Songs that only use one chord

Coconut - Harry Nilsson. You know it - the “lime in the coconut” song. Just a C7 throughout.

Greatest one chord song ever!!

Well damn I never thought it possible to make a modern song with 1 or even no chords at all 😮
This might make my rap and beats far better!
Thanks a lot for this 😊

I like your song.

I only know 1 chord so I'm good to go !! ✌😂😂😂💥

This was a catchy, fast-paced jazz song featuring percussion as well as vocals, it is well known, but I cant remember the details. Any clues please?

Lots and lots of folk music in Europe is drone based too. Several of the instruments have drones built in by default, and you'd have to modify or interact with it in a nonstandard way to avoid having playing the drone. And quite a few has sympathetic strings that tend to favour one chord by resonating with it, effectively making it a kind of drone.

It's a mistake using the word "music" in any sentence also containing the word, "Madonna."

Good Video about deconstructing our western point of view about music. The parallel with indian music, which is not tonal but modal is a bit tricky, but you ended fine with "the idea of chords isn't realyy compatible with this type of music".
You could also have mentionned another type of music which is familiar with one-chord songs : Afrobeat. Fela Kuti has also a kind of approach based on rythm evolution and variation around one chord

jonathan richman‘s „pablo picasso“ is another great one

No bag pipes as an example?

I mentioned the Leonard Bernstein videos today since there was a comparison of Bernstein as a conductor. David Bennet videos are the You Tube equivalent of education as an art form. Someone should give David a grant to resurrect those videos and use in schools.

there's a difference between a pedal point and a single chord. hope you make that video some day

Hot Pants, by James Brown, with a bridge 🎵 and maybe octave change

Move it, by Cliff Richard... 🎭 with a bridge....Baby please don't Go, Van Morrison has changes on the same chord, and I'm sure James Brown has a couple of numbers too 🎵

"The Beat Goes On" by Sonny and Cher. "Coconut" by Harry Nilsson. "Helen Wheels" by Wings😊

Another song to add: "Hey Yea" by Dope Lemon. The only chord is Em7.

the reverb tail at the end of each example feels like little bit too much. for my taste at least

WAP doesn't need any good harmony, melody or rhythm, it has the wonderful message of disgusting vagina in our faces but no love.

You're a very amiable presenter and this is a fine video, David Bennet Piano. Interesting stuff.

I don't think it's up for debate- the Bb/C Major chord does function a a chord change. I don't know how one can continue to hear the C drone when that chord briefly comes in.

Tomorrow Never Knows has grown on me over time and that change is really essential as is the 'non-standard' drum beat.

I created an awesome chord progression I've never heard used before. It's in the Key of E.
It goes 4,4,4,4 3,3,3,3. 2,2,2,2. 1,1,1,1
Then back to the 4 chord.
(G#, G, F#, E)

Rap is not music and has no place in this video

i like your song ???

you lost me when you got rap, that sh!t aint music ???

Olena not Elena Skachenko

This was a very liberating video for me. I had the idea the other day when writing a song to see how far I could go with a single chord. It's surprised me how far I reached—I was able to focus on so many other things when not worrying about a chord progression.

This is so minblowing and refreshing. Thank you

"Why" by Yoko Ono/Plastic Ono Band.

There's a song called "Mañana en el abasto" from the band Sumo that also use one chord (E chord)

Yoko ono could sing doesn't any chords

The dude in the middle of the thumbnaillooks life if Anthiny Kiedes was a member of the Beatles

Basically any song with a single riff, bass lline or drum track that's looped. It's not surprising it's a lot of dance music which is notorious for looping tracks over...and over again.
In this day and age where music is really simple, it's not shocking you have several examples of single chord songs. And the Beatles are the most over-rated musicians in music history. So again, no shocker they have a single-chord song.
And honestly what's the difference between looping 1 chord and 3 chords? Both are pretty lazy song writing.

Another example could be Govinda by Kula Shaker, the whole song is in D major

I came here to listen to Sabotage by Beastie Boys and I am disappointed.

My favourite is Sabotage by the Beastie Boys.

Dude, there's nothing more annouying than putting a playlist or mix of videos on whyile you're doing something else and then having to listen to a list of patreons at the end of each video. Please don't do this.

@DavidBennettPiano In this vein, there's also a type of "one-note-song" of which I only know one (succesful) example while I write this: "witch doctor" of "The Staat". Its in the yearly top 2000 of all time of The Netherlands. I don't really know how to describe this type of music, perhaps "drone-music"? Anyway, keep it in mind - it might be something you can use.

I like this abstract "you may think music is X but have you considered..." format.

The idea of a "chord" is kind of illusory. It's really just a melody played all at once. So then a melody can be considered a chord that is stretched out, so even if one chord is played, there can be a chord movement existed through the melody.
"Chords" are really a convenience.
And drones are used almost universally, sometimes they're hard to detect but they bring unity to a song.

Odd to not include at least one techno example. Techno is notorious for sticking to the root, sometimes for an entire 7+ minute track. The reason they do that is usually to make it easier for a DJ to mix to another track. People tend to not realize how much the composition of genres like techno are affected by the fact that it's meant to be mixed by DJs. It affects it A LOT.

If you DJ, especially on vinyl, you will immediately realize why techno tracks are composed and structured the way they are. In particular, why there are long and boring extended intros/outros.

Everything by swans

Husker Du played I think a D for 45 minutes as an encore back in the 80s. Apparently it was intense. Not sure if it qualifies as a song, or for that matter, a chord, though.

I SIMPLY AND DEEPLY HATE THE MUSIC THEORY BUT I LOVE THIS GUY...WISH I HAD MET HIM 30 YEARS AGO...

12 minutes of one chord is hypnosis.