also use that usually.

please highlight the chord number as it appears in the song example when you play it. this really helps show the chord changes and demonstrates your points. great video. thanks!

well that was fuckin excellent. Great video!

Thanks so much for all of the love this video has gotten! It means the world to me. Just wanted to respond to some of your comments here: Because the target audience of this channel is anime fans, I am light-heartedly using the term "anime music" and "the anime chord progression". Objectively, these terms have a complicated existence and colloquially I myself wouldn't use them outside of a very specific bubble (which this video is clearly in). My next video or the one after that will be discussing the complicated nature of these terms. Until then, keep a few things in mind: 1) The majority of the music used in anime is by Japanese artists, usually outside of the anison-exclusive space. 2) These chord progressions, while commonly employed within anime (thus making them characteristic of anime and Japanese music in general), are frequently employed by musicians all over the world in various fields.

4 5 6- 1 is one of the mainstream progression in any pop musics The original is what i called "The Half Cannon progession" 1 5 6- 4 other frequently used in pop music 6- 1 5 4 Add 3, it will be the "Full Cannon Progression" 1 5 6- 3- 4 1 4 5 There is no harm in flipping the chords as long as it is connected with the root chord Today lots of J-pop groups are playing around with Jazz and Hiphop sauces which make the progression kinda jazzy

It’s as overused as the I IV V in Blues and swing jazz. It’s not overused, as there are many textures and themes being communicated. There are also many creative options for composers to offer new takes on the progression.

As a composer, i really love those chords because there are so many melodies that can fit into it and also i am a fan of that anime vibe. Sure i could've make tons of songs with only those chords. But i really try to refrain myself from using it too much or even try to at least make it less obvious to make my song sound less cliche while still keeping the anime vibes. It's like a challenge.

This is such a cool video I never thought music theory behind anime openings could be so interesting but this is fascinating

Ah yes the "every single iron maiden song" chord progression

Honestly, as someone who craves novelty, I want to say it's overused. But, given the examples you put, it's clear that this progression is being properly explored -- I had no idea it was even in some of those songs.

I'm near illiterate when it comes to music theory, but man thanks so much for this video. It put into words something I've observed about anime music for years, but didn't have the vocabulary to explain easily. Your explanation is so good at dissecting it and making it digestible.

Charles Cornell sent me here, thank you.

Subbed instantly. I suck at music theory but this was really well explained and I could comfortably follow along. Personally I don’t mind cliche chords cause I mean, people kinda just gravitate to the kind of music that makes them comfortable. I grew up in egypt and our music has maqaam scales with microtonals, it has so much unexplored potential for cool harmonic stuff but sadly it may sound unfamiliar and uncomfortable to most.

Awesome! What's a chord progression? Edit: Oh my God, am I the most liked comment on this video?

I've been using these variations for songs I've written for my band, great to see there's legitimate proof/evidence of what makes a song "anime"-like. Kudos!

i have been searching for so long about anime chord progressions because anime songs are so cool and melodic. Now i know. Thank you for the lesson. Very much appreciated. ❤

" IV V III- VI- " is generally THE chord prog I think of when I think of anime. I personally find the prog a little monotonous at this point, but there's no denying that it's iconic. " IV V VI- III- " is honestly a solid chord prog and can still sound fresh. " IV V VI- I/3rd " can be a tear-jerker. I/3rd in general is a great technique. It's amazing how changing the formula even slightly can make a world of difference.

As someone who has played guitar on and off for 20 years (only as a hobby, I don't consider myself a musician really), this was a very fascinating and eye opening video. It has given me some inspiration and a starting point for possibly writing my own songs. Very informative, and it just blows my mind sometimes that musical theory has such depth to it. Also you have a great speaking voice, will definitely be checking out more videos. Was a great watch

I've been using this for years now but I have never seen a video on that topic. Great job at summarising it!

This chord progression is also very very heavily used in video game music. For example, the SMB level clear jingle is based on this chord progression.

It happens a lot on youtube where you can watch videos made to specifically explain theories all day and have it all go over your head but then you go get high and watch the anime chord progression video for quick plagiarism lifehacks and it all suddenly makes sense, really good video

The charts at the end of this video were literally what I've been looking for for ages. I've always really wanted to compose music, and I've had a few bangers that I've made (purely through feeling) but what always flabbergasted me was chord progressions. No matter how much I tried to study it or look it up, the information never stuck. But that simple chart and explanation has helped me so much and made everything click into place. This was a great video, thank you so much!

