🧠 C-G-D-A-E isn't a progression
Hey music makers! Ever wonder why "Hey Joe" sounds so hypnotic? Five simple chords that create incredible tension.
Today, we're cracking the code on a chord sequence that moves backward instead of forward, creating that inevitable pull that matches the song's dark story.
Real Song. Real Retrogression.
C - G - D - A - E 💿 "Hey Joe" by Jimi Hendrix
Quick breakdown:
Key: E Mixolydian
Roman numerals: ♭VI - IV/♭VII - ♭VII - IV - I
Why it works: Instead of moving forward like most songs, this retrogression moves backward through the circle of fifths. Each chord takes you further from "home" (the E chord) before returning - like Joe walking away from safety toward his inevitable fate.
This backward motion creates that gravity-pulling feeling that mirrors his psychological descent.
The chords are all major, so it doesn't sound traditionally sad. But that backward motion creates unease - like watching a slow-motion car crash. Your ear expects resolution that never quite comes.
Try this: Play it slow and feel how each chord seems to pull you deeper into the story. Even when it returns to E, it doesn't feel finished - it just cycles again, like Joe's inescapable fate.
This retrogression is featured in this week's Vault Pick - check it out to hear and see it in relation to the circle of fifths.
🧠 Term of the Week: Retrogression
What it sounds like: Music that yearns and never quite resolves - like reaching for something you can't quite grasp.
What it is: While most chord progressions move "forward" around the circle of fifths (counter-clockwise: E-A-D-G-C), retrogression moves backward, clockwise around the circle. This creates root movement typically up by fifths (C-G-D-A-E) rather than down by fifths.
Put simply, regular progressions move one way around the circle, and retrogression moves the opposite way.
Why it works: Regular progressions feel goal-oriented - your ear expects and wants the next chord. Retrogression creates a yearning quality instead.
Retrogression "wants to go somewhere and never quite resolves" the way descending fourth or fifth-based movement does.
Root movement patterns: Beyond the circle of fifths, retrogression includes any root movement by seconds and thirds (both ascending and descending).
These intervals avoid the strong goal-oriented pull of fourth and fifth relationships, creating that characteristic yearning quality where music "wants to go somewhere and never quite resolves."
This disruption of expectations allows composers to manipulate emotions and create psychological storytelling through harmony alone.
It can represent hesitation, doubt, flashbacks, or building suspense.
Classic retrogressions:
"Hey Joe" - C-G-D-A-E
"Sweet Home Alabama" - D-C-G (refuses to resolve traditionally)
The emotional effect: Retrogression creates deliberate musical "wrongness" that becomes its artistic strength.
In "Hey Joe," the harmony doesn't just accompany the dark story - it psychologically embodies Joe's hesitation, uncertainty, and inevitable descent.
🎯 Challenge for the Week
Step 1: Listen to "Hey Joe" while following the chord movement. Feel how each chord pulls downward rather than forward.
Step 2: Practice the C-G-D-A-E retrogression on your instrument. Notice the physical sensation of that descending root movement.
Step 3: Try creating your own 3-4 chord retrogression using the same backward circle-of-fifths principle. Start simple - even F-C-G can create that yearning effect.
There's something hypnotic about retrogression.
It doesn't clash with your ears like dissonant chords do - instead, it quietly tricks them. You sense something's off, but you can't pinpoint exactly what.
That's the brilliance of "Hey Joe" - the chords tell the story just as much as the lyrics do.
This is harmony as emotional architecture at work.
Each chord serves the larger story’s movement.
✉️ That's a wrap
What's a progression that sounds simple but hits you emotionally every time? Sometimes the most basic movements are the most powerful - I'd love to hear your example. Reply at mel@melvindarrell.com
