Post subject: 7-3-6-2-5-1 progression in minor keys? Posted: Feb 01, 2008 - 11:57 AM
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Joined: Feb 01, 2008
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How would one go about using the 7-3-6-2-5-1 progression in minor keys?
In a major scale, for instance, the individual tone chords are (for Gb): Gb major, Ab minor, Bb minor, B Major, Db Major, Eb minor, F diminished. Right?
What are the equivalent chords for a minor scale? If I were to take a stab at it I'd hazard a guess of say (for Gb): Gb minor, Ab diminshed, A Major, B minor, Db minor, D Major, E Major. Is this right?
What are the equivalents for progressions in minor keys. Thanks for the help.
tammyid
Post subject: RE: 7-3-6-2-5-1 progression in minor keys? Posted: Feb 06, 2008 - 08:42 PM
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This is probably a more advanced question. Most of the time, people would be playing or dealing w/ the major scales. Let me see if I can help.
First, we need to look at the minor scale. The minor scale is always 3 notes lower than it's relative major scale (ie A minor is the relative minor of the C major scale)
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LadyD
Post subject: RE: [None] Posted: Feb 07, 2008 - 08:27 PM
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Thanks Tammy for sharing! It's good info! James has helped me to understand so much in music. A friend sent me these notes on Minor Keys and this is a bit simpler for me to understand! lol
Minor Keys - Concept #5
The place to begin is i - iv - V. When you stop to think about it, this is where most songwriters begin when writing in major keys, with the three chords... I, IV, and V. Many songs have been written using these three chords. So when we begin to explore minor keys for the first time, it makes sense to start there... with i, iv, and V.
The i chord is minor. The iv chord is minor. But the V chord is major. This is easy if you already know your major scales. Let's take an example... the key of D. Because we've written songs in D major (where D, G, and A are the I, IV and V chords), we simply shift our thinking a little, change the D major chord to D minor, change the G major chord to G minor, and keep the A major chord just like it is. Then playing the Dm chord as the "home chord," we begin creating phrases that include Gm and A. Some of these simple phrases would be...
Dm - A - Dm
Dm - Gm - Dm
Dm - Gm - A - Dm
Dm - Gm - Dm - A - Dm
Gm - Dm - Gm - A - Dm
(Also, the A chord may be played as A7 when the Dm chord follows... turning the dominant into a dominant 7 is common when the next chord is the "tonic," or i chord.)
Minor Keys - Approach #2
At this point, especially if minor keys are somewhat new to you, I would encourage you to write simple songs, or at least several musical phrases using these three chords... i, iv, and V. Hearing this sound clearly in your mind is an important first step.
Minor Keys - Concept #6
After i, iv, and V become familiar, the next question is... What about the chords built on notes 2, 3, 6, and 7? Here's where we have a little bit of a departure from the way it works in major keys. In major keys, if the bass note is note 2, there's a good probability the chord is chord ii. The same can be said for notes 3 and 6. If the bass note is note 3 (or 6), the chord is quite often chord iii (or vi). It's not always true, but more often than not it is. (And when you are first beginning, it's a good place to start.)
But in minor, it's a little different story. So we'll need to talk about each bass note. For the following examples, we will use the key of C minor. Remember, the C harmonic minor scale is... C, D, Eb, F, G, Ab, B, C.
When the bass note is note 1 (C), the most common chord is Cm.
Other possibilities:
- the iv chord with its fifth in the bass (Fm/C)
- the VI chord with its third in the bass (Ab/C)
When the bass note is note 2 (D), the scale suggests the chord D dim, made up of the three notes D, F, and Ab. However, when you begin writing and playing songs in minor keys, this chord is not necessarily the most common when the bass note is on note 2.
Other possibilities:
- the vii dim chord with its third in the bass (Bdim/D)
- the V7 chord with its fifth in the bass (G7/D)
When the bass note is note 3 (Eb), the scale suggests the Eb aug chord, made up of the three notes Eb, G and B. This chord is one possibility, but probably more common is the chord Cm/Eb, using the tree notes Eb, G, and C.
When the bass note is note 4 (F), the most common chord is Fm.
Other possibilities:
- the V7 chord with its seventh in the bass (G7/F)
When the bass note is note 5 (G), the most common chord is G or G7.
Other possibilities:
- the i chord with its fifth in the bass (Cm/G). This chord is quite often used to set up the progression V - i... (Cm/G - G - Cm).
When the bass note is note 6 (Ab), the VI chord (Ab) is a good option. Another good choice is the iv chord with its third in the bass (Fm/Ab).
When the bass note is note 7 (B), the vii dim7 chord (Bdim7) is a good choice. So is the V chord with its third in the bass (G/B).
(The main idea here is this: in major keys there's a strong tendency to allow the bass note to be the root of the chord (especially when first learning to write songs). But in minor keys, even when you are beginning, certain bass notes tend not to be the root. When the bass note is 2, 3, 6, or 7, quite often that bass note is the third of the chord. Knowing this right from the beginning will help you as you explore progressions in minor keys.)
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