Music theory / progressions
Minor chord progression chart
The diatonic chords in a minor key, the progressions that actually get used, and the one alteration that turns natural minor from vague to purposeful.
Minor keys have a reputation for being harder than major, and there is a real reason: the seventh degree is variable. Get that one point straight and the rest follows quickly.
The diatonic chords in natural minor
| Degree | i | ii° | III | iv | v | VI | VII |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| In A minor | Am | B° | C | Dm | Em | F | G |
| Quality | minor | diminished | major | minor | minor | major | major |
Compare that to major, where the pattern is major, minor, minor, major, major, minor, diminished. Minor is the same seven chords rotated: the natural minor chords are the major-key chords of the relative major, starting from the sixth.
The alteration that matters
Notice that v is minor in natural minor. A minor dominant has no leading tone, so it does not pull toward the tonic, and progressions built on it sound modal and unresolved rather than conclusive.
Raise the seventh degree (harmonic minor) and v becomes V, a major chord with a proper leading tone. In A minor, Em becomes E major. That single change is what gives minor-key music its sense of arrival, and it is why you see so many G sharps in a key signature with no sharps.
Most real music uses both: minor v for colour and modal passages, major V at cadences. Do not treat it as an either/or.
Progressions worth knowing
| Roman numerals | In A minor | Character |
|---|---|---|
| i–VI–III–VII | Am–F–C–G | The most common minor pop progression. Sounds anthemic rather than sad. |
| i–iv–V–i | Am–Dm–E–Am | The classical minor cadence. Raised seventh in the V. |
| i–VII–VI–V | Am–G–F–E | The Andalusian cadence. Flamenco, and a great deal of rock. |
| i–VI–VII–i | Am–F–G–Am | Modal and open. No leading tone at all. |
| i–iv–VII–III | Am–Dm–G–C | Circle-of-fifths movement. Drifts toward the relative major. |
| iiø–V–i | Bm7b5–E7–Am | The minor two-five-one. Jazz standard vocabulary. |
The Andalusian cadence in row three is worth playing right now if you have not met it. It is a descending stepwise bass from tonic to dominant, and it is one of the most immediately recognisable sounds in Western music.
Why minor keys do not simply sound sad
The first progression in that table is minor throughout and sounds triumphant rather than mournful. Emotional character comes from tempo, rhythm, register, dynamics, and melodic contour at least as much as from mode. Treating minor as the sad scale is a shortcut that will mislead you as soon as you try to write something.
Associations between mode and emotional valence are real but modest, and are readily overridden by tempo and articulation. Fast, loud, articulated minor-mode material is typically rated as energetic or agitated rather than sad; slow, quiet major-mode material is frequently rated as melancholy.
Gabrielsson & Lindström, in Handbook of Music and Emotion, ch. 14.
Hear them
Open the chord progression generator, set the key to A minor, and play each row above. Then switch the V between major and minor and listen to what changes at the cadence. That comparison teaches more than any amount of reading.
The chord progression chart PDF prints all of these in every key.
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