One-chord-progression songs suitable for jams or encores

EricTheWeary · August 2013

Daddy was a Bankrobber by the Clash (is it a cover?). Err, couple or three bars in G, bar A minor, bar G and then 1/2 bar of C, half of D twice. Clearly badly remembered but pretty sure it repeats all the way through. Should I Stay is also one sequence repeated but its the rhythmic changes that make the song so hard to jam well I would think. Roadhouse Blues isn't the same all the way through but 90% of it us just E and then the changes follow the singer so its a good song to jam if you have a reasonably confident vocalist.

UnclePsychosis · August 2013

Get Lucky.

Bm - D - F#m - E

bigjon · November 2013

'Roar' by Katy Perry is a contender.

|Bb . . . |. . Cm . |Gm . . . |. . Eb . |

John_P · November 2013

UnclePsychosis said:

Get Lucky.

Bm - D - F#m - E

The same chord sequence (different key) as John Newman - Will you love me again. Gm Bb Dm C

(we mash them up in a rock style - lead vox doing JM and BV's singing get lucky).

bigjon · December 2013

Diamonds By Rihanna

|Ab . . . |Cm . . . |Bb . . . |. . . .|

bigjon · December 2014

Down Under by Men at Work

|Bm . A . |Bm . G A|

Danny1969 · December 2014

With or without you is basically D - A - Bm - G all the way through as an outline but just play a D major arp on 8ths (D - A - F# - D) over the D -A -B - G bassline and it works very well

Moves like Jagger - Maroon Five is essentially just 2 chords, Bm and Em7

Bohemian Like You - Dandy Warhols is basically just a B - D - A -E progression with a rest on the B once in a while

1nten5e · December 2014

Any of these

thecolourbox · December 2014

White Stripes - 7 Nation Army

Velvet UNderground - White Light White Heat

smigeon · December 2014

I Would Rather Go Blind (Etta James, Rod Stewart, etc. etc): G Am G Am...

ThePrettyDamned · December 2014

bigjon said:

mike_l said:
Van Halen - Ain't talkin' bout Love - Am - F-G (Eb tuning)
I'll add that one to the main list as it's a genuine one-progression song and always goes down well at the Earl of Derby jam on a Saturday night

And an absolute corker of a song.

Actually, I'm surprised at how many there are here that are great songs. I need to simplify my writing process considerably!

bigjon · December 2014

Danny1969 said:

With or without you is basically D - A - Bm - G all the way through as an outline but just play a D major arp on 8ths (D - A - F# - D) over the D -A -B - G bassline and it works very well

Added

bigjon · December 2014

Move On Up by Curtis Mayfield - ||Em . . . |. . A . |Bm . . . |. . F#m . ||

bigjon · February 2015

Uptown Funk by Mark Ronson with Bruno Mars - ||Dm |G ||

list is now

Ain't talkin' 'bout love by Van Halen - ||Am .F. .G|. . . . ||
All Along The Watchtower by Hendrix - ||C#m . B .A|. . B . ||
Chasing Cars by Snow Patrol - ||A . . . |Amaj7/G# . . . |D . . . |. . . . ||
Creep by Radiohead - ||G . . . |B . . . |C . . . |Cm . . . ||
Dance The Night Away by The Mavericks - ||E . . . |B . . . ||
Down Under by Men At Work - ||Bm . A . |Bm . G A||
Free Fallin' by Tom Petty - ||F . Bb . |,F.C. . ||
Get Lucky by Daft Punk - ||Bm . . . |D . . . |F#m . . . |E . . . ||
Gloria by Them - ||E . D A||
Halo by Beyonce - ||Bb . . . |Cm . . . |Gm . . . |Eb . . . ||
Hey Joe by Hendrix - ||C . . . |G . . . |D . . . |A . . . ||E . . . |. . . . |. . . . |. . . . ||
High And Dry by Radiohead ||F#m . . . |A . . . |E . . . |. . . . ||
Horse With No Name by America ||Em . . . |F#m . . . ||
Knocking On Heaven's Door by Bob Dylan - ||G . . . |D . . . |Am . . . |C . . . ||
Move On Up by Curtis Mayfield - ||Em . . . |. . A . |Bm . . . |. . F#m . ||
Passenger by Iggy Pop ||Am . F . |C . G . |Am . F . |C . E . ||
Price Tag by Jessie J ||F . . . |Am . . . |Dm . . . |Bb . . . ||
Roar by Katy Perry ||Bb . . . |. . Cm . |Gm . . . |. . Eb . ||
She Sells Sanctuary by The Cult - ||D . . . |. . . . |C . . . |G . . . ||
Stir It Up by Bob Marley - ||A . . . |D . E . ||
Sweet Home Alabama by Lynyrd Skynyrd - ||D . . . |C . . . |G . . . |. . . . ||
Uptown Funk by Mark Ronson with Bruno Mars - ||Dm |G ||
Wicked Game by Chris Isaak - ||Bm . . . |A . . . |E . . . |. . . . ||
With Or Without You by U2 - ||D |A |Bm | G ||

