Posted on

Discovering Minor Chord Progressions

Many of us are familiar with popular major chord progressions like I–IV–V–I. Now it’s time to delve into the exciting world of minor chords. Minor scales give flavor and emotion to a song, adding a level of musical depth that can make a mediocre song moving and distinct from others.

Because so many of our favorite songs are in major keys, those that are in minor keys can stand out, and some musical styles like rock or jazz thrive on complex minor scales and harmonic wizardry.

Minor chord progressions generally contain richer harmonic possibilities than the typical major progressions. Minor key songs frequently modulate to major and back to minor. Sometimes the same chord can appear as major and minor in the very same song!

But this heady harmonic mix is nothing to be afraid of.

By the end of this article, you’ll not only understand how minor chords are made, but you’ll know some common minor chord progressions, how to write them, and how to use them in your own music. With enough listening practice, you’ll be able to recognize minor chord progressions in songs almost instantly!

Table of Contents:

1. A Tale of Two Tonalities

2. Major or Minor?

3. Chords in Minor Scales

4. The Top 3 Chords in Minor Progressions

5. Exercises in Minor

6. Writing Your Own Minor Chord Progressions

7. Your Minor Journey

A Tale of Two Tonalities

Western music is dominated by two tonalities: major and minor. While music written in major keys sounds bright and cheery, minor music tends to be darker and sadder, with chords to match.

Though it may be tempting for the beginner musician to stick to major keys only, the world of minor isn’t as sad as it seems – quite the contrary! Minor chords add a depth and richness to your music that major chords alone will not give you. Everlasting, perpetual happiness in music gets boring. And no, learning minor chords isn’t just for songwriters – they’re also a must for anyone who wants to improve their ear, cover others’ songs, and understand music theory.

Before we dive into how to build these melancholy minor chords, let’s compare major vs. minor chord progressions. Just take a listen to this famous R.E.M. tune “Losing My Religion” transposed to a major key. Characteristic of major chords, the song sounds unusually chipper and almost happy, regardless of the lyrics and meaning behind the song. Notice how the change from minor chords to major chords nearly changes the overall style to something that might fit better on a country radio station.

R.E.M. seems pretty chipper in this version of “Losing My Religion” in a major key:

Now compare to the original song, and you can hear how the minor chord progressions add a distinctly morose moodiness that is not evident in the major version. The original R.E.M. tune’s use of minor chord progressions for guitar gives it a particularly brooding quality:

What about the reverse?

Sure enough, transposing a song from a major key to a minor key lends a more brooding, melancholy feel to the song. Check out Chase Holfelder’s minor rendition of “How Far I’ll Go” from Disney’s Moana:

Exercise: Major or Minor?

When learning how to play minor chord progressions, you need to be able hear the difference between different chord qualities. While there are many chord qualities, including diminished and augmented, right now we are going to focus on the difference between minor and major chords.

In the following six examples you are going to hear a chord. Is it major or minor? Can you grab an instrument and work out exactly which chord it is? Write down your answers and then check with the answers below.


Example 1

Example 2

Example 3

Example 4

Example 5

Example 6

Show answers

  • Example 1: C Major
  • Example 2: F Major
  • Example 3: G Minor
  • Example 4: E Minor
  • Example 5: B Minor
  • Example 6: E Major

How did you do? Were you able to tell which ones were major or minor? Bonus points if you could identify which chord you heard. If you answered all of the answers correctly, you can tell major chords from minor chords and you are ready to move on to chord progressions.

Need a Little More Practice?

What if you need a little more practice? That’s okay! It just takes some time and practice to learn a new skill like hearing chord qualities.

Here are more great exercises and information on chords:

Chords in Minor Scales

Before you can play with chord progressions, let’s talk about the different chords available in minor. Because there are three distinct minor scales – natural, harmonic, and melodic – some of these chords are altered based on which scale you choose.

While we are going to discuss these different scale variations here a little bit, it’s best not to get caught up in them: in the real world, minor melodies, and the chords supporting them, can vary between the different minor scales in the same piece of music.

Because of the way that we traditionally write a chord progression, where specific tones move towards the tonic or dominant for resolution, we often use the chords found in the melodic or harmonic minor scale rather than the natural minor scale. Without the G# leading tone, the natural minor scale can be ambiguous and lack movement, and can kill a tune by stripping it of musical motion.

