50's progression - blues progression - the Canon - theory

Since the beginning of western music, almost everything we have heard on the radio, at concerts, and at home on our records, phones, or CD's, have been comprised of a suprisingly small number of different possible notes. Only twelve notes exist in western music, from A to Ab. And since most of the music we listen to is limited even further by the key of the song, or the one note around which all other notes revolve, it quickly becomes difficult for musicians to come up with a combination of notes and chords that has not been used before. As a result, simple 4 chord progressions are the basis of almost all pop and rock music, and some songs sound just like others. To see some examples, or read up on the music theory behind this, click on one of the links above!