Very common chord progression key analysis

[mogley]

Hi guys

I was just doodling around with this chord progression

Am - Dm - GMaj - CMaj - FMaj - Bbmin - EMaj (or min)

Now most of these chords are diatonic to C except the Bbmin.

Yet i would be inclined to say that the overall mood of the piece and particularly due to the dominant cadence of the EMaj that the piece resolves to an Aminor?

If it was just Am - Dm - GMaj i would say it is definately in A minor (Aeolian) and you could harmonise with this progression in A dorian or A Aeolian or some form of minor/pentatonic/blues form ala Eric Clapton - Old Love. (Although depending on the changes jazz dudes may argue that A dorian over the Dm will make the F# clash with the Dm chord)

But the introduction of the CMaj makes the first 4 chord changes sound very major although the overall peice sounds minor?

Does that make sense? If i were to improvise over the progression without focusing on the chord changes and playing modally but rather trying to hone in on the tonal center, i am not sure if i should be thinking in CMaj or Aminor.

I hope i have not confused you!

Any help would be appreciated.

Cheers

[jancivil]

But you have to be cognizant of the these changes to do this thing, right?

It's an 'A minor' thing. Only because you have a 'turnaround' to A minor, Bbm7 - E, Am
(I think, don't concern yourself with an 'either/or' thought on 'major/minor'; I'll show you what I mean)

I just played around with it on the guitar. You go to the iv chord, it's a blues move. You might emphasize that f natural on the d minor. Pose an e against: resolve. (>A Clapton bend, of d up thru e to that f and back to d.)

D minor 7; hear these notes: c - g. I did this: c - f - c - b...
that b coinciding with the G maj. Enjoy that b; suspend it over that C maj..
NOW! when you go to F maj, that b resolves to a. You can find this Clapton sort of bend, that b to a, really poignant. Do that move over an A minor. Think of this as the same kind of emotion, with a different shading.

You find a commonality between this Bb minor and E: the note Ab (G# in the E maj) gives us a Bbm7. That's a pivot tone, and you can make that move really effective with such a device. It 'cadences' (turnaround) on the A minor; so, that's really your 'key'.

It kinda sorta is a Clapton-type progression, which means, 'blues' thinking, and not 'major' vs 'minor.

[pichonz]

Hi guys

I was just doodling around with this chord progression

Am - Dm - GMaj - CMaj - FMaj - Bbmin - EMaj (or min)

Now most of these chords are diatonic to C except the Bbmin.

Yet i would be inclined to say that the overall mood of the piece and particularly due to the dominant cadence of the EMaj that the piece resolves to an Aminor?

If it was just Am - Dm - GMaj i would say it is definately in A minor (Aeolian) and you could harmonise with this progression in A dorian or A Aeolian or some form of minor/pentatonic/blues form ala Eric Clapton - Old Love. (Although depending on the changes jazz dudes may argue that A dorian over the Dm will make the F# clash with the Dm chord)

But the introduction of the CMaj makes the first 4 chord changes sound very major although the overall peice sounds minor?

Does that make sense? If i were to improvise over the progression without focusing on the chord changes and playing modally but rather trying to hone in on the tonal center, i am not sure if i should be thinking in CMaj or Aminor.

I hope i have not confused you!

Any help would be appreciated.

Cheers

hey guys,

I use chase charts to determine in what key a progression is in. just like there are scales for notes..i.e. C D E F G A B >> C major

There are chord scales and they are called chase charts. All you have to do is find the chord scale that matches most closely the chord progression.

Your progression starts out in A minor and then shifts over to C major. If you continue to play this progression you are basically moving from one key to another from minor to major.

Em resolves to Am
G major resolves to C major

Links:
info on chase charts >>http://howmusicreallyworks.com/Pages_Chapter_6/6 _8.html

you can find the chord scales here >>>http://www.blackbeltguitar.com/
just search for "Harmonic Scale Chords for All Major Keys"

[KLS]

Jancivl is right. This can probably be analyzed in A minor. In the tonality of C major/A minor, Bb chords can be considered subdominant chords - especially in the blues. So, what you have is your ending cadence of Bb minor (subdominant in C major), E minor (dominant in A minor), A minor (tonic in A minor). Very common (and sounds interesting, too!).

We don't need to try to cram all the music we write into "this key" or "that key". That's too confining. Music sounds much more interesting when it sort of floats between and around several tonalities. The point of learning about all the keys and scales is so we can know how to manipulate them to make music. They are there is serve us, not the other way around.

- Ken

[Ogg Vorbis]

You have what's called a diatonic sequence which has been a classic thing for a long time. Where would Vivaldi be without the sequence? Out of work and selling pencils!

The root movement is up a forth, down a fifth and so on until you "break" the sequence and return (where rhythmically appropriate, as in your case) back to the original tonality (A minor).

If you didn't have that tri-tone leap in there (Bb to E) then you'd go spiraling off to ALL keys and never return home.

If I had a dollar for every pop tune that uses a sequence, I'd be able to retire us both.

So you have hit on a very tried and true type of motion here.

Yes, it's in A minor.

[BertKoor]

On first sight it looks like it's the same (or a simular) progression as in Autumn Leaves and Together We're Strong by Patrick Duffy & Mireille Mathieu.

[Melkor]

I just strummed it on an acoustic and i thought it had a "Cat Stevens" quality to it.

The Bbm-E-Am ... i changed that to Bb7-E-Am and thought it sounded much "stronger"

[Musicologo]

Bb7 makes more sense than Bbm.

Because in the context Bb7 - E - A is the bII7-V-I, and bII7 is a dominant chord (equivalent to V7 by tritonic substitution - the bII7 is the "antiDominant"). While a bii I don't know what it is.

Notice that Bb7 is Bb, D, F, Ab and E7 is E, G#, B, D so we have 2 notes in common: the 3rd (G#=Ab) and the 7th (D) of the dominant of A. The other 2 notes are just half-tone appart: Bb>B and F>E. That's why it is such a powerfull chord in the context of A.

Conclusion:
I would add the 7 to that E chord to make it even more stronger. And I would get:

Bb7 - E7 - A(Major)

So, bII7 - V7 - I.

Two dominants. A really perfect cadence.

Your progression can be then:

Am - Dm - G - C - F - Bb7 - E7 - A - Am .... and marry goes round...

Then I'd still add two 7ths to make it more stronger... That Dm and G that goes to a C is really a ii7-V7 - I in C, which sounds strong to. Again, Dominants...

So:

Am - Dm7 - G7 - C.
F - Bb7 - E7 - A.

And your progression has now two sets with 2 perfect cadences.

[Melkor]

Conclusion:
I would add the 7 to that E chord to make it even more stronger. And I would get:

Bb7 - E7 - A(Major)

So, bII7 - V7 - I.

Two dominants. A really perfect cadence.

Indeed ..... Two resolves for the price of one!


But the sound of that A mutating into an Am in your last prog, just doesnt do it for me.

Sometimes its ok (F-Fm-C-C) but as a "turnaround" it sounds whack ....

So I plugged this one in ......

Am - Dm7 - G7 - C
F - Bb7 - E - E7

"Only" one perfect cadence, but muuuucho smoother.