Natural Minor Chords

Melodic Minor Chords
This doesn’t mean that you will never use the natural minor scale—depending on your musical style, you may run into it a lot. But for most commercial purposes, you will avoid building a chord progression using the natural minor scale.

Building Minor Chords On Each Scale Degree

To build a basic chord, remember you need to build up triads in the key. In A Major, the I major chord is A–C#–E, but in A Minor, the I minor chord is A–C–E. You have the tonic, the minor third, and the fifth. You can build up this minor chord on the starting note, or the tonic, of any minor scale. On guitar, you have multiple ways of building up any given minor chord, and you even have the option of adding more notes within the chord (for example, adding a high A on top of an existing A minor chord!).

Because A Minor, the relative minor of C Major, has a simple key signature with no sharps or flats, we will use this key for the examples. You can apply what you learn with A Minor to other keys.

Let’s look at the chords in the key of A harmonic minor, starting on each scale degree:

Harmonic Minor Chords

Listen to the A minor chords several times. Notice the quality of the different chords available in the minor scale. Different chords in the scale have different tonal personalities and suit different purposes.

Because the leading tone (or G#) wants to move to the tonic A, you may even find the diminished chord built on the seventh degree of the harmonic minor scale.

Just like the popular major chord progressions, the minor scale chord progressions want to resolve and move to the tonic or the dominant of the key. What is different is the quality of the chords.

When spelling out the minor chords, keep the key in mind. Listen for resolutions and progressions that bring movement to your song.

The Top 3 Chords in Minor Progressions

You will find out quickly that many of the favorite major chord progressions are mirrored by popular minor chord progressions. Just like progressions in major scales, those in minor scales focus primarily on moving between three chords: the 1, 4 and 5.

As we learned in the first part of this tutorial on Minor Scale Basics, the 5 (a.k.a. “dominant”) chord in a minor key can be the major version (V) or minor (v).

Listen to the audio example below. In the first audio sample, the progression includes the minor 5 chord, or an E minor chord (v).

Minor Chord Progressions - 145 E MINOR

1, 4, 5: E Minor

 

Now, listen to the second audio sample. The third chord in the following clip takes the raised 7th from the harmonic minor scale, making the V chord an E major chord. Listen for the differences in the quality between the V chords from the first clip and the second:

Minor Chord Progressions - 145 E MAJOR

1, 4, 5: E Major

 

When Resolution is Not Resolved

Remember that in most forms of Western music, you will be moving to resolve to the dominant or tonic. For example, in the key of A minor, you will be trying to resolve back to the A or the E. In the key of D minor, you will want to resolve back to the D or the A. In most cases, you will be resolving back to the tonic (the first note of the scale), but ending with the dominant is common in melodies meant to end on a suspenseful note – keep that in mind as you play around with common chord progressions.

1. The i–iv–v Chord Progression

While you may write other chords in, like the ii chord (or submediant chord), you will most likely be moving around the i, iv and v (or V) chords of the minor scales.

Here’s a little cheat sheet for the common minor i–iv–v progression in each minor key:

  • A minor: Am–Dm–Em
  • B♭ minor: B♭m–E♭m–Fm
  • B minor: Bm–Em–F♯m
  • C minor: Cm–Fm–Gm
  • C♯ minor: C♯m–F♯m–G♯m
  • D minor: Dm–Gm–Am
  • E♭ minor: E♭m–A♭m–B♭m
  • E minor: Em–Am–Bm
  • F minor: Fm–B♭m–Cm
  • F♯ minor: F♯m–Bm–C♯m
  • G minor: Gm–Cm–Dm
  • A♭ minor: A♭m–D♭m–E♭m

2. The i–ii dim–V–i Chord Progression

Just like many major chord progressions, you will find that in minor tonality chord progressions the ii chord and the V chord are paired together. In this example, you will hear a simple chord progression: Am–Bdim–E–Am.

