The four chords of pop
Start the loop. Do you recognize any songs? Also try the version that starts on the minor chord.
The experiment starts as soon as the page has loaded (JavaScript is required).
Try the experiment: your result will appear here, next to what most people do.
What just happened (read it after the experiment)
What most people do: Most people recognize at least one song within a few bars.
The progression C, G, A minor, F carries hundreds of hits, from Let It Be to Someone Like You. In 2009, the Australian comedy group Axis of Awesome turned it into a famous sketch, running through dozens of hits over the same loop.
It alternates tension and rest in a very predictable way: your brain guesses what comes next, and it loves being right.
Started on the minor chord, the same loop sounds melancholy: it’s the order, not the chords, that changes the mood.
More experiments
Sources
- David Huron, Sweet Anticipation: Music and the Psychology of Expectation, 2006.