No chromatic notes at all — just the tonic stepping up through 3- into 4 — yet the climb reads as a lift every time. The 3- is the family's ambiguous cousin: approached from 1 it sounds like tonic stretching upward, which makes the 4 land like a destination instead of furniture.
hear it in “Hey There Delilah” verse loop · countless folk climbs
Lead-in — how players set it upFrom 4 falling home first — then the climb rises out of 1.Or from 6-, the sadder cousin of the same climb.Or start mid-air: 3- straight to 4, no runway.Follow — where it usually goes4 opens every door: cadence, borrow, or keep climbing to 5.Deceive at the top: 4 borrowed to 4- on the way down.Or keep the ladder: 4, 5, and cadence like you meant it.
Diatonic all the way: step 3 up to 4 as the chords do; the melody climbing WITH the harmony is the lift.Target tones (in C)C — lean on E (3)Em — lean on G (b3)F — lean on A (3)Half-step wiresC ↘ B · E → F · B → C