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All use the am chord and a selection of dm or D, and em or E.
Supportact said: [my style is] probably more an accumulation of limitations and bad habits than a 'style'.
Tonic (1st degree): the I chord. Major
Supertonic (2nd degree): the ii chord. minor
Mediant (3rd degree): the iii chord. minor
Subdominant (4th degree): the IV chord. Major
Dominant (5th degree): the V chord. Major
Submediant (6th degree): the vi chord. minor
Leading-note (7th degree): the vii chord. dim
(and Tonic again (8th degree): the I chord. Major)
So in Major keys, the 1st, 4th and 5th are I, IV, V, as you know.
In minor keys, if you are sticking to diatonic modes (ie only using the notes from the major scale), you can choose to play in Aeolian, Dorian or Phrygian modes. So, taking your choice, and resetting your home note as the new tonic (the i chord), and counting up the scale to get the new subdominant and dominant chords, you have:
Resetting the vi chord as the tonic and renaming it the i chord:
(called Aeolian - eg Since I've been loving you)
- Tonic (1st degree): the i chord. minor
- Subdominant (4th degree): the iv chord. minor
- Dominant (5th degree): the v chord. minor
That's got i iv v.
Resetting the ii chord as the tonic and renaming it the i chord:
(called Dorian - eg Get Lucky)
- Tonic (1st degree): the i chord. minor
- Subdominant (4th degree): the IV chord Major
- Dominant (5th degree): the v chord. minor
That's got i IV v.
Resetting the iii chord as the tonic and renaming it the i chord:
(called Phrygian - phrygian pieces such as White Rabbit don’t tend to have i iv v progressions, but ..)
- Tonic (1st degree): the i chord. minor
- Subdominant (4th degree): the iv chord. minor
- Dominant (5th degree): the v(dim) chord. diminished
That's got i iv v(dim)
As you have seen above, for the 3 diatonic minor modes, there is only ever a minor (or worse, diminished) chord in dominant position. But for each of the above you can also choose to turn the minor v into a Major V, even though that doesn't fit the pattern. In western harmony the convention in minor music is always to have a proper Major V despite it not being "diatonically correct", because people thought a Major Dominant chord sounded better. So:
Aeolian but with a V chord:
(eg Parisian walkways)
- Tonic (1st degree): the i chord. minor
- Subdominant (4th degree): the iv chord. minor
- Dominant (5th degree): the V chord. Major
That's got i iv V (and is the most common way of playing minor pieces. It's the foundation of the harmonic minor scale.)
Dorian but with a V chord:
(eg Coconut Grove, Paint it Black)
- Tonic (1st degree): the i chord. minor
- Subdominant (4th degree): the IV chord Major
- Dominant (5th degree): the V chord. Major
That's got i IV V. (It's very common and is also the foundation of the melodic minor scale.)
Phrygian but with a V chord:
(can't think of an example)
- Tonic (1st degree): the i chord. minor
- Subdominant (4th degree): the iv chord. minor
- Dominant (5th degree): the V chord. Major
That's also got i iv V (In terms of the i iv and V, this is same as "Aeolian with a V" above. Other chords differ though, eg the ii.)
So your example of "a minor, D Major, E Major" is called "Dorian but with a major V chord", and is spelled "i IV V".
Supportact said: [my style is] probably more an accumulation of limitations and bad habits than a 'style'.
Supportact said: [my style is] probably more an accumulation of limitations and bad habits than a 'style'.
Supportact said: [my style is] probably more an accumulation of limitations and bad habits than a 'style'.
Supportact said: [my style is] probably more an accumulation of limitations and bad habits than a 'style'.
ie
Dm Em F G Am Bdim C.
i ii III IV v vi VII ?
Supportact said: [my style is] probably more an accumulation of limitations and bad habits than a 'style'.
Dm may also be Aeolian (of F Major). This is where Modes leave me a bit high and dry.
You need to always relate them to the Ionian, as well as what you hear. A lot of jazz tunes take a min7 chord and make it a Dom7 chord - so you can either address the Dom7 directly, or not and treat it as min7.
Feedback
then think.
knowing the major scale in all positions you also know the modes. and because the sequence of major, minor minor, major etc is always the same you can get to the harmonised modes as well - and that's how you can appreciate the minor scale which is just a "mode" of the major scale.
the fretboard and harmony was a bleedin mystery until I learned this and it's all starting to unfold
so pretty much what viz said
Take A aeolian: A B C D E F G A
The root chord starts on A. Then "play a note, miss a note..." till you have 3 notes: A C E. This is an Am chord, so the root is Am.
The fourth chord starts on the fourth degree which is D. "Play a note, miss a note" gives D F A. This is Dm. So the fourth is Dm.
The fifth chord starts on the fifth degree which gives us E G B. This is Em. So the fifth is Em.
Now switch to A Dorian: A B C D E F# G A
The play one/miss one gives the root chord as A-C-E (Am), the fourth as D-F#-A (Dmajor) and the fifth is E-G-B (Em).
In my experience this naive approach works great for major keys. The complication with minor keys is that quite often things get substituted: particularly the fifth chord as explained well by @viz. However as a big fan of keeping things simple I tend to find that using this method combined with remembering that, in minor keys, people often make the five chord a major chord just because it sounds better gets you most of the way there.
I take A Dorian and i know it is the second Mode in the list of Modes. Ionian (Dorian) Phrygian Lydian Mixolydian Aeolian Locrian.
The first being Ionian. (The Major scale)
I go back one and this gives me G ionian.
I now know all my diatonic chords are from the Gmajor scale.
All my Modes are played using the Gmajor scale but seen as individual scales.
I know my 3 minor scales and my 3 major scales. I ignore Locrian the same way i ignored most of my maths exams.
Learning all 5 positions of the pentatonic scale was a massive help.
Using the caged system combined with the pentatonic scale and adding the 2 notes to complete the major scale linking across the fretboard helps to see seven major scales giving 7 modes. can all be played in the same area of the neck,but when spread out across the neck the shapes are always in the same order like the caged system given one Mode across the neck. Major is minor and minor is major etc.
Ive rambled this out because its helping it to go in. Anything incorrect here i would appreciate any input . many thanks.