Minor Keys
Learning songs, composing and improvising in minor
keys is daunting for a lot of musicians. There are so many minor
scales, and you can't just pick one and run with it because
it won't work over every chord in the song. It's a very confusing
situation. The good news, though, is that minor keys give you
a lot more options at your disposal as a composer or improviser.
Below are the most common chords you'd encounter
in the key of C minor, and the scales that go well with them.
(Of course, you'll need to transpose these to use them for other
keys.) Notice that I use C- to mean "C minor." Other
people write it as Cm or Cmin.
Tonic chords: C-, C-7, C-6
etc
Subdominant chords:
D-7b5, F-7, F7
Dominant chords: G7, G7b9,
G7sus, G7alt, etc
Other chords: Ab, Ab7, Bb,
diminished chords, blues
You can think of chords as scales stacked up vertically,
or you can think of scales as chords stretched out horizontally.
You'll notice right away that a simple C- chord gives you five
different possible scales. Which one is right? It's up to you,
use your ears!
Tonic Chords
C- | C-7 | C-9 | C-11 | use C natural minor
| C |
D |
Eb |
F |
G |
Ab |
Bb |
| I |
II |
bIII |
IV |
V |
bVI |
bVII |
If you're not sure which minor scale to use, this is always
a good default. Notice that it's the same pitches as the Eb
major scale - Eb is the relative major key to C minor.
C- | C-(b6) | C-(Maj7) | use C harmonic minor
| C |
D |
Eb |
F |
G |
Ab |
B |
| I |
II |
bIII |
IV |
V |
bVI |
VII |
You might have been taught that this is the scale you use
going up, and that you use melodic minor to go down, but that
only applies to classical music. Jazz treats these two scales
as totally different entities. Notice the big gap between
the Ab and B, which gives the scale its distinctive middle
eastern sound.
C- | C-6 | C-(Maj7) | use C melodic minor
| C |
D |
Eb |
F |
G |
A |
B |
| I |
II |
bIII |
IV |
V |
VI |
VII |
This is a very dark, exotic scale much used by modern jazz
musicians.
C- | C-7 | C-9 | C-11 | C-13 | use C dorian
| C |
D |
Eb |
F |
G |
A |
Bb |
| I |
II |
bIII |
IV |
V |
VI |
bVII |
A jazzy, modern-sounding scale used in countless funk and
R&B songs, as well as in Miles Davis' famous So What.
Note that it's the same pitches as Bb major. Note also the
tritone between the Eb and A.
D-7(b5) | D half-diminished | use D locrian
| C |
-- |
D |
Eb |
-- |
F |
-- |
G |
Ab |
-- |
Bb |
-- |
| I |
-- |
II |
bIII |
-- |
IV |
-- |
V |
bVI |
-- |
bVII |
-- |
The same pitches as C natural minor and Eb major.
F-7 | use F dorian
| C |
-- |
D |
Eb |
-- |
F |
-- |
G |
Ab |
-- |
Bb |
-- |
| I |
-- |
II |
bIII |
-- |
IV |
-- |
V |
bVI |
-- |
bVII |
-- |
Also the same pitches as C natural minor and Eb major.
F-7(#11) | use C harmonic minor
| C |
-- |
D |
Eb |
-- |
F |
-- |
G |
Ab |
-- |
-- |
B |
| I |
-- |
II |
bIII |
-- |
IV |
-- |
V |
bVI |
-- |
-- |
VII |
This scale doesn't really have a name, but if you want your
iv-7 chord to sound exotic, this is a good choice.
F7 | use F mixolydian
| C |
D |
Eb |
F |
G |
A |
Bb |
| I |
II |
bIII |
IV |
V |
VI |
bVII |
The C- to F7 chord progression shows up a lot in funk and
R&B. The same pitches as C dorian and Bb major.
back to top
Dominant Chords
G7 | G7(b9) | G7(b6) | G7sus4 | use C harmonic
minor
| C |
-- |
D |
Eb |
-- |
F |
-- |
G |
Ab |
-- |
-- |
B |
| I |
-- |
II |
bIII |
-- |
IV |
-- |
V |
bVI |
-- |
-- |
VII |
C harmonic minor got its name from the fact that it gives
you the most satisfying V chord. If the chord symbol just
says G7, this is the fallback scale.