  1. Look at the sheet music.
  2. Listen to the example.
  3. Play along with the chords.

Minor Chord Progression example i-ii dim-V-i

Chord Progression: i–ii dim–V–i

Here’s a cheat sheet for the i–ii dim–V–i progression in each minor key:

  • A minor: Am–Bdim–E–Am
  • B♭ minor: B♭m–Cdim–F–B♭m
  • B minor: Bm–C♯dim–F♯–Bm
  • C minor: Cm–Ddim–G–Cm
  • C♯ minor: C♯m–D♯dim–G♯–C♯m
  • D minor: Dm–Edim–A–Dm
  • E♭ minor: E♭m–Fdim–B♭–E♭m
  • E minor: Em–F♯dim–B–Em
  • F minor: Fm–Gdim–C–Fm
  • F♯ minor: F♯m–G♯dim–C♯–F♯m
  • G minor: Gm–Adim–D–Gm
  • A♭ minor: A♭m–B♭dim–E♭–A♭m

3. The i–VI–III–VII Chord Progression

This is another simple minor chord progression found in numerous famous songs, especially ballads.

Minor chord progression example i-VI-III-VII

Chord Progression: i–VI–III–VII

Here’s a little cheat sheet for the i–VI–III–VII progression in each minor key:

  • A minor: Am–F–C–G
  • B♭ minor: B♭m–G♭–D♭–A♭
  • B minor: Bm–G–D–A
  • C minor: Cm–A♭–E♭–B♭
  • C♯ minor: C♯m–A–E–B
  • D minor: Dm–B♭–F–C
  • E♭ minor: E♭m–B–G♭–D♭
  • E minor: Em–C–G–D
  • F minor: Fm–D♭–A♭–E♭
  • F♯ minor: F♯m–D–A–E
  • G minor: Gm–E♭–B♭–F
  • A♭ minor: A♭m–E–B–G♭

And Many More…

Beyond these basic progressions, there are many more that suit specific musical purposes. For example, we have the classic ii–V–i, a popular jazz chord progression.

There’s also the somewhat-misnamed Andalusian Cadence, a i–VII–VI–V progression that is popular in an astonishing array of musical styles, from Flamenco to metal to baroque.

The i–VII–VI progression is similar to the above, popularized by famous tunes such as Adele’s Rolling in the Deep and Jimi Hendrix’s All Along the Watchtower.

We could go on, but that’s enough theory for now. Let’s put your newfound knowledge to the test with some exercises in minor chord progressions.

Exercises in Minor

We’ll start you off nice and easy with some playalong exercises, then give you something a little more challenging and creative to try…

Exercise 1: i–iv–V–i Chord Progression

In this exercise you are going to practice playing along with chords following a simple minor chord progression: Am–Dm–E–Am.

  1. Listen to the example.
  2. Look over the sheet music.
  3. Play the chords along with the track on your instrument.
  4. Improvise over the chord progression.

Minor chord progression practice i-iv-V-i

i-iv-V-i

Remember that many chord progressions are built around these chords, using the i, iv, or V chord as a means to move the harmonic progression forward.

Exercise 2: i–ii dim–V–i Chord Progression

In this exercise you are going to practice playing along with chords following the simple chord progression: Am–B dim–E–Am.

  1. Listen to the example.
  2. Look over the sheet music.
  3. Play the chords along with the track on your instrument.
  4. Improvise over the chord progression.

Minor Chord Progression example practice i-ii dim-V-i

i-ii dim-V-i

Exercise 3: Chord Progression Playalong

In this simple backing track to George Gershwin’s “Summertime” from Porgy and Bess, you can practice playing along with a longer minor chord progression in A Minor. While there are plenty of 7th chords in this track, you can easily drop the 7th and just play the basic triads like this instead:

Minor Chord Progressions - Summertime Chords modified

Summertime Chords Modified

In this song you can hear how the chord progressions move towards the A minor chord and the E major chord. Remember than in most songs, the harmonic progression wants to resolve to the tonic (A) or the dominant (E).

  1. Review the modified chord progressions from “Summertime” above.
  2. Listen to the modified chords audio.
  3. Practice improvising and playing the chords in the modified version.
  4. Once you are comfortable with these chord progressions, then play the YouTube video below.
  5. Play the chords with the playalong track.
  6. Once you are comfortable with the modified chords, start to play the 7th chords in the YouTube video.
  7. Improvise over the playalong track.

 

If you find that playing along with the YouTube track is too difficult, then work with the modified chord audio. It always helps to use your ears to really hear for chord changes. Sometimes it can be difficult. Memorizing the sound and quality of the chords will help you as you learn these chords.

