The I-V-IV Progression

I-V-IV-I Variations: (Continued)

Chord Substitutions:

Below are several well-known songs created by using chord substitutions and inversions. Notice the use of the Major to Minor substitution.

E-B/F#-Aadd9-E = Wedding Song (There Is Love) verse (1971)
E-Bm7-A-E = Fire And Rain verse (1970)
E-Bm7-A9-E = We Are Family verse (1979)
E-Emaj7-Bm7-A-Am-E = Kokomo verse (1988)

The following chart shows a comparison of these progressions:

E-      B/F#-Aadd9-E
E-      Bm7- A-    E
E-      Bm7- A9-   E
E-Emaj7-Bm7- A-Am- E

The Sister Sledge We Are Family verse takes the "I-V-IV-I" Rock Progression Variation and substitutes the "v7" chord for the "V" chord and a "IV9" chord for the "IV" chord, creating the unique chord progression below.