Part Twelve

Mugglinworks.com / Chordmaps / Part Twelve

Part Twelve
Minor Keys - II
Having discussed the minor scales, let's talk about which chords
are available when writing songs in minor keys.

Minor Keys - Concept #5

The place to begin is i - iv - V. When you stop to think about it, this is
where many songwriters begin when writing in major keys, with the
three chords I, IV, and V. Lots of 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 will be 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

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 Common Chords in the Key of C Minor
little bit of a departure from the way it works in major keys. (played with specific bass notes)

In major keys, if the bass note is note 2, there's a fairly good When the Bass note is note 1
probability the chord is chord ii. The same can be said for notes 3 (In the key of C minor, this note is C.)
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 The most common chord would be Cm.
when you are first beginning, it's a good place to start.)
Other possibilities:
The iv chord with its fifth in the bass (Fm/C)
But, in minor, it's a little different story. So we'll need to talk about
The VI chord with its third in the bass (Ab/C)
each bass note. Let’s choose the key of Cm, and we’ll list some of
the chord possibilities in the right column.
When the Bass note is note 2
The main idea here is this: in major keys there's a strong tendency (In the key of C minor, this note is D.)
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 When the bass note is note 2 (D), the scale suggests the chord D dim,
beginning, certain bass notes tend not to be the root. When the made up of the notes D, F, and Ab. However, when you begin writing and
bass note is 2, 3, 6, or 7, quite often that bass note is the third of the playing songs in minor keys, this chord is not necessarily the most
chord. Knowing this right from the beginning may help you as you common when the bass note is 2.
explore progressions in minor keys.
Other possibilities:
The vii dim chord with its third in the bass (Bdim/D)
Minor Keys - Concept #7 The V7 chord with its fifth in the bass (G7/D)

Each minor key is related to one of the major keys, or to put it

another way, each major key has a relative minor key. When the Bass note is note 3
(In the key of C minor, this note is Eb.)
The names of the two keys, the major key and its relative minor, are
When the bass note is note 3 (Eb), the scale suggests the Eb aug chord,
always three half steps apart. For example, C major has a relative
made up of the notes Eb, G, and B. This chord is one possibility, but
minor, A minor. Notice that the note A is three half steps down from
probably more common is Cm/Eb, using the three notes Eb, G, and C.
the note C. Similarly, D major has a relative minor, B minor. The note
B is three half steps down from the note D.
When the Bass note is note 4
 These two keys, the major key you've chosen and its relative minor, (In the key of C minor, this note is F.)
share the same "key signature." The key signature is the number of
sharps or flats in that particular major scale, and it is written on the When the bass note is note 4 (F),
the most common chord is Fm.
staff following the clef sign at the beginning of each line of music.
For example, the F major scale has one flat in its key signature. So Other possibilities:
the Dm scale (the note D is three half steps below the note F) also The V7 chord with its seventh in the bass (G7/F)
has one flat in its key signature. In the same way, G major and Em The chord Db/F, known as the Neapolitan sixth chord
share the same key signature (one sharp).

There are two things to notice about this. First, when you look at a When the Bass note is note 5
piece of written music, the key signature won’t necessarily tell you (In the key of C minor, this note is G.)
which key the song is in. It might be major, or it might be in the
relative minor. We’ll have to look at the notes and chords to tell When the bass note is note 5 (G),
the most common chord is G or G7.
which it is. (It could also be in one of the modes, but for now we'll
limit our discussion to major and minor.) Other possibilities:
The i chord with its fifth in the bass (Cm/G)
Secondly, if the piece is written in minor, there will very likely be a This chord is quite often used to set up the progression V - i,
number of "accidentals" (notes with a sharp, flat or natural sign in as in (Cm/G - G - Cm).
front of them). This is because the minor scale that uses the same
key signature is what we call "natural minor," and harmonic minor
(the minor scale that allows the V chord to be major) requires that When the Bass note is note 6
we raise note 7 a half step. This raised note 7 has to be written into (In the key of C minor, this note is Ab.)
the music as it happens. For example, if you see one flat in the key
When the bass note is note 6 (Ab), the VI chord (Ab) is a good option.
signature, the song may be in F major, or it may be in Dm. But if it is
Another good choice is the iv chord with its third in the bass (Fm/Ab).
in Dm, there's a good chance you'll see a number of C# notes in the
score, because C# is the raised seven note which gives us the A
major chord as the V chord.
When the Bass note is note 7
(In the key of C minor, this note is B.)
Here is a list of the major keys and their relative minors.
When the bass note is note 7 (B), the vii dim7 chord (Bdim7) is a good
C major (no sharps or flats) is related to A minor. choice. So is the V or V7 chord with its third in the bass (G/B or G7/B).
G major (1 sharp) is related to E minor.
 

D major (2 sharps) is related to B minor.

A major (3 sharps) is related to F# minor.
E major (4 sharps) is related to C# minor.
B major (5 sharps) is related to G# minor.
Gb major (6 flats) is related to Eb minor.
Db major (5 flats) is related to Bb minor.
Ab major (4 flats) is related to F minor.
Eb major (3 flats) is related to C minor.
Bb major (2 flats) is related to G minor.
F major (1 flat) is related to D minor.

The other possibilities, though rarely seen, would be...

F# major (6 sharps) is related to D# minor.
C# major (7 sharps) is related to A# minor.
Cb major (7 flats) is related to Ab minor.

This discussion of major keys and their relative minors leads us to a

very important concept when writing music in minor keys.

Minor Keys - Concept #8

This is the "Switch-Over" concept. That's not its real name, but we'll
call it that for the moment. The "Switch-Over" concept is this: if you
are writing or playing in a minor key, there is a strong pull to switch
 
over at some point to the relative major key. It's almost like driving a
car on a highway and switching lanes. Then a little later, you might
switch back to the minor key where you started. Once you get used
to this, it happens quite easily.

You might ask, “If this happens in minor keys, does it also happen
when writing in major keys? Do we switch over to the relative minor
and back?” The answer is you could if you wanted to, but it doesn't
seem to happen nearly as often. For some reason, writing in minor
lends itself to jumping across to the relative major and then back.

In my own mind - this is a personal explanation; other teachers

might explain it differently - I compare it to the concept of gravity.
Earth has a strong gravitational pull, and anything spinning around
the earth, like the moon or a satellite, has a predictable orbit. But
what if you traveled to a place where gravity wasn't so strong, and
where more than one planet was part of the picture? You might be
sort of loosely pulled in the direction of one planet, and then, when
another one came near, you might orbit that one instead. To me,
minor keys have the feeling of "a little less gravity," or to put it
another way, a little more freedom to escape and land in a different
key center.

“Switching Over” - How Does It Work?

It's very simple once you catch it. It works like this. These two keys,
the minor key and its relative major, share the same scale notes
(except for the raised 7 note in harmonic minor), which means they
share some of the same chords.

Let's take the key of A minor as an example. In the progression Am -

Dm - Am (i - iv - i), we played Dm as the iv chord. But Dm is the ii
chord in C major, and we already know from writing songs in C
major that Dm - G - C is a nice, smooth progression. Because we've
played this many times before, and because A minor is closely
related to C major, you might someday, while experimenting in the
key of A minor, play Am - Dm - G - C. In other words, having started
the progression in A minor, when you hit the Dm chord, you might
switch over to a progression you know from the key of C major. By
the time you reach the C chord, you realize you've "changed lanes."

What really happened was you played a chord that could be "either
or.” It would be one thing in the key of A minor; it's something else in
the key of C major.

In music theory, we call switching from one key center to another

"Modulation." One of the ways of "modulating" is to find a chord that
the two keys share. You approach the chord from one key, and leave
the chord in the other key.

There are other chords that work also. The Am chord is chord i, but
it's also vi in C major. Then there's the F chord. It's chord VI in A
minor, but it's also IV in C major. With so many options, it's easy to
step back and forth.

Here are some more to try.

Am - Dm - Am - G - C
Am - E - Am - Dm - Am/E - FM7 - G - C
Dm - Am - Dm - E - Am - F - Dm - G - C

Getting back to the key of A minor is also easy, especially if you use
an E chord, or an E7 chord. The E chord has the note G# in it, which
isn't part of the C major scale, so it tells the listener right away that
something is happening. When you introduce the E chord or one of
its variations (E7, or E7/B, or E7sus4 followed by E7, etc.), everyone
can hear A minor coming back. You can also get back to A minor
using shared chords like Dm and F.

What Does This Mean?

It means if you would like to write a song in a minor key, you may
write it using just the chords we normally associate with harmonic
minor, or you may widen your view a little, and step right off the
map, landing in another key, the relative major. This adds a lot of
possibilities.

Even More Possibilities

And one more thing: not only can a minor key jump to it's relative
major; it can also jump to its "parallel major." Jumping to the parallel
major is easy. If you are playing in A minor, start playing in A major.
If you are playing in C minor, start playing in C major. (If the song
you are writing benefits from the sound of the parallel major, you
can modulate instantly at any time, jumping back to minor when you
are ready to come back.)

Let’s Review
In this section we discussed four ideas.

First, when exploring minor keys, begin with i, iv, and V. This is the
sound you will want to hear clearly before going any deeper.

Second, we allowed the bass note to play each note in the harmonic
minor scale, and asked which chords would likely be played for
each of these bass notes. We noticed that when the bass note is
note 2, 3, 6, or 7, one of the common chord options is whichever
chord has that bass note as its third.

Third, we talked about modulating (or "switching over") from a

minor key to its relative major and then back. We saw that this
happens easily because a minor key and it's relative major share
some of the same notes and chords.

Fourth, we mentioned that a minor key is quite close to its parallel

major, so jumping to the parallel major and back is also an option.

Enjoy exploring, and then move on to to Part Thirteen.

 Copyright 1998 - 2018 Stephen Mugglin
Permission is given to make not-for-profit copies of this material.