Almost every song in the pop charts is built around the same four chords. And it's nothing new – they're the same three chords that Pachelbel used in his famous Canon. But why do we keep coming back ...

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If you buy something from a Verge link, Vox Media may earn a commission. See our ethics statement. Fender Songs is a new iOS app from the veteran guitar manufacturer which lets you learn the chords to ...

It’s hard to imagine putting together a successful, charting pop song with just one chord. However, that’s exactly what the following three musicians and bands did with their respective hits.

This post is in partnership with NME. Perhaps nothing epitomized the accessible DIY nature of punk more than what iconic fanzine Sideburns quipped in its first issue back in 1977: ‘This is a chord.

Here’s a very famous example of a very famous song that only really uses one chord. Aretha Franklin’s huge 1967 soul hit only features one main chord, C minor. And despite being so simple, the song ...