Chord progressions, and scales.

Well, that A minor chord progression is a bit iffy (not wrong, just iffy).

Here's how you build the chords used with a scale:

Harmonising the major scale

You pick every other note (3rds). Each chord has 3 notes. This is called a triad and is the simplest, most basic type of chord:

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

It is the distance from the 1st note to the 2nd (C-E) that determines whether the chord is major or minor. 3 semitones (frets) and the chord is minor. 4 semitones, the chord is major.

The I, IV and V chords of each key are major and are called the Primary chords. The ii, iii and vi chords are minor and Secondary. The vii chord is a sort of variation on the V and fulfils the same function.

You can also harmonise the scale with 7th chords (4 notes each).

Note_degrees Note_names_in C Chord_no Chord_name
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
1 3 5 7 C E G B Imaj7 Cmaj7
2 4 6 8 D F A C iim7 Dm7
3 5 7 9 E G B D iiim7 Em7
4 6 8 10 F A C E IVmaj7 Fmaj7
5 7 9 11 G B D F V7 G7
6 8 10 12 A C E G vim7 Am7
7 9 11 13 B D F A viim7b5 Bm7b5

Except in jazz, it is mostly only the V chord that is played as a 7th.

Minor Keys

Now, the situation in minor keys is far more complicated, because you have 3 minor scales (natural, harmonic, melodic) to build chords from.

I won't go into detail, but these are the basic chord types in minor keys:

Chord Type
i Minor
ii Diminished
III Major (called the bIII in jazz)
iv Minor (can be major if using melodic minor scale)
v Minor (major in harmonic and melodic minor)
VI Major (called the bVI in jazz)
VII Major (called the bVIII in jazz)


I hope this helps.

Well, thank you for your explanation on what this actually is. I was wondering how I would find what chords to play, with what scale, etc., and it seems that this is the route I need to study. Do you know if this sort of thing is covered in NoteBote's book?

One thing that's still confusing me, however, is on the page I show, he changes the key of those rythyms from A to Am, and then just changes the reoccuring A majors to minor accordingly. What exactly is he doing to make those changes, and what exactly are the changes?

One thing that's still confusing me, however, is on the page I show, he changes the key of those rythyms from A to Am, and then just changes the reoccuring A majors to minor accordingly. What exactly is he doing to make those changes, and what exactly are the changes?

The primary chords in A major are A, D and E (or E7). The corresponding chords in A minor would usually be Am, Dm and E (or E7, possibly Em).

Now for some reason the lesson author likes to use a D7 for the IV chord in minor. I don't know why or what his rationale for it is.

To my ear, D7 leads me to expect a resolution to G. That's why the 7 chord is called a dominant chord. It "dominates" and forces the key towards the note a 4th away, just as the E7 makes you hear A as the key centre.

I'm sure this is well covered in Noteboat's book, although I haven't read it.

Check out these David Hodge articles:

Five to One
You Say You Want a Resolution

If you play those chords in sequence from 1-7 it's called the 'harmonized scale'.

For what sort of chords go well together (and how), I wrote an article on Untangling Chord Progressions that might help.

My book covers scales, and the harmonization, but doesn't get too far into chord progressions - that's a bit beyond basic theory and into harmony.

What scales go with what chords... well, that's a huge topic - because essentially, any scale can work with any chord; it's what you do with the melody that matters. You can use:

- any scale that shares the same keynote. In other words, a C scale over a C chord, a C minor scale over a C chord, C Dorian, C Blues, C Bebop... some of the scale tones might clash with chord tones (minor scale over a major chord sets up a conflict between the b3 in the scale and the 3 in the chord), but those sounds can be exploited in your solo - the b3/3 conflict will sound 'bluesy'

- any scale that, when harmonized, will include the target chord. For instance, the scales of C major, D major, E minor, or G major will each have an Em chord when harmonized, so any of them will work. That's essentially why you can use a C major scale over a C major progression like C-Am-F-Dm-G7-C - each of those chords occurs when the C major scale is harmonized.

- any scale that coincides with a chord tone. The C major chord has notes C-E-G, so you can use any scale that contains at least one of those notes. The fewer the chord tones in your scale, the more dissonant the sound, and the better your ears will need to be to make it work.

- any scale that coincides in any of the above ways with the NEXT chord in the progression. Let's say the progression goes C-F-G7-C7-F-Bb-C7-F. It's actually changing keys (modulating) from the key of C to the key of F. You could start using the F scale over the G7, the last chord in C... it'll sound 'off', but the progression then changes keys, bringing you into step with it.

- any scale that coincides with a chord tone. The C major chord has notes C-E-G, so you can use any scale that contains at least one of those notes. The fewer the chord tones in your scale, the more dissonant the sound, and the better your ears will need to be to make it work.

^So you can have the wrong chords with the right roots where the root of each chord is built on say the major scale say using all major chords?

Cmaj Dmaj Emaj Fmaj Gmaj Amaj Bmaj

^And if you use your ears and you can make that work on some level then it's good?

Or say mixolydian...

C5 D5 E5 F5 G5 A5 Bb5

stuff like that's cool?

thnx

Other way 'round - it's cool if it sounds good.

Substitutions of major for minor chords are done all the time. Take the standard "All of Me". The key signature shows it's in C... here's the progression:

C-E7-A7-Dm7-E7-Am7-D7-Dm7-G7-C-E7-A7-Dm7-Ebº7-Em7-A9-Dm7b5-G13-C-Fm6-C
(I'm not showing the turnaround, just the second time through)

So...

Except for the brief chromatic passage of Dm7-Ebº7-Em7, all the roots are in the key of C. But you've got E7 instead of Em (sometimes), A7 or A9 instead of Am (sometimes), and D7 instead of Dm (sometimes).

This particular progression uses secondary dominants, with E7 to an A root (key of A), and A7 to D root (key of D minor).

Or the opening progression of "Take the A Train", which is also in C:

C6-D7b5-Dm7-G7-C

the F# and Ab notes in the D7b5 makes the chord well out of key - but the root is still in C, and it's going to resolve to a chord in C (Dm7). A nice way to extend the very old progression of I-ii-V-I

Now, if you use ALL major chords, or all minor chords, you'll get it to sound boring right quick. Parallel substitutions are like salt in the soup - a little bit improves it, but a lot of a good thing makes it useless.

Cool.But I'm curious about something.Are there times when you would use just one chord type like Major chords built on the steps of say pentatonic scales? And if that's true then what about other scales? Like using power chords and having the root movement follow say a diminished scale? How do you know when you've used all one chord type too long and made it too salty? Is it just a matter of experimenting using different chord types on each scale degree as you go and finding the right combos of chords that sound good in succession? And is it probably best to start with a melody in the scale in question first,and then ear it out from there?

I take it this is all something that should be used sparingly to add surprise and if it's over done then it's too dissonant sounding? Or just,predictably bad?

thnx again