Chord and FretBlues · quick-change — Cavaquinho
What is the Blues · quick-change progression?
The Blues · quick-change progression is E → A → E → E (I – IV – I – I), in the key of E. Read as harmonic function it moves tonic → subdominant → tonic → tonic, cycling as a vamp with no full cadence. Play one chord per bar and let it loop.
Four chords, a whole story: E (I, home) → A (IV, the stroll) → E (I, home) → E (I, home). Hit play. First pass, just listen. Second pass, follow with your finger on the names — and notice that by the second-to-last chord, your body already knows E — home — is coming.
Cavaquinho
Its chords sound tight and punchy; instead of holding long shapes, it keeps the beat moving with short, repeated strums. In pop, rock or blues the cavaquinho is an unusual guest; it adds a bright, chopping rhythm layer, but it can't cover the low end a band expects. Its home chord E keeps its lowest note on E and rings 1 open string.
Circle of Fifths — See the key's diatonic chords and its secondary dominants · open in Chord and Fret
Save this progression in Chord and FretReharmonize — Want richer substitutions? Reharmonize the progression in a tap · use it in Chord and Fret
Learn each chord of the trip
This is one shape of E. In Chord and Fret, you open every position of all 4 chords in this progression along the neck — on any instrument, and hear each one. Open in Chord and Fret →
Metronome — Drill this change in time, with tap tempo and subdivisions · try it in Chord and Fret
If you want to keep exploring, the Chord and Fret app picks up right here, with every variation of this chord one tap away. On Google Play.