As you become more comfortable with playing the basic chord progression, you may find that some melodies for improvising over the progression pop into your head! Check out some tips for improvising over minor chord progressions on piano for some excellent ideas on where to start!

Notice that several minor key chord progressions can be extracted from this example.

  • Measure 11: i–iv–VII–III–i
  • Measure 13: i–ii dim–V–i
  • Measure 15: i–ii dim–V

By starting with shorter chord progressions and learning how to combine them with other chord progressions, you will expand your harmonic skills.

Exercise 4: Build-Your-Own

In this article we talked about several different minor chord progressions. For this exercise you will need a piece of paper and a pencil, and your instrument. Choose a key to use for this exercise (you might like to start with A minor).

If you can’t play chords on your instrument, try playing broken chords or arpeggios instead.

  1. Choose up to 4 chords from a minor key of your choice, and write a progression of 4 bars using these chords on a piece of paper. Start by using just the i, iv and v chords.
  2. Practice playing through your chord progression several times.
  3. Now choose another set of chords and write a new progression underneath your first one.
  4. Practice playing that new chord progression several times.
  5. Combine the two chord progressions into one long chord progression and play through all of the chords.
  6. Create a third chord progression from the same key and write it under the second one.
  7. Practice playing the third chord progression.
  8. Play through all three chord progressions without stopping.
  9. Continue adding chord progressions until you are playing through at least eight different chord progressions.
  10. Practice this same exercises with other keys.

Writing Your Own Minor Chord Progressions

When you’ve grown comfortable with the minor chord progressions we’ve introduced you to above, try writing your own! Don’t be afraid to use a minor chord progression chart or cheat sheet to quickly find the chords you’re looking for.

Building Minor Chord Progressions with the Circle of Fifths

The Circle of Fifths is just as useful for writing minor progressions as major ones. A refresher: adjacent minor keys on the circle are always a fifth apart. Experiment with playing chord progressions that travel stepwise and clockwise around the circle – you’ll find some instant classics!

Circle of fifths with relative minors

Match Chords to Moods to Lyrics

A sad song calls for sad minor chord progressions. But you can also throw some foreboding, tense, or even uplifting progressions in there to mix it up! Experiment with marrying specific progressions with certain moods in your song. Which ones fit best with certain parts of the song?

Use A Chord Progression Generator

If your fountain of creativity has run dry (and we doubt it ever will, considering the infinite possibilities of chord progressions!), try this Chord Progression Generator. Simply plug in the genre, feel (happy or sad?), and key that you want, and the generator will spit a readymade progression right back at you!

Your Minor Journey

There are many, many popular minor chord progressions. You have learned a few in this article and can use the practice tracks to continue to work on your musical skills. Continue to learn new progressions, and combine progressions together to make longer songs.

Experiment with chords and scales, combining both major and minor keys in your songs and training your ears for more kinds of minor chord progression. As you continue to expand your harmonic palette, you will be amazed at what you will create!

 

The post Discovering Minor Chord Progressions appeared first on Musical U.

Posted on

Have you ever wondered how some musicians seem to have a …

https://www.musical-u.com/learn/how-to-get-golden-ears-for-music/
Have you ever wondered how some musicians seem to have a simply incredible sound? The answer is: frequency hearing, which means being able to dissect a sound into its component parts. Learn more about Golden Ears. https://www.musical-u.com/learn/how-to-get-golden-ears-for-music/

Posted on

How would you like to be able to walk into any musical si…

https://www.musical-u.com/learn/hearing-chord-progressions-part-1-the-dominant-and-the-subdominant/
How would you like to be able to walk into any musical situation and already know the chords to any song, simply because you brought along your ears? https://www.musical-u.com/learn/hearing-chord-progressions-part-1-the-dominant-and-the-subdominant/

Posted on

What could possibly be exciting about memorizing 15 key s…

https://www.musical-u.com/learn/the-secret-to-mastering-music-theory-with-shranny/
What could possibly be exciting about memorizing 15 key signatures? What if there was just one place, one rule that ruled them all, one secret to understanding all the key signatures, chords, chord progressions—even those awful, endless scales? https://www.musical-u.com/learn/the-secret-to-mastering-music-theory-with-shranny/