robwright · February 2015

The Axis of Awesome click says it all - brilliant!

Really useful list for using loopers as well.

HAL9000 · February 2015

People Get Ready by Curtis Mayfield. D Bm G D.

bigjon · February 2015

HAL9000 said:

People Get Ready by Curtis Mayfield. D Bm G D.

Good one. Added

HAL9000 · February 2015

Learning to Fly by Tom Petty - F | C | Am | G |

djspecialist · February 2015

Yellow Ledbetter by Pearl Jam || E ... | B ... | A ... | E ... ||

The One I Love by REM || Em ... | Dsus2 ... | Em ... | .... ||
OK, it's not strictly one chord sequence - the refrain at the end of each verse goes || G ... | D ... | Am ... | C ... ||

Mr Jones by Counting Crows - again two sequences, but pretty simple:
Verse || Am ... | F ... | Dm ... | G ... ||
Chorus || C ... | F ... | G ... | .... ||

BigMonka · February 2015

The Offspring The Kids Aren't Alright: Em C G D Any chance we can get this discussion stickied, it took me ages to find!

bigjon · February 2015

BigMonka said:

The Offspring The Kids Aren't Alright: Em C G D Any chance we can get this discussion stickied, it took me ages to find!

@TTony, stickies are your call I guess

TTony · February 2015

bigjon said:

BigMonka said:

The Offspring The Kids Aren't Alright: Em C G D Any chance we can get this discussion stickied, it took me ages to find!

@TTony, stickies are your call I guess

I called.

BigMonka · February 2015

Happy days, thanks @TTony

bigjon · April 2015

Added

Hit The Road Jack by Ray Charles - ||Fm . Eb . |Db . C . ||

List now reads

Ain't Talkin' 'bout Love by Van Halen - ||Am .F. .G|. . . . ||
All Along The Watchtower by Hendrix - ||C#m . B .A|. . B . ||
Chasing Cars by Snow Patrol - ||A . . . |Amaj7/G# . . . |D . . . |. . . . ||
Creep by Radiohead - ||G . . . |B . . . |C . . . |Cm . . . ||
Dance The Night Away by The Mavericks - ||E . . . |B . . . ||
Down Under by Men At Work - ||Bm . A . |Bm . G A||
Free Fallin' by Tom Petty - ||F . Bb . |,F.C. . ||
Get Lucky by Daft Punk - ||Bm . . . |D . . . |F#m . . . |E . . . ||
Gloria by Them - ||E . D A||
Halo by Beyonce - ||Bb . . . |Cm . . . |Gm . . . |Eb . . . ||
Hey Joe by Hendrix - ||C . . . |G . . . |D . . . |A . . . ||E . . . |. . . . |. . . . |. . . . ||
High And Dry by Radiohead ||F#m . . . |A . . . |E . . . |. . . . ||

Hit The Road Jack by Ray Charles - ||Fm . Eb . |Db . C . ||
Horse With No Name by America ||Em . . . |F#m . . . ||
Knocking On Heaven's Door by Bob Dylan - ||G . . . |D . . . |Am . . . |C . . . ||
Move On Up by Curtis Mayfield - ||Em . . . |. . A . |Bm . . . |. . F#m . ||
Passenger by Iggy Pop ||Am . F . |C . G . |Am . F . |C . E . ||

