In the previous section we looked at some of the common ways that chord progressions are structured in songs written in a minor key. We learned that, unlike in major songs, VII and VI are commonly found at the end of progressions. This usage, and the popularity of these chords in minor songs in general, can be understood from the relationship the minor scale has with the major scale. In this section, we will explore this relationship and show how you can exploit it to write more interesting music.
You might be tempted to think of the minor scale and the songs built from it as being a completely separate concept from major. If that were the case, understanding minor harmony would just be a matter of learning a new set of minor scales and basic chords and using them to explore musical ideas and sounds that aren’t possible with the major scale. However, it turns out the story isn’t quite that simple (and is, in fact, much more interesting); the major scale and minor scales are not as different as you might think. The relationship they have with one another is important, and understanding how they are linked will make you a better songwriter.
When we compare the C minor scale to the C major scale, we see that three of the notes (almost half!) are different:
Based on this comparison, it is hard to see how the major and minor scales could possibly be related. However, if we instead compare the C major scale to the A minor scale, a new story emerges.
Notice that the notes contained in the A minor scale are exactly the same as the notes in the C major scale (they both use the white keys of the piano); the only difference is the starting note!
Since songs are built from the notes that make up the scale they use, this means a song written in A minor will have exactly the same notes in it as a song written in C major. Moreover, since the basic chords are also built from the scale, the set of chords that the songs use will also be identical in A minor and C major (though they will be used in different ways of course - this is why a minor song sounds different than a major song). Here are the basic chords in A minor (pay attention to the chord names below the chord graphics):
And here are the basic chords in C major:
The relationship between these scales is given a name. Because these scales share the exact same notes, A minor is known as the relative minor of C major. Conversely, C major is known as the relative major of A minor. Every major scale has a relative minor and vice versa.
The relationship between minor and major is fundamental to how music works; it shouldn’t be treated as an odd coincidence and then forgotten. One way to conceptualize what is going on is to instead think of the major and minor scales as all coming from one universal scale but with a different note/chord being used as the tonal center. If you use the white keys of the piano and emphasize the chord built off C as home base, you are in C major. If you use the same notes but center your song around the A, you are in A minor.
In the key of C major, the A minor chord is the vi, which means the vi in major is strongly related to the i in minor. Similarly, scale degree 5 and the V in major are related to scale degree 7 and the VII in minor, etc. A simple adjustment to our color scheme, described below, will make it easy to recognize these relationships.
Up to this point, we have associated a color with each numbered scale degree using the ordering of the rainbow, regardless of whether the scale is major or minor. Scale degree 1 is red, 2 is orange, etc. However, since major and minor are just shifted versions of the same scale, there is a more natural way to color the scale degrees of the minor scale that emphasizes this relationship. Because scale degree 1 of the minor scale is equivalent to scale degree 6 of the major scale, scale degree 1 should really be purple in minor, not red. Here is the minor scale with these “relative colorings”:
Along with making it easier to see the relationship between major and minor, this coloring makes it easy to tell at a glance whether a song is in minor or major (if the home base “one” chord is purple, you know you’re in minor). It also properly maintains the relationships and intervals between scale degrees — the yellow and green scale degrees are a “half step” apart (i.e., correspond to adjacent notes on the piano) whether you are in minor or major. †
From a more practical standpoint, keeping the relationship between major and minor in mind is important because it can help you identify patterns and progressions that wouldn’t be easy to see otherwise. For example, in the previous section we learned about the popularity of VII and VI and their common appearances at the end of minor progressions. We can now understand the popularity of these chords with respect to how they appear in the relative major.
Check for Understanding
The VII chord in minor is equivalent to what chord in the relative major?
Check for Understanding
The VI chord in minor is equivalent to what chord in the relative major?
We are used to hearing V and IV at the end of major progressions, so it’s not surprising that our ears accept their equivalents at the end of minor progressions as well.
The relationship between the relative major and minor can also make it easier to understand why entire progressions sound good; a strange-looking minor progression may just be a major progression in disguise. Consider “All Along the Watchtower” by Jimi Hendrix.
This progression, i → VII → VI → VII, is a very common minor progression. “Rolling in the Deep” by Adele is another example of a song that uses these same chords.
Now listen to the major song, “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” by Cyndi Lauper:
The Roman numerals of the chords in this major progression are completely different than the Roman numerals of the chords in “All Along the Watchtower” and “Rolling in the Deep,” and yet the coloring of the chords tells a different story. In the key of A minor, “All Along the Watchtower” goes am → G → F → G → am. In the key of C major, “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” also uses am → G → F → G → am. They’re the exact same chords.
This means that if you know a progression like vi → V → IV → V is a great major progression, it shouldn’t surprise you if its equivalent relative minor progression i → VII → VI → VII is a great progression in minor as well (they are fundamentally the same chords).
“My Heart Will Go On” by Celine Dion is another song in major that plays around with this same progression.
While Lauper’s “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” only briefly used this progression, “My Heart Will Go On” establishes it more fully with vi acting as a new temporary tonal center for the entire chorus before returning to a progression centered around I in the verse.
Songs are often discussed as being purely in a major or minor key, but we’ve just seen that it is possible to incorporate elements of both by referencing the relative major/minor. A progression using a minor home base can be followed by a section that uses the relative major as the home base immediately afterward. Is the song major or minor? Did it switch between them, or is the songwriter just momentarily depriving us of a chord to build tension? Many popular songs intentionally play around in both major and minor, purposefully creating ambiguity. It’s a great songwriting technique you can use to make your songs more interesting.
Check for Understanding
In this section, you’ve learned that chords in minor have a special relation to chords in major. The ability to leverage what you already know about chord progressions in major is an important tool for writing songs in minor. Let’s explore this idea further with some concrete examples.
Part 1: Based on what you know from major, in the following four-chord progression, what chord best replaces the grayed out chords?
Part 2: Convert each of the two chords that typically follow the iii chord into their relative minor counterparts.
Check for Understanding
Consider the following major chord progression:
Part 1: Using what you know from major, what chord best replaces the grayed out chord above?
Part 2: What is the relative minor equivalent of this chord?
† Going forward we will continue with relative coloring (scale degree 1 is purple in minor). However, in Hookpad and in the Theorytab library on our website, if you prefer, you can switch the color scheme in the settings so that scale degree 1 is red.
Next up: Summary