Posted on

Are you really ready for that next step? Once you step be…

https://www.musical-u.com/learn/professional-attitude-6-insider-tips-for-every-music-pro/
Are you really ready for that next step? Once you step beyond that garage door, here are six insider tips that have nothing to do with your musicality which will make you a valuable asset to any band or artist who seeks you and your skills. https://www.musical-u.com/learn/professional-attitude-6-insider-tips-for-every-music-pro/

Posted on

Choosing a career as a contemporary classical composer – …

https://www.musical-u.com/learn/a-composers-path-part-3-opportunity-with-kangyi-zhang/
Choosing a career as a contemporary classical composer – and in many cases, any musical career – isn’t necessarily the surest path to wealth and fame. But if music is what you love, then the rewards can be immeasurable! Featuring Kangyi Zhang https://www.musical-u.com/learn/a-composers-path-part-3-opportunity-with-kangyi-zhang/

Posted on

Podcasts and Punchy Progressions, Training with Theta, Majoring in Music, and the Pitfalls of Perfect Pitch

The effectiveness of music education often hinges on turning material that is traditionally dry, uninspiring, and frustrating into something relevant, intuitive, and exciting.

This week at Musical U, we are celebrating and recapping the new content brought to you in September, releasing two new podcasts on fun and effective ear training, and sharing an expert’s tips on how to get the most out of your music school experience.

Podcasts and Punchy Progressions

September has seen us introducing the Musicality Podcast, a twice-weekly radio show that can help you nurture your inner musician while riding the subway, walking the dog, or waiting for that chronically-late band member to show up for practice. Covering diverse aspects of ear training through both tutorials and interviews with music education experts, this is your answer to acquiring aural skills while on-the-go.

Meanwhile, this month’s Resource Packs saw our resident pros for bass, guitar, and piano focussing on breaking down perhaps the most ubiquitous, useful, and impactful chord progression in Western music. Not only did our pros explain the mechanics of the progression and how to play it on your instrument, but they gave away some trade secrets on tweaking and embellishing the bare-bones chords to create grooves that are entirely your own.

Discover this chord progression and get an overview of our podcasts so far at What’s New in Musical U: September 2017, and be sure to subscribe to the Musicality Podcast so you don’t miss a beat!

Training with Theta

A common hurdle for musicians new to ear training is making this learning engaging, relevant, and – dare we say it – fun. Acquiring those much sought-after aural skills doesn’t have to involve dull, repetitive what’s-that-interval-type exercises.

With Theta Music Trainer, it’s just you, your electronic device, and 50 engaging ear training games designed to cement your aural skills and keep you entertained.

In our 8th podcast Making Ear Training a Game, with Steve Myers, Musical U sits down with Theta Music founder Steve to understand his ear training journey and how he created an app that would make others’ ear training journey pleasurable and engaging.

Steve was always amazed to witness other musicians’ improvisational skills, something that seemed to come very naturally to them and require little thought.

After several frustrating attempts to develop this elusive musicality and almost giving up, Steve finally came across an ear training course. Something clicked. Though the course was tedious and requiring immense self-discipline, he stuck with it, realizing the power of concepts like relative pitch and pattern recognition.

The second “lightbulb moment” came when Steve realized the benefits of injecting fun into the learning process. With his decision to apply the game-based application to the world of ear training, Theta Music Trainer was born.

When Theta Music Trainer originally launched their online ear training games, Musical U was there to capture the moment! For a little throwback and reminiscing about that time in music education history, listen to our interview with Steve!

Steve explored the struggles that he had beginning to improvise or jam over chord changes. He felt as though something must have been wrong with him that he couldn’t improvise freely like his colleagues. This is a struggle that many musicians face, which can be overcome with some practice and a few simple to tips to start you off.

Developing your musical ear in general is such an important part of being both a musician and songwriter. As with improvisation, getting started can be difficult. Turn to the experts for some tips for beginners on developing your musical ear.

The cassette series that Steve talked about was unique in that it was full of very accessible lessons that he could immediately apply to his instrument practice. He later recounted that it gave him the original idea to make his now-famous program, which is one of many great examples of fun exercises and drills for developing your sense of pitch.

