The progression
From the song Just the Two of Us by Grover Washington Jr. with vocals by Bill Withers (album Winelight, 1980). The most frequently cited sequence is:
Dbmaj7 – C7 – Fm7 – Ebm7 – Ab7
Read in Ab major: IVmaj7 – III7 – vi7 – v7 – I7.
Transposed to C (read in C major): Fmaj7 – E7 – Am7 – Gm7 – C7 → back to Fmaj7.
In Japan: 丸サ進行
In Japan it is called 丸サ進行 (marusa shinkō) after the song 丸の内サディスティック (Marunouchi Sadistic) by Shiina Ringo (album Muzai Moratorium, 1999), which uses a 4-chord version of it. In the 2010s and 2020s it became ubiquitous in J-pop; an article on nippon.com cites, among others, Tsutsumikomu yō ni... by MISIA, Seppun by ORIGINAL LOVE, Yoru ni Kakeru by YOASOBI and I LOVE... by Official Hige Dandism.
Analysis
| Chord (C) | Fmaj7 | E7 | Am7 | Gm7 | C7 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Degree in C | IVmaj7 | III7 (V/vi) | vi7 | v7 | I7 (V/IV) |
| Function | S | secondary dominant | Tp (minor tonic) | ii of IV | V of IV |
- Fmaj7 → E7: the bass drops a semitone; E7 is the dominant of Am.
- E7 → Am7: V–i resolution: for a moment we are in A minor.
- Am7 → Gm7 – C7: it drops a whole tone and forms a ii–V toward Fmaj7: the cycle starts again.
It is a loop: the progression never settles on the major tonic. It alternates a minor zone (Am) and a major one (F), with an urban, sophisticated, melancholy color: the feel of “city pop” and neo-soul.
Voice leading (C, right hand)
- Fmaj7: A C E
- E7: G# B D
- Am7: G C E
- Gm7: F Bb D
- C7: E G Bb
From Fmaj7 to E7 the three voices descend by step (A → G#, C → B, E → D); from E7 to Am7 the leading tone G# falls to G (the seventh of Am7) and B rises to C. The bass F – E – A – G – C is the “engine.”
Variants
- 4 chords: Fmaj7 – E7 – Am7 – C7 (without the Gm7).
- With neo-soul extensions: Fmaj9 – E7(b9 b13) – Am9 – Gm9 – C13(b9).
- With tritone substitution: Fmaj7 – E7 – Am7 – Gm7 – Gb7 (→ Fmaj7, bass G – Gb – F).
- Minor: start from Am7 (vi7 – v7 – I7 – IVmaj7 – III7): same loop, different starting point.
Why it is so widespread
- It combines the logic of the jazz ii–V with a 4-bar loop suited to pop.
- It is compatible with pentatonic melodies (A C D E G in C) that sit well over all the chords.
- It sounds “classy” even with simple sounds (electric piano, bass, drums).
Producer exercise
- 4 bars at 96 BPM, 54–56% swing on sixteenth notes: Fmaj7 | E7 | Am7 | Gm7 C7 |.
- Rhodes (Stage-73 V) with 4-note voicings, electric bass with ghost notes, neo-soul drums.
- Write a pentatonic melody (A minor pentatonic) and check that over E7 it avoids a long G (clash with G#), or use it deliberately as a #9.
Related
Royal road, related ii–Vs, neo-soul harmony, secondary dominants, K-pop and modern pop progressions.