I play rock/metal music. It's pretty straight forward for me: Iron maiden->x japan->j rock->anime. 80-90s J-metal were greatly influenced by the western power metal/glam metal scene, which then influenced modern J-rock. You can find the 4-5-6 almost in every Iron Maiden song. I am not sure who started this, most likely some guitarists moving the same chord shape up and down the guitar neck and thought "wow it sounds good", accidentally created the subdominant-dominant-tonic cadence lol.

This is a really nice explanation. From the title I would have picked "IV V iii vi" as the most anime-esque progression of all, but the way you analyze it as a variant of "IV V vi" feels right (since the latter is simpler because of only having 3 chords). I disagree with one point of analysis though. At 11:06, you analyze the "iii" in "IV V iii vi" as having tonic function, but I think it's virtually always dominant function (which makes the progression sound like it's sitting on the dominant for an extra measure before resolving). Consider the voice leading. On a chord progression "F G Em7 Am", a pretty natural way to voice the right hand on a keyboard is as "CFA DGB DGB EAC". The leading tone doesn't resolve until the final chord, and because it's in the top voice, it really stands out too.

As many commenters here have mentioned, C - D - Em is a standard 80s metal chord progression. Which is why "Hallowed Be Thy Name / Ninja Scroll" is still the best AMV of all time.

IV-V-I is so comon in classical music that it actually has a name: an Italian cadence

IV, V, vi is an incredibly popular progression everywhere (just look at any of the Disney musicals). What tends to really solidify something as very anime/j-pop in my ears is what I like to call the Japanese ii-V, in which after the IV V vi you would play the V7/IV and its related ii. For example in the key of C - Fmaj, Gmaj, Amin, Gmin C7, Fmaj. This combo is very popular in RnB also, but I always catch it in anime

The part at 10:23 where you explain chord families blew my mind. Great video

Thank you! I was happily surprised when you went into the functional harmony section at the end. Really helps to give context to why those chords are used 🙂

Amazing video!!!thank you for making these, I saw almost all the shows op and ending in the examples and listening and reconignsing all was great!! Thank you for this!!

Im so glad charles showed us this video. It was sooo cool and there is so many really epic commentaries that brings us cool info, good to read all of this

Incredible content. I`m learning harmony and the I-IV-V in my guitar classes and this video was perfect! Thank you so much for this awesome video!

It's not just anime opening. That was the best music theory lesson I've ever heard.

Very good explanation with fitting audio and visual, great video!

Thank you so much for this! So much music potential has been unlocked!

I was like wow this is really well made then I saw your subs. That an actual felony. keep up the good stuff

Another variation I especially love is the IV V III vi - where III is actually the dominant V of vi - it creates an even more dramatic effect because we have the tritone in there pulling it towards the resolution, which is the minor vi. It's almost jarring to have two dominant chords one after another, but extremely satisfying when we get to the vi. The example I remember is Starlog by ChouCho. The chorus starts with B (IV), goes to C# (V), then A#7 (III) and resolves to D#m (vi). On top of it they play the chords for two bars each and (to add insult to the injury) they put a lot of emphasis on the D note (actually C double sharp in the A# chord), which doubles as a passing chromatic tone into the D#m (C# - D - D#). It's ingenious and it fascinated me for years - the tension buildup is just crazy - but it works perfectly. I wonder if it's easier to think of it as Gb instead, but then the chorus starts with Cb haha I think I picked a terrible example 🤣 Great vid! Thanks

Thank you so much for this fantastic video! This is the best music theoretical explanation about the IV V VI- chord progression I ever heared! Great job 😀

When KZfaq finds out you are interested in music theory and anime:

Cool video and I feel like I'm a step closer to understanding how chord progressions work.

That was really interesting! I'm a pianist, but maybe because I haven't touched the keys much over the past three years, I actually had trouble hearing some of the chord progressions in the examples, especially when the the bass line wasn't obvious. For future videos like this, maybe it would be a good idea to highlight the chord being played at each point in the examples? I felt you really made an effort to make this accessible to everyone, but doing this might make it easier for non-specialists (and people out of practice like me) to follow along. Just a suggestion. Thanks again for the video! 🙂

Finally got around to watching this. Best video yet! Hope you keep making more :D

I just found your channe. You don't know how Important this channel is, as a musician, anime lover and English learner this content is so useful ❤❤❤❤ Thanks a bunch

I've always heard that chord progression as some kind of twist on the bVI, bVII, I progression, aka the "Super Mario cadence". It's a very common cadence in japanese music, and the anime progression makes you feel like it's going there, but then it hits you with the I- and that triumphant and resolved feeling of the original is replaced by a darker and ambiguous tone. The contrast that it creates makes it sound somewhat bittersweet and nostalgic, giving the same effect as the I, V, VI-, IV progression, which can also be seen as a variation of it, with the chords rearranged in a different order.

loved the video man, had noticed it before but never put the work into looking in the variations, learned a lot, thanks!