G7(#5) | use G whole tone
| Db |
Eb |
F |
G |
A |
B |
| bII |
bIII |
IV |
V |
VI |
VII |
This is an oddball scale with only six notes, all spaced
a whole step apart. Its symmetry makes it an attention-getter,
but it's also limiting. You may see the chord symbol written
as G7+ or G7+5, which I think is a needlessly confusing and
annoying custom.
G7alt | G7(any combo of b9, #9, b5, #5) | use G altered
| Db |
Eb |
F |
G |
Ab |
Bb |
B |
| bII |
bIII |
IV |
V |
bVI |
bVII |
VII |
This scale sometimes gets referred to as the super locrian
or diminished whole-tone, more confusing and annoying nomenclature.
Altered describes what happens to the ninth and fifth, but
it also describes the state of mind this scale produces. It
has the same pitches as Ab melodic minor.
back to top
Other Chords
Ab | Ab6 | AbMaj7(#11) | use Ab lydian
| C |
-- |
D |
Eb |
-- |
F |
-- |
G |
Ab |
-- |
Bb |
-- |
| I |
-- |
II |
bIII |
-- |
IV |
-- |
V |
bVI |
-- |
bVII |
-- |
Why not the regular old Ab major scale? Lydian just sounds
better because it has that D instead of Db. Same pitches as
C natural minor and Eb major.
Ab7 | Ab7(#11) | use Ab lydian dominant
| C |
D |
Eb |
F |
Gb |
Ab |
Bb |
| I |
II |
bIII |
IV |
bV |
bVI |
bVII |
A very satisfying bluesy sound. Same pitches as Eb melodic
minor.
A-7(b5) | A half-diminished | use A
locrian
| C |
- |
D |
Eb |
- |
F |
- |
G |
- |
A |
Bb |
- |
| I |
- |
II |
bIII |
- |
IV |
- |
V |
- |
VI |
bVII |
- |
Same pitches as C dorian and Bb major.
Bb | Bb6 | BbMaj7 | use Bb major
| C |
-- |
D |
Eb |
-- |
F |
-- |
G |
-- |
A |
Bb |
-- |
| I |
-- |
II |
bIII |
-- |
IV |
-- |
V |
-- |
VI |
bVII |
-- |
Same pitches as C dorian.
C° | Eb° | Gb°| A °| use C, Eb, Gb,
A diminished
| C |
-- |
D |
Eb |
-- |
F |
Gb |
-- |
Ab |
A |
-- |
B |
| I |
-- |
II |
bIII |
-- |
IV |
bV |
-- |
bVI |
VI |
-- |
VII |
This scale has eight tones instead of seven, and they fall
in a nice orderly pattern: whole-step, half-step, whole-step,
half-step, etc. A weird sound but a cool one.
Db° | E° | G° | Bb° | use Db, E, G,
Bb diminished
| C |
Db |
Eb |
E |
Gb |
G |
A |
Bb |
| I |
bII |
bIII |
III |
bV |
V |
VI |
bVII |
D° | F° | Ab° | B° | use D, F, Ab,
B diminished
| Db |
D |
E |
F |
G |
Ab |
Bb |
B |
| bII |
II |
III |
IV |
V |
bVI |
bVII |
VII |
Any chord in the key of C minor | use C blues
| C |
-- |
-- |
Eb |
-- |
F |
F# |
G |
-- |
-- |
Bb |
-- |
| I |
-- |
-- |
bIII |
-- |
IV |
#IV |
V |
-- |
-- |
bVII |
-- |
The blues scale sounds great over any chord
on this page . You can always fall back on it, but don't let
it become a crutch.
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