Triads in a minor key

[nboyer941]

Hello,
I understand which chords are minor or major in a Major key.

Major=1458
Minor=2367

The minor chords get a flat 3 in the triad.

My question is, when you are playing a chord progression in a minor key, how do you know which chords are major, or minor....so that you know which triad to play.

Thanks!

[Marton]

By the way, 8 = 1, so major are I, IV, and V. And VII is diminished.

[nboyer941]

8=1
1= major, so 8 also = major...I know that.

And yes, 7 has a diminished 5.

What about my question?

[Distant Cousin]

Well, it sounds like you've answered your own question already? If you know which chords are major, minor, diminished then surely it's easy to work out from the chord progression? 6-2-5-1 would be Minor-Minor-Major-Major for example.

[Steve Dixon]

think of the minor and major chords in a major key like this... for every major chord, it has a related minor chord starting a minor 3rd below...

i.e. in the key of C major, C has Am, F has Dm and G has Em

notice how those minor chords are built on roots the same distance from each other as a key's major chords... the minor chords in a major key are a shadowy echo of their major big brothers

so you can think of a minor key as the reverse of this... your two other minor chords are perfect fourth and a perfect 5th above the tonic, and there's a major chord a minor 3rd above each of those 3 minor chords...

BUT... composers frequently make the V chord in a minor key a dominant chord, to create motion toward the tonic... so your V chord in a minor key could well be a dominant chord

[nboyer941]

Originally Posted by Distant Cousin

Well, it sounds like you've answered your own question already? If you know which chords are major, minor, diminished then surely it's easy to work out from the chord progression? 6-2-5-1 would be Minor-Minor-Major-Major for example.

No, no...that's not my question.

that is true when it is a MAJOR key.

What about when it is a MINOR key?
EG: in the key of Cm....the third is Eb. So, is that Eb minor or Major?

[Already In Use]

This may help...interactive circle of fifths.

http://randscullard.com/CircleOfFifths///

[nboyer941]

Originally Posted by Already In Use

This may help...interactive circle of fifths.

http://randscullard.com/CircleOfFifths///

BINGO! I think that will answer my question by selecting the aeolian mode (nat minor)

So, in my example above Eb is a major 3.

I will study off of that. Thanks, I've never seen that before.

[Jim Campbell]

Originally Posted by nboyer941

No, no...that's not my question.

that is true when it is a MAJOR key.

What about when it is a MINOR key?
EG: in the key of Cm....the third is Eb. So, is that Eb minor or Major?

the sixth degree is the relative minor,ergo A minor7 in the key of C major....so starting with A minor 7,your second chord would be B half diminished....so the next chord will be ......

if the key of C major has no flats or sharps,the key of A minor will have none as well,and you can work out your chords that way....
or you can stack thirds

[nboyer941]

Originally Posted by Jim Campbell

the sixth degree is the relative minor,ergo A minor7 in the key of C major....so starting with A minor 7,your second chord would be B half diminished....so the next chord will be ......

if the key of C major has no flats or sharps,the key of A minor will have none as well,and you can work out your chords that way....
or you can stack thirds

So, are you saying to take a minor key, figure out what the relative major is and then play the song in that major key?

[Distant Cousin]

I'm lost in this thread already... I hate theory!

[Jim Campbell]

Originally Posted by nboyer941

BINGO! I think that will answer my question by selecting the aeolian mode (nat minor)

So, in my example above Eb is a major 3.

I will study off of that. Thanks, I've never seen that before.

you may be getting confused here......as long as you are in the key of Cmaj,or A minor there will be no Eb's....where is jte when you need him.....

[nboyer941]

Originally Posted by Jim Campbell

you may be getting confused here......as long as you are in the key of Cmaj,or A minor there will be no Eb's....where is jte when you need him.....

No, I said in the key of C minor, the third is Eb. (which is a major chord).

[MalcolmAmos]

Originally Posted by nboyer941

Hello,
I understand which chords are minor or major in a Major key.
Major=1458
Minor=2367
The minor chords get a flat 3 in the triad.

My question is, when you are playing a chord progression in a minor key, how do you know which chords are major, or minor....so that you know which triad to play. Thanks!

OK Eb is a major chord in the key of Cm. That may answer your question........ Each key has three major, three minor chords and one diminished chord. So Eb is one of the major chords in the key of Cm. Keep this in mind - If Eb was a minor chord it would have been written as Ebm.

