Common Minor Chord Progressions

Now that you've learned about Minor Diatonics, let's put it to good use.

Here we'll go over the function of each diatonic chord in the Minor Scale, and take a look at some common chord progressions.

We will also address the elephant in the room: How does the Harmonic Minor Scale fit into all this?

Understanding Our Minor Diatonic Chords

Let's have a look at our 7 Diatonic Minor Chords, first of all. The names are the same as those are based on the Scale Degree, but the roman numeral notation won't be!

The usage of chords in a Minor Key is much more open-ended than the Major, so I'll be keeping it brief.

The Tonic (i), (1-3-5): 

This is our "home chord". Every time you come back to this chord, it's going to feel like a resolution, and provide a sense of stability.

The Supertonic (ii°), (2-4-6):

This chord is diminished now! It sees more use in chord progressions here in the Minor Scale than it did in the Major Scale.

The Mediant (III), (3-5-7):

Our Relative Major sits here. You can easily resolve to this chord to switch back into a Major Key!

The Subdominant (iv), (4-6-1):

This chord is still used to provide a sense of departure from the Tonic, without the tension of the Dominant.

The Dominant (v), (5-7-2):

Interestingly, this chord far less important than it was in the Major Key. Why?

Because a Major Dominant Chord (V) is so powerful, that it's frequently preferred, even when in a Minor Key.

So, you'll often see a V to i cadence. But, that's not Diatonic! That means the scale we use to write a melody, or improvise over the music has to change when that V is played. What scale do we use? You guessed it - The Harmonic Minor Scale.

CLICK HERE for a full write-up on Understanding the Harmonic Minor Scale.

The Submediant (VI), (6-1-3):

Still works great for an emotional twist to a chord progression.

The Leading Tone (VII), (7-2-4):

This chord is the Dominant of the Relative Major Key! That makes it a really strong springboard for switching back to Major.

Common Major Chord Progressions

I'll provide examples in Am so you can quickly try these for yourself. Remember, these progressions are meant to be repeated.

The i-iv-v (Am-Dm-Em): 

Just as common as the Major Variant, you'll find this a strong choice for writing a song in many different styles.

Try swapping out the v for a V (change Em to E) to see for yourself how the Major Dominant affects the sound.

The i-bVII-bVI-bVII (Am-G-F-G): 

Since Am is the Relative Minor of C, this progression is almost like we're playing a "1-5-4-5" in C. But we've swapped out our Tonic for it's Relative Minor.

However, I think progressions like this have less to do with "functional harmony", and more to do with the movement of the bass notes. Notice that the bass note moves a whole step each time the chord changes.

For example, if we were to play these notes on the low E, it would be 5th fret, to 3rd, to 1st, and back to 3rd.

You will see a lot of movement to the bVI in Minor Keys, it's definitely a favored spot. A classic move is to repeat the melody that was played with the Tonic, again when playing with the bVI. It adds a totally new character to the melody.

The ii°-v-i (Bdim-Em-Am):

When we play a 2-5-1 in a Minor Key, we get a chance to use our Diminished Triad.

For a really authentic jazz sound, swap out the v for a V, and play them as 7th chords. Remember - that will make your V a V7 (Dominant 7th), since we're borrowing from the Major Key.

In the Key of Am, that gives you: Bm7b5-E7-Am7.

As you can see - things get a little less simplistic as we move away from the Major Keys. But, making things more open-ended means more room for experimentation!

Even more than with the Major Scale, I recommend you spend time building your own chord progressions here, and finding out how the different sounds make you feel. Be sure to experiment with both Minor and Major Dominant sounds.