After moving to Japan, Steve noticed that his students were not always young learners, but also adults that had free time on their hands after retirement. The benefits of learning a musical instrument later in life have been well-documented in many scientific articles. But even beyond science, there are several reasons to dust off that piano you had as a child and give it a go.

Majoring in Music

So, you’ve decided to pursue a music degree! Though rigorous and demanding, music schools are excellent for boosting your proficiency as a musician and keeping you on track with your musical goals.

There’s no such thing as “the best music school”. There’s only the best music school for you. Thankfully, MajoringInMusic.com co-founder and director Barbra Weidlein has compiled an excellent list of criteria to consider before you make one of the most important decisions of your musical career.

In Majoring in Music: Choosing A School That’s Right For You, Barbra covers both practical aspects and factors you may not have thought about, giving invaluable advice on how to ensure that you wind up at a school that suits your learning style, musical goals, and lifestyle.

Everyone knows the importance of picking the right school for your studies, but what about the right teacher? Selecting the right teacher is incredibly important, as they will be with you for the entirety of your studies, and act as an instructor and mentor in equal parts. Thankfully, much like choosing a school, choosing a teacher can be boiled down to something of a science!

A major step in considering music school is to prepare your audition. After all, that is your one chance to showcase your hard work to become the musician you are! Getting ready for your audition is a multi-step process, with many possible outcomes that you should be prepared for. As Music Think Tank outlines, passing the audition itself requires consideration of the requirements and the environment you will be playing in.

Finally, Barbra discussed the importance of becoming a proficient sight reader when preparing to enter university. Sight reading is a major part of music school, but it is a skill that you can develop! And it doesn’t have to be dry and dull:using an app is an excellent and engaging way to improve your sight reading skills. Check out Music Maker Apps’ Rhythm Sight Reading app for a fun way to improve your rhythm and musicality!

The Pitfalls of Perfect Pitch

If asked which skill they would kill to have, many musicians wouldn’t hesitate to say that they’d want perfect pitch.

But what is perfect pitch?

In a nutshell, it’s the ability to name a note you hear without any reference to a known note. If someone plays the highest D key on a piano, you’d be able to name it. If someone honks at you in traffic because you’re making a poorly thought-out left turn, you’d be able to determine the exact pitch of their car horn.

The bad news: scientific studies have shown that you pretty much need to be born with perfect pitch or have had it from a very young age. As an adult, it’s very difficult to “learn” perfect pitch, and even then, it won’t be perfect.

In our 9th podcast, About Perfect Pitch, Musical U founder Christopher Sutton delivers you the good news: you do not need perfect pitch to play by ear, sight-sing, or improvise. You don’t need it to be an incredible musician.

This podcast focuses on debunking the myths surrounding perfect pitch, and introducing you to a different path to natural musicianship.

Learning perfect pitch is not necessary to develop your musical ear, and not the only way to really do ear training. In fact, consistent work and exposure to certain melodies, scales, and intervals can greatly help to nurture your ear training.

One important method of ear training that Christopher explored was specifically for audio engineers. Home Music Studio 1 offers some great beginner tips on how our ears use reference sounds to impact our perception on what sounds “good”.

Many musicians (and non-musicians) can instinctively sing a song that they are familiar with in the proper key. This is due to the memory that our ears develop to a song after a number of listens. But that is not always the same thing as being “on pitch”. Check out this exploration into the differences between singing in key versus on pitch!

So, we have learned that while perfect pitch is often what musicians think they need, having a good sense of relative pitch is a much preferred route to having musical freedom. Your next steps? Applying your new sense of musical expression to your instrument!

Debunking Musical Myths

With this week’s information, we hope we’ve debunked two pervasive but false beliefs:

Myth #1: Perfect pitch is necessary to be a great musician.

Fact: Relative pitch is a much better avenue to follow for improvisation, composition, and playing and singing by ear.

Myth #2: Ear training is tedious, dry, and practically irrelevant to modern musicians.

Fact: With the multitude of apps and learning systems available to musicians today, you can tailor your ear training journey to fit what you find relevant and fun.

With this new knowledge, go forth and dive into the world of ear training (and, no, you don’t need to be a music major to do this!). And don’t worry about being able to recall the exact pitch of that car horn.

The post Podcasts and Punchy Progressions, Training with Theta, Majoring in Music, and the Pitfalls of Perfect Pitch appeared first on Musical U.