Deriving Chords From a Scale

[Leo Chang]

This is more of a theory question than a "Technique" question, hope I am posting this in the right place...


I know the chords that goes with each degree of the major scale goes as follows

I : Major
II : Minor
III : Minor
IV : Major
V : Major
VI : Minor
VII: Diminished

QUESTION 1: what about for the minor scale?

If starting with C major, then A aeolian is the corresponding minor... which would be the vi degree of the C major scale, so do I just play the same chords in the same order but starting with the A minor chord?

QUESTION 2: what about scales like Harmonic Minor and Melodic Minor that don't track so closely with the major scale?


Thanks

[thetroy]

Question 1 - you're right

Question 2 - The chords are constructed in the same way as they are with the normal major/minor scales. Take A Harmonic Minor for example:

The notes are A B C D E F G# instead of A B C D E F G

Any chord that had a G in it for A natural minor now has instead a G# in A harmonic minor. This affects any triad which has the 7th scale tone in it, in this case the C, E, and G# chords. The C has it's 5th raised making it an augmented chord, the E has it's third raised making it a major chord, and the G# becomes dimished because you're effectively lowering the 3rd AND 5th of a major chord by a half step.

That makes the chords for harmonic minor:

i - minor
ii' - diminished
III+ - augmented
iv - minor
V - major
VI - major
vii' - diminished

Melodic minor is constructed the same way as well just with a raised 7th AND 6th though melodic minor is often played weirdly. Usually in classical music melodic minor is played with the 2 raised tones (this could also be thought of as a major scale with a flat 3rd to give a minor sound) while ASCENDING but played without them (as natural minor or aeolian) while descending. This makes the chords kind of tough to figure out. A lot of times in Jazz they will just keep the raised tones throughout instead of changing while descending.

Ugh this might not be explained very well. Ask more questions if you have them

[shredmonster]

Get "The Complete Guitarist" available at most book stores. Will explain exactly how this stuff works.

[Spivonious]

Fantastic response thetroy. There's nothing in there that my B.A. in Music would disagree with.

[thetroy]

I know the facts are correct just want to make sure it's understandable. Trying to explain music theory without looking at sheet music is not easy

[Leo Chang]

thetroy: Thanks, after reading that a few times, I think I've got it

[atomic charvel guy]

I'm jealous, i wish I knew a lot more theory than I know, I did it all by ear and practice. Without my ear i'd be done for. Well I am done for . For now-lol

[skorb]

I know the facts are correct just want to make sure it's understandable. Trying to explain music theory without looking at sheet music is not easy

trying to understand it is just as hard, I find I do best in little bits here and there, otherwise I'm overwhelmed.

I'm an ear player like Tommy.

[Leo Chang]

My ears are decent, but not so good that I can be a pure "ear-based" player.... so I am pretty much stuck with learning as much theory as I can (not that I mind... )

But there are so many ways of expressing the same theoretical concept, that it takes a long time for