Song in A minor

A minor is the relative minor of the C major scale, so there is a distinct correlation between them, but I would think giving you an answer would defeat the purpose of your homework assignment. :wink:

Sorry

Hmm. I could have named about 4003402140123 songs in Am, but now Tracker makes me question my ethics.

It's too bad the autumn leaves are starting to fall, and it's not summertime anymore! The thrill is gone.

You are absolutely right...but maybe you can point me in the general direction?

I figured this out:
The A minor scale: A B C D E F G
Chords to be used: A (I), D (IV), E7 (V), Bm, Cm, Fm, Gdim

So if i find a song with these chords it will be in the key of A minor...am i right?

Chords to be used: A (I), D (IV), E7 (V), Bm, Cm, Fm, Gdim

Not quite.

The chords in A minor (A_BC_D_E_F_GA, optionally G# and F#) would be:

A minor (i, notes A-C-E) A (A major) has the notes A-C#-E
Bdim (ii, notes B-D-F)
C major (III, notes C-E-G) C augmented, C-E-G# also possible, but rare.
D minor (iv, notes D-F-A) D major, D-F#-A also possible, but uncommon.
E7 (V, notes E-G#-B-D) Em (E-G-B) and E major (E-G#-B) also possible and common
F major (VI, notes F-A-C)
G major (VII, notes G-B-D) G#dim (G#-B-D also possible, but rare.

Any one of them could be extended with 6ths, 7ths or 9ths.

I hope this helps.

Great explanation Hbriem. :D

Why are G# and F# optional extras please?

And would it be a reasonable starting point to look for songs that started with Am, and see if they qualify? I've noticed that quite often a song in G will start with a G, and ones in C sometime start with a C and so on.

Cheers Chris

(I once flew in and out of Reykjavic in the 1960s, and also memorised the name Vigdis Finnbogadottir - for reasons that now escape me! Just in case she ever came up in a quiz perhaps? Wish I'd had more time to explore your country :) )

Chords to be used: A (I), D (IV), E7 (V), Bm, Cm, Fm, Gdim

Not quite.

The chords in A minor (A_BC_D_E_F_GA, optionally G# and F#) would be:

A minor (i, notes A-C-E) A (A major) has the notes A-C#-E
Bdim (ii, notes B-D-F)
C major (III, notes C-E-G) C augmented, C-E-G# also possible, but rare.
D minor (iv, notes D-F-A) D major, D-F#-A also possible, but uncommon.
E7 (V, notes E-G#-B-D) Em (E-G-B) and E major (E-G#-B) also possible and common
F major (VI, notes F-A-C)
G major (VII, notes G-B-D) G#dim (G#-B-D also possible, but rare.

Any one of them could be extended with 6ths, 7ths or 9ths.

I hope this helps.

This is more priceless information. :shock:

Thank you!

But it sort of makes sense but not 100%. Since I don't have a teacher (going to look for one probably this week) can someone open this up for me? Specifically is this the kind of information I'll learn with a good instructor?

I don't understand the Roman Numeral Designation / importance / reference.
Plus, the 6ths, 7ths, and 9ths ....what does that mean?

If you feel like disecting this for me, I'd certainly be most enligthened.

- Notes in scales are given a number to designate where they are in the scale. I beleive the only reason Roman Numerals are used is tradition.
For example
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
I II III IV V VI VII
C major is C D E F G A B

The numbers are use because you can describe a melody/chordprogression so that it can easily be played in any key.

For example
I IV V chord progression in C is C F G
I IV V chord progression in G is G C D

Extended chords 6ths, 7ths are regular major, minor chords that have notes added. Chords are built in 3rds. The Major chord is I III V, the minor is I bIII V.
For example
C Major is built of the C E G notes
E minor is made of E B G notes
For reasons I dont have tme to explain(have class) So a 7th chords is made up of the I III V bVII. There are many many differnt chords and you'll have to look them up but
C7 is C E G Bb
Em7 is E B G D

I hope this helps and I wish I could go more in depth but I gotta run.

Right.

Notes are numbered with arabic numerals, 1,2,3 etc. Chords with Roman, I, ii, iii etc. Upper case for major (and augmented) chords, Lower case for minor and (diminished chords).

Let's first look at C major. C_D_EF_G_A_BC or, in numbers 1_2_34_5_6_78.

Rearranged from the viewpoint of the relative minor, A (6), this becomes:

A_BC_D_EF_G_A

We could write the numbers 6_78_2_34_5_6, but as we now regard A (6) as the key centre, it is:

1_23_4_56_7_8

This is known as the natural minor scale. It is also sometimes called the Aeolian mode.

Note the placement of the spaces and how they are different from the major scale.

It is the distance from the 1 to the 3 that is most critical in whether a scale is major or minor. 4 semitones (half-steps) for major, 3 semitones for minor.

Compared to the major scale, 3 notes are a half step lower, the 3,6 and 7. Therefore these are also called the b3, b6 and b7 (b=flat). Written in this way, the natural minor scale is 1-2-b3-4-5-b6-b7-8.

Now, how do we build chords from the scale? This is done by picking every other note, building them on top of each other, 1-3-5 and so forth. This is known as harmonising the scale:

Harmonising the C major scale:

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 C D E F G A B C Chord no. Chord name.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
1 3 5 C E G I C major
2 4 6 D F A ii D minor
3 5 7 E G B iii E minor
4 6 8 F A C IV F major
5 7 9 G B D V G major
6 8 10 A C E vi A minor
7 9 11 B D F vii° B diminished


Rearranged, these same chords can be used to harmonise the A minor scale, i.e.

Am
Bdim
C
Dm
Em
F
G

However, in major keys, you have the powerful V7-I cadence so beloved of classical composers and pop musicians alike. The tense dissonant dom7 chord resolves to the smooth, stable major and all is well in the world.

In natural minor, you have no such powerful resolution. The minor v is pretty stable and there is no great thrust to move to the i. Nevertheless, countless folk songs (and the odd pop song, like for example "Losing My Religion" by REM) have utilised the v-i cadence.

Anyway, by raising the 7th note, you change the minor v to a major V or dominant V7, making the V-i change much stronger. This scale (1-2-b3-4-5-b6-7-8 ) is called the harmonic minor scale.

Many find the wide gap between the b6 and the 7 unpleasant (it sounds a little exotic and perhaps "Arabic") and so classicists often raise the 6 as well, forming the melodic minor scale (1-2-b3-4-5-6-7-8 ) which is even closer to the major scale.

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Wow, you guys are amazing. Thank you so much. You can't know how I appreciate this.

This will be my study guide this week as it's more information than I can digest while simply reading.

Key point, it makes sense to me. Just have to get the fingers to agree.

Thanks again!

Ricochet gave you the answer

Hbriem, where have you been? I havn't seen you around for a while!

Oh I've been around. I don't always post much, but I read GN most days.