People Get Ready by Curtis Mayfield ||D . Bm . |G . D . ||
Price Tag by Jessie J ||F . . . |Am . . . |Dm . . . |Bb . . . ||
Roar by Katy Perry ||Bb . . . |. . Cm . |Gm . . . |. . Eb . ||
She Sells Sanctuary by The Cult - ||D . . . |. . . . |C . . . |G . . . ||
Stir It Up by Bob Marley - ||A . . . |D . E . ||
Sweet Home Alabama by Lynyrd Skynyrd - ||D . . . |C . . . |G . . . |. . . . ||
Uptown Funk by Mark Ronson with Bruno Mars - ||Dm |G ||
Wicked Game by Chris Isaak - ||Bm . . . |A . . . |E . . . |. . . . ||
With Or Without You by U2 - ||D |A |Bm | G ||

harpo · April 2015

Stand by me ....by Otis. G/Em/C/D Dancing in the moonlight....... by Lizzy Em/D/C/G7

harpo · April 2015

Also People get ready shouldn't be in the list as there's two minor chords thrown in on the line "don't need no ticket ' So .if we're in D the chords would be F#m and Em

bigjon · April 2015

I'm learning "Earned It" by The Weeknd (from the Fifty Shades soundtrack) for the jams this week. Just two chords Gm & Dm

bigjon · May 2015

Definitely going in the list - Girl Like You by Edwyn Collins ||Cm . . . |Fm . Gm . |Cm . . . |Fm . Cm . ||

bigjon · May 2015

Probably not enough of a long-term classic to warrant inclusion in the main list, but Wake Me Up by Aloe Blacc is

||C#m . A . |E . . . || throughout.

List is now

Ain't talkin' 'bout love by Van Halen - ||Am .F. .G|. . . . ||
All Along The Watchtower by Hendrix - ||C#m . B .A|. . B . ||
Chasing Cars by Snow Patrol - ||A . . . |Amaj7/G# . . . |D . . . |. . . . ||
Creep by Radiohead - ||G . . . |B . . . |C . . . |Cm . . . ||
Dance The Night Away by The Mavericks - ||E . . . |B . . . ||
Down Under by Men At Work - ||Bm . A . |Bm . G A||
Free Fallin' by Tom Petty - ||F . Bb . |,F.C. . ||
Get Lucky by Daft Punk - ||Bm . . . |D . . . |F#m . . . |E . . . ||
Girl Like You by Edwyn Collins - ||Cm . . . |Fm . Gm . |Cm . . . |Fm . Cm . ||
Gloria by Them - ||E . D A||
Halo by Beyonce - ||Bb . . . |Cm . . . |Gm . . . |Eb . . . ||
Hey Joe by Hendrix - ||C . . . |G . . . |D . . . |A . . . ||E . . . |. . . . |. . . . |. . . . ||
High And Dry by Radiohead ||F#m . . . |A . . . |E . . . |. . . . ||

Hit The Road Jack by Ray Charles - ||Fm . Eb . |Db . C . ||
Horse With No Name by America ||Em . . . |F#m . . . ||
Knocking On Heaven's Door by Bob Dylan - ||G . . . |D . . . |Am . . . |C . . . ||
Move On Up by Curtis Mayfield - ||Em . . . |. . A . |Bm . . . |. . F#m . ||
Passenger by Iggy Pop ||Am . F . |C . G . |Am . F . |C . E . ||

People Get Ready by Curtis Mayfield ||D . Bm . |G . D . ||
Price Tag by Jessie J ||F . . . |Am . . . |Dm . . . |Bb . . . ||
Roar by Katy Perry ||Bb . . . |. . Cm . |Gm . . . |. . Eb . ||
She Sells Sanctuary by The Cult - ||D . . . |. . . . |C . . . |G . . . ||
Stir It Up by Bob Marley - ||A . . . |D . E . ||
Sweet Home Alabama by Lynyrd Skynyrd - ||D . . . |C . . . |G . . . |. . . . ||
Uptown Funk by Mark Ronson with Bruno Mars - ||Dm |G ||
Wicked Game by Chris Isaak - ||Bm . . . |A . . . |E . . . |. . . . ||
With Or Without You by U2 - ||D |A |Bm | G ||

HAL9000 · September 2015

Old Time Rock'n'Roll by Bob Seeger | F# | F# | B | B | C# | C# | F# | F# |

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One-chord-progression songs suitable for jams or encores

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