Help with this chord progression!

[jumpercable]

Okay so the chord progression is D, Em, Fm, Gm? Any ideas on the key? Im not sure where the modulation is.. D major would have a Gmajor or Fsharp minor. I would need a V7 for a modulation.. Not sure how to deal with progressions like this for improvising. Anybody?

[robgxmn]

I like ChordSpace for playing with things like this (the classic version).

Not sure about theory, but just playing with it, I like C6 (C, E, G, A).

Am (A, C, G, E) and A half-diminished 7th (A, C, Eb, G) are also nice. Not sure why I like the flat on the E in that last chord where I like the natural on the others, but I do.

[jopy]

Okay so the chord progression is D, Em, Fm, Gm? Any ideas on the key? Im not sure where the modulation is.. D major would have a Gmajor or Fsharp minor. I would need a V7 for a modulation.. Not sure how to deal with progressions like this for improvising. Anybody?

The D and Gm in the same song would suggest that it's in G minor to me (with D acting as the V chord), but that E minor and F minor don't work in that key. I don't think it's really in any key, it's more like a string of unrelated chords. I think that if you're soloing you have to stick to the chord tones and modes with each chord as it goes by rather than imposing a single key over all the chords.

[seacouch]

Emi works in key of D, but Fmi and Gmi do not. You could look at the progression as modulating to Eb for those two chords.

[robgxmn]

I don't think it's really in any key

Looking at it a bit more, I have to agree - not that there's anything wrong with doing it this way by any means. No matter what, I don't see any way around there being accidentals here.

You have:
D, F#, A, C
E, G, B, D
F, G#, C, D#
G, A#, D, F

Either way, you have 4 sets of accidentals. For F, G, D and A you have both the natural and sharp (or for G, A, E and B both the natural and flat).

[Ogg Vorbis]

Okay so the chord progression is D, Em, Fm, Gm? Any ideas on the key? Im not sure where the modulation is.. D major would have a Gmajor or Fsharp minor. I would need a V7 for a modulation.. Not sure how to deal with progressions like this for improvising. Anybody?

There could be a sort of key or partial d minor scale expressed if you buy into the following theory...

Root notes, regardless of the triads that are built on them, sometimes give a song a strong sense of tonal center. For example, in metal you will have progressions like E G A D which are obviously NOT in a single major key. But when the song lands back on that E at the end, it sounds satisfactory as though we have arrived back in the home key.

So, in spite of the conflicting notes that result from the triads, you have the root notes E G A D and back to E. This builds a strong E tonality (even if it's an E minor or Dorian or blues flavor of E).

"Power chord" kinds of songs seem to validate this type of thing, but I think this applies in other contexts too. In pop or dance music, the tonality is so heavily established by the bassline that chords in a string pad may just either serve as reinforcement of the bass notes, or just simply as a coloristic texture.

So your chord progression with the root notes D E F G may simply focus the tonality of the song around the note D in spite of the conflicts going on as a result of triads built on these notes.

In my thought, it's always, "what is the effect to the listener?" rather than, "what theoretical rules define the key?"

The final test is..."When you come back around to your D chord, does it sound like you've reached the destination?"

[jumpercable]

Wow, okay. Thanks everybody for the help... Oggs, thats massively detailed. Really interesting way to think about these sorta situations. Hmmm.. Will have to have a think about that then. But Id have to agree with yas, sounds atonal or as oggs put it, in a E tonality. Or the scientifically correct term - "E.... ish".



For the 1st section, thinking about it now: if I didnt treat the Fm and Gm as is, and made them an Fm/Dflat then Gm/Eflat it sounds more tonal. So the intial progression would be D, Em, Fm/Db, Gm/Eb. Ill harmonize my way out of trouble!


The next part sounds far more tonal - the Fm becomes an Fsharp minor. So the next full progression is D, Em, Fsharpm, Gm, Fsharpm, Em, D, C, G. Thats hopefully easier to figure out?! I really appreciate every1s help.

Im usually pretty good with keys, I understand modes and modulations and can see them better and better, but with rows of minor chords... Im pretty stumped. Usually would see a V - I as the modulation. But thats always major...