I would say that it isn‘t overused because people still enjoy and listen to the openings with a lot of joy. Simplicity is what makes pop to pop and it‘s nice to have a good working formular. The chordprogression may be the same in a lot of songs but many other aspects like speed, instrumentalization, rhythm and so on gives you the chance to still make something unique about it 😊 it‘s a GREAT video!!! Keep on doing that great stuff 🙏

Thanks for this dude! I'll be tuning for more content! :)

this is freaking gold! thanks for the great analysis

Incredibly well explained. Inspirational! Thank you sir.

Thank you Yusef that was a great music theory lesson in any genre!

So well explained! This video was really helpful to me as a total music novice. Thank you!

This was really great, loved the explanation.

Learned a lot from this. Keep up the good work!

Thank you so much for covering this!

This was such an amazing video and has opened my eyes to a whole new world! Great Vid!

That was very helpful for my GCSE comp. Pls make more videos like this

Thank you for this - I was looking for this information to include in some of my music

excellent analysis chief, keep going

Really great and concise video, deserves a lot more views and subs! It's a bit more editing work, but something that can be really useful for viewers whose ears aren't quite tuned to harmonic changes is to highlight each chord as it's being heard when playing the examples 🙂 Keep up the good work!

You definitely deserve more subs, the quality of the video is insane!

Thanks for this amazing video! Loved to understand more about chord progressions, and i like some of them really much. Hope to keep studying Piano and music theory, cause i love composing and playing, i want to understand as much as i can!

Awesome video, Animyze! You covered a lot of helpful information

Great explanations! I'm looking forward for more. Subscribed!

Awesome work, dude!!! Fascinating stuff

This is a great video! I love how many examples you used - thanks for braving all those copyright strikes for us haha, I know how rough it can be. Awesome vid!

Great video! Ended up inspired to write a couple of songs based on this progression. :)

Great video, it was a eye opener for sure.

A very nice succinct view of functional harmony with a great explanation. Cheers

Omg, loved your video! Thankd for the content 👏

It's great that before shooting a video like this, I found yours)

Beautiful Explanation!!! Already shared it with my composer/otaku friend

U just earned a sub. this really amazing and it does make alot of sense, what an eye opener.

Fantastic breakdown...thank you!!!

The editing tho 🤩 *chef's kiss*

The best video i've seen on this topic, and i've seen a lot! most don't mention the minor variation, for example. Thanks! subbed!

Algorithm be praised, great video! I know next to nothing about music theory so it was great to learn about some of it in context with anime. Amazing work, keep it up!

Just found your channel; some amazing content on here! You have some serious talent! Keep up the great work!

You called it the "Anime Chord Progression", but it's actually just as prevalent in American Pop and 80s music, so much so that it was taught to me as the "Pop chord progression". American pop and Anime OP use the same chord progression, more proof that chords are simply a foundation for extended harmony, timbre, rhythm, and all the other things that make a song truly unique. Chords get way too much attention :/

Fabulous video in every way!

Thank you for this!

it deserves more views. Such a nice video

great video, i needed that thank you

That's an amazing video. Keep it up!

Great video, very interesting!

Really eye opening! I had heard the 4 5 3 6- progression before (not covered in this video) in many anime, and thought to myself upon seeing this video's thumbnail, "Yes! Someone finally made a video on that!", but to think that there was so much more to it...

I think IV - iii and iii - IV those chord changes are super popular in japanese music but no so much everywhere else

Harry Warren and Mack Gordon were also anime song writers. Chet baker popularized their best anime song in there will never be another you.

This was wonderful. If you have the time and energy I would very much like to see more content like this from you

Great analysis

Great video!

really great content!! keep it up you deserve so much more recognition!

Love the music theory! This makes me want to pull out the guitar and try it out. The analysis of non-western musical styles is a wonderful way to broaden understanding of music in general. Take the like and sub. Look forward to seeing how the channel grows!

This was amazing 🙌

The only thing this video made me realize is that I might be tonedeaf😂😂

Good video. Well explained. Thank you!

Thank you so much for this video))

Awesome video. Thanks.

These anime chord Progressions are really simple looking at it. However, with simple chord progressions, one can make good melodic backup with the vocals. So overused but explorative