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.[1] 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: (For an explanation of this notation see Chord progression)
| width=25% | i | width=25% | VII | width=25% | i | width=25% | V |
| III | VII | i V | i |
Though usually in the key of G minor, in the key of A minor this gives:
| width=25% | Am | width=25% | G | width=25% | Am | width=25% | E |
| C | G | Am E | Am |
The romanesca is a variant of the passamezzo antico, where the first chord is the III (e.g., a C major chord in A minor). 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" (a big U.S. hit in 2006) and "Starts with Goodbye".