Minor Key Chord Progressions
The following progression could be described in two possible ways. It could be written as VI I V VI IV V VI I V IV V VI in C major or I III VII I VI VII I III VII VI VII I in A minor. Because the progression has an obvious minor tonality (sound), musicians would use the second description. Experiment with other chord combinations in the key of A minor.
Chords in Other Minor Keys
The next example shows the scale tone chords for the key of E natural minor which is the relative minor of G major. Once again, the chords will be the same as those of its relative, but the starting note is E instead of G so Em will be chord I.
Transposing in Minor Keys
Like music written in major keys, anything in a minor key can be transposed to other keys. The following example shows the progression from the previous example transposed to the key of E minor. Once you have learned the progression in this key, write out the scale tone chords in the remaining eleven minor keys and transpose the progression to those keys as
Harmonic Minor Scale Tone Chords
Because there are three different minor scales, it is possible to come up with different sets of chords for a minor key by building chords on the notes of each different minor scale. Each variation to the notes of the scale alters the type of chords built on the scale. The letter names of the chords remain the same, but the chord type may change.
For example, the scale tone chords derived from the A harmonic minor scale are shown in the next example. Notice that chord III is now augmented instead of major, and also that chord V is major instead of minor and chord VII is diminished instead of major. These changes are all brought about by the raising of the 7th degree of the scale from G to G#.
This arpeggio based part uses chords derived from the A harmonic minor scale. Experiment with other ways of playing these chords and make up other progressions from them.
Melodic Minor Scale Tone Chords
The scale tone chords derived from the A melodic minor scale are shown in the next example. Because of the sharpened 6th degree, there will be more changes to the types of chords derived from this scale.
Chord II is now minor instead of major, chord IV is major instead of minor and chord VI is diminished instead of major. These changes are all brought about by the raising of the 6th degree of the scale from F to F#.
The following example is derived from the A melodic minor scale tone chords shown previously. It also contains one chromatic note ( A# or Bb) as part of a repeating bass run.
