Understanding chord progressions is vital to mastering your playing and for understanding how a particular key and chords affect the tonality of music.
Music pieces composed in a minor key can often be described as being sad, mysterious or melancholic, due to differences in intervals that make up this scale compared to those found in major keys.
Scales
Minor chords tend to have a darker, mysterious, or even sinister sound than major chords due to how they’re built as triads and how minor scales create chords.
As with the major scale, the minor scale also comprises seven intervals or degrees. Each degree of this scale possesses different chord qualities determined by stacking thirds. Furthermore, its chord quality can also be affected by whether or not its composition contains flats and sharps — whole steps (2 semitones) followed by half steps (1 semitone).
To understand how chords work, it is necessary to gain knowledge of minor scales. There are two main kinds of minor scales – harmonic and melodic. Each has its own identity and composition methods. For a closer look at scales please see the Scales page; chords on this chart utilize A natural minor scale as seen above; for further information regarding scales please also check the Scales page; it should also be noted that major and minor scales can share notes, yet depending on context may become either major or minor – known as their relative major/minor relationship.
Triads
Minor chords chart contains only triads. Triads are composed of three notes stacked in successive thirds, starting with their root at the bottom and progressing upward through three layers containing consecutive thirds until reaching an eighth note (root at bottom and two additional notes above it). They may be major or minor chords; their qualities range from major, diminished, or augmented; to identify one visually, observe its intervals.
As an example, a first-inversion triad inverts the interval between its second and fourth notes (C and E) into an augmented sixth interval – helping you decide if a chord fits with the context in which it will be played.
Practice playing these shapes across the strings to gain a feel for them. Be careful to avoid playing any doubled notes or open strings – for instance when practicing a C minor triad on the low string without adding in B chord. Also try not practicing only one key; rather explore all 12 minor keys as this provides a wide variety of tonalities.
Chords
Chords are collections of notes modeled on a scale and used to form chord progressions. Understanding different kinds of chords is crucial if you wish to compose music or understand how songs are composed.
Minor chords consist of three notes – the root note, minor third (also known as flat third or b3) and perfect fifth – connected by three notes that together create the melancholy sound associated with them.
An augmented minor chord can be created by raising the perfect fifth interval by one semitone to make a diminished third above its root note. A seventh is added for added dimension resulting in a dominant seventh chord.
A sus4 chord is a triad without its third note and with four added instead. Additional notes may also be added by notation that reads: Asus4(add7) or Asus4(add9)
Progression
Chord progressions are central to understanding music theory, and minor chords should not be disregarded as important elements. Just as major keys use different notes, minor key chords will feature similar notes; but the context and order in which those notes appear determines tonality.
Common progressions typically use IV or V chords to create tension and release as contrast to an I or tonic chord, pairing these chords with minor chords for added drama – like Gotye’s hit “Somebody That I Used To Know”, where an Am and D minor progression creates a mysterious tone.
Assimilate the different tonalities and chord progressions found within minor keys and chord progressions to help create your own masterpieces. So take this course, experiment with new combinations, and practice until forming these types of chords comes naturally to you! Thank you for reading, and happy playing!