Key Confusion

Am I correct that G-A-D could be the I-IV-V of G

I - IV - V in the key of G are G - C - D
or the IV-V-I of D?

IV - V - I in the key of D are G - A - D. I thought you wanted minor chords, so both of the above are wrong.

It's iv - v - i in the key of Dm

D E F G A Bb C

Yep, it'd be i-iv-v. Tension is pretty easy:

In a major key, you get tension from a dominant chord, and the V chord is naturally dominant. In a natural minor key, the i-iv-v chords are all minor sevenths, which don't have as much tension. So you can do one of two things....

You can use the naturally dominant chord from the relative major (which would be C7) to add some tension, or you can use the harmonic minor scale in Dm to turn the Am7 into an A7 chord.

Okay, I think I've got it. Thanks.

One more question. For soloing, would some of the possible scale choices be D minor pentatonic, F major pentatonic and C major?

C major might not work as well as F major. Your Gm7 chord has a Bb note in it.

Thanks Tom!

Yep, it'd be i-iv-v...

Gm - Am - Dm is i-iv-v? That's not correct, is it? If it is, please explain.

I'd say it's ii-iii-iv in the scale of F with a tonal center of D, although many would probably say it's iv-v-i in the scale of D minor, but I find that just a confusing way to look at things.

In F, it would be a ii-iii-vi. In D, it's the IV-V-I. I don't know why it should be confusing ("ii-iii-iv in the scale of F with a tonal center of D" is confusing) - the progression provides you with a clean resolution, through the V-I perfect cadence.

I don't know why it should be confusing ("ii-iii-iv in the scale of F with a tonal center of D" is confusing) - the progression provides you with a clean resolution

It may be confusing to you, but it makes perfect sense to me :) That's why I said that most people would say it's iv-v-i in D minor, because I know that's the convention.

By the way, I'm not a huge fan of the v-i progression. It's weak and unsatisfying, like drinking stale, lukewarm beer. V-i (as Noteboat suggested, using the harmonic minor, in this case: A7-Dm) gives a much stronger sense of resolution.

V-i (as Noteboat suggested, using the harmonic minor, in this case: A7-Dm) gives a much stronger sense of resolution.
Certainly agree with you, there.

Yep, it'd be i-iv-v...

Gm - Am - Dm is i-iv-v? That's not correct, is it? If it is, please explain.

I'd say it's ii-iii-iv in the scale of F with a tonal center of D, although many would probably say it's iv-v-i in the scale of D minor, but I find that just a confusing way to look at things.

Yes, it is correct. If you take a D natural minor scale:

D-E-F-G-A-Bb-C-D

D is the first degree, so Dm is the i chord; G is the fourth degree, and Gm the iv chord, A is the fifth degree, and Am the v chord.

When you say 'tonal center of D', you're implying a key of 'D-something', as all scales are named from their keynote, or tonal center. Using the notes of the F major scale, you'd be talking about the key of D-Aeolian or D natural minor, and progressions are always named from the keynote... the I or i chord must have the keynote as a root.

There are solid reasons that's the convention in theory: first, because there are so many possible tonal centers for a key, and so many possible alterations of the scale. Using the keynote as I or i gives you information that's missing if any other note was the basis of the scale.

Your method is based on the key signature of one flat, which isn't exactly the same as the key. Since there's no keynote in a ii-iii-vi progression, you can't tell what the tonal center is - is it F (implied in the missing I/i), G, A, or D? You can't even say with certainty that it's in a minor key, because we don't know what the root chord is - F or Fm? (Plenty of tunes will go back and forth between parallel keys, so you'll find tunes in F minor that have A minor chords instead of Abm - the chord type of the root really isn't clear)

Compare that to i-iv-v in the key of D:

natural minor: i-iv-v
harmonic minor: i-iv-V
melodic minor: i-IV-V

No matter which scale is used, it's clear what the root is (D), and it's clear we're in a minor scale (i)

The second reason to call the progression i-iv-v is practical... if you're in a working situation, and the other band members are unfamiliar with the tune, saying "it's a i-iv-v in D minor" conveys the entire progression - there are only a couple common ways to work through those chords in that key, and they'll follow right along. If you say "it's a ii-iii-vi in F" that's not the case - the musicians who can read a progression into those numbers will be looking for a melodic line that actually moves around G rather than D, because they'll be looking for a fragment of the natural harmonic series iii-vi-ii-V-I, a common extended progression in many jazz tunes.