I–I–I–I–IV–IV–I–I–V–IV–I–V

The twelve-bar blues — earthy, circling, never quite coming to rest.

Degrees: I–I–I–I–IV–IV–I–I–V–IV–I–V
Mode: major
Bars: 12
In C major: C7 – F7 – C7 – G7 – F7 – C7 – G7

The progression in C major

I7C74 bars IV7F72 bars I7C72 bars V7G7 IV7F7 I7C7 V7G7

In all twelve keys

The same degrees, shifted twelve times. To move a song into another key, read off the row.

Key	I7	IV7	I7	V7	IV7	I7	V7
C major	C7	F7	C7	G7	F7	C7	G7
G major	G7	C7	G7	D7	C7	G7	D7
D major	D7	G7	D7	A7	G7	D7	A7
A major	A7	D7	A7	E7	D7	A7	E7
E major	E7	A7	E7	B7	A7	E7	B7
B major	B7	E7	B7	F#7	E7	B7	F#7
F major	F7	Bb7	F7	C7	Bb7	F7	C7
Bb major	Bb7	Eb7	Bb7	F7	Eb7	Bb7	F7
Eb major	Eb7	Ab7	Eb7	Bb7	Ab7	Eb7	Bb7
Ab major	Ab7	Db7	Ab7	Eb7	Db7	Ab7	Eb7
Db major	Db7	Gb7	Db7	Ab7	Gb7	Db7	Ab7
F# major	F#7	B7	F#7	C#7	B7	F#7	C#7

Why it sounds that way

All three degrees appear as seventh chords, the tonic included — no key contains that. The blues borrows the sound of the dominant for every chord, so nothing ever finally resolves, and twelve bars can simply begin again.

Where you hear it

Johnny B. Goode — Chuck Berry
Hound Dog — Big Mama Thornton
Sweet Home Chicago — Robert Johnson

Related progressions

I–IV–VThe three primary chords i–i–i–i–iv–iv–i–i–V–iv–i–VThe minor blues

Anotona does this for you

Photograph a page of sheet music or play the melody — Anotona finds the key, engraves the notes and transposes them into any other. Free.

See Anotona

Every note on this page is computed, not typed in — following the rule that also makes F# major spell its seventh degree E#, not F.