Passamezzo antico


The passamezzo antico is a ground bass or chord progression that was popular during the Italian Renaissance and known throughout Europe in the 16th century. The progression is a variant of the double tonic: its major mode variant is known as the passamezzo moderno.
The sequence consists of two phrases as follows: '
iVIIiV
IIIVIIi Vi

Though usually in the key of G minor, in the key of A minor this gives:
AmGAmE
CGAm EAm

The romanesca is a variant of the passamezzo antico, where the first chord is the III'. A famous example is "Greensleeves".
The passamezzo antico chord changes are found, knowingly or not, in modern popular music culture: Carrie Underwood's debut album Some Hearts'' has two examples, "Before He Cheats" and "Starts with Goodbye".