I-IV Progressions

The Double
The subdominant
Message of the
(IV) chord
I-IV change

Before we go to specific keys, I will point at the nice relation between the I-chord played as
an A-shape with partial barr fingeringand IV-chord played as a Middle D-shape just
above.

As an example, we can put it in

C-major, with C as the I-chord
and F as the IV-chord. The barr
will then be at 5th fret. You hold
the A-shape as a barr, and keep
the barr while fretting over.
C F C and F combined
Listen to Dire Strait's Sultans of Swing for just one example where you can hear these
chords.
One application of this is in the Chord shuffle. It is also part of The harmonized shuffle
Note that these are closed positions, meaning that you do not play open strings.

We might start with a simple C - F change, which does

not require much finger movement, and sounds nice.

C F

A variation that sounds nice in some ballads and maybe some

other music as well, is the change from C to Fmaj7, where the
Fmaj7 is played as an F-chord with open 1st string. Listen to
Donovan's old hit Catch The Wind for a nice example of this
change. (He sometimes play C - Fmaj7, and sometimes play C - F
-- I leave it to you to find out when he plays the two variations of
the F-chord.)
I have made one MIDI-file to illustrate the point. It goes C-
Fmaj7-C-F. Listen to the differences between the Fmaj7 and the
F. Fmaj7
Another variation, still in the key of C, is C -Fadd9. (Fadd9
has a 9th, which is G, added. But it is not a 9th chord
because it does not contain a 7th. More about 9th chords
in the "9 to 5" lesson.) You should then play the C with a G
on 1st string, 3rd fret, fingered with your pinky. When
changing to Fadd9, you just keep the G on the first string.
This chord change was often favored by John Lennon C Fadd9

In the key of G you have a similar

change from G to C, still with the G on
1st string when you play the C chord.
You should also try the Gsus4 instead of
the C, and listen to the difference.

G C Gsus4
The G chord can be fingered in different ways, and there is no "correct" fingering. What
fingering to choose depends on where you are coming from and where you are going. When
changing between G and C, as in the previous example, you should use the pinky on the 1st
string, ring finger on 6th string and middle finger on 5th string. That leaves the 1st finger for
the C on 2nd string.
The progression is closely related to the I-ii progression. The relationship is discussed in
the I-ii lesson.
The subdominant (IV) The Double Message of the I-IV
chord change