I'm not sure if this is what you are asking, however here goes. OK let's assume you are looking at some fake chord or lead sheet music - and the chords are written out for you.
C would indicate a major chord R-3-5
C7 would indicate a major dominant seventh chord R-3-5-b7
Cm would indicate a minor chord R-b3-5
Cm7 would indicate a minor seventh chord R-b3-5-b7
Cmaj7 would indicate a major chord with a natural 7. R-3-5-7
Cdim is both minor and diminished. R-b3-b5
Anything with a flatted 3rd will be minor and any thing with a natural 3rd will be a major chord.
This may help with what you are asking. http://www.smithfowler.org/music/Chord_Formulas.htm I think that may answer your question. If not sorry ask again if someone else has not helped you.

[Already In Use]

Originally Posted by nboyer941

BINGO! I think that will answer my question by selecting the aeolian mode (nat minor)

So, in my example above Eb is a major 3.

I will study off of that. Thanks, I've never seen that before.

Its not much work to just memorzie triads. C thru B, major, minor, diminished and augmented was my home work last lesson. Took a few days to get down. Got place to start.

[Febs]

Originally Posted by nboyer941

No, no...that's not my question.

that is true when it is a MAJOR key.

What about when it is a MINOR key?
EG: in the key of Cm....the third is Eb. So, is that Eb minor or Major?

It is Major.

To understand why, understand that chords are constructed by stacking thirds. So, for example, take the C minor scale:

1    2    3    4    5    6    7    8

C    D    Eb   F    G    Ab   Bb   C

Now, put a third on each note in the scale:

1    2    3    4    5    6    7    8

Eb   F    G    Ab   Bb   C    D    Eb
C    D    Eb   F    G    Ab   Bb   C

Then put another third on each of those:

1    2    3    4    5    6    7    8

G    Ab   Bb   C    D    Eb   F    G
Eb   F    G    Ab   Bb   C    D    Eb
C    D    Eb   F    G    Ab   Bb   C

Now, look at the chords you formed in each column:

1    2    3    4    5    6    7    8

G    Ab   Bb   C    D    Eb   F    G
Eb   F    G    Ab   Bb   C    D    Eb
C    D    Eb   F    G    Ab   Bb   C

min  dim  Maj  min  min  Maj  Maj  min

So you can see from the third column that the chord built from the minor scale on the Eb root is a Major chord.

There are exceptions, as SteveDixon noted in post 5, but best to understand the basics first of how chords are constructed from a scale.

[Jim Campbell]

Originally Posted by nboyer941

So, are you saying to take a minor key, figure out what the relative major is and then play the song in that major key?

let's keep it simple for now.....write out the C major scale and go up in thirds

C E G
D F A
E G B
F A C
G B D
A C E
B D F

note: no sharps or flats

now re write starting on the sixth degree,or A C E...only the notes above will work

[Jim Campbell]

Originally Posted by Febs

It is Major.

To understand why, understand that chords are constructed by stacking thirds. So, for example, take the C minor scale:

1    2    3    4    5    6    7    8

C    D    E    F    G    Ab   Bb   C

Now, put a third on each note in the scale:

1    2    3    4    5    6    7    8

Eb   F    G    Ab   Bb   C    D    Eb
C    D    E    F    G    Ab   Bb   C

Then put another third on each of those:

1    2    3    4    5    6    7    8

G    Ab   Bb   C    D    Eb   F    G
Eb   F    G    Ab   Bb   C    D    Eb
C    D    E    F    G    Ab   Bb   C

Now, look at the chords you formed in each column:

1    2    3    4    5    6    7    8

G    Ab   Bb   C    D    Eb   F    G
Eb   F    G    Ab   Bb   C    D    Eb
C    D    E    F    G    Ab   Bb   C

min  dim  Maj  min  min  Maj  Maj  min

So you can see from the third column that the chord built from the minor scale on the Eb root is a Major chord.

There are exceptions, as SteveDixon noted in post 5, but best to understand the basics first of how chords are constructed from a scale.

febs will be able to explain this stuff better than me so carry on.....

[ehque]

Feb's description is correct, other than the fact that C minor has a Eb instead of E. Other than that, learn how to build chords from the scale like he mentions. The majority/minority of each chord will be quickly apparent.

[nboyer941]

Look at his third code box. Why are some of the thirds minor, and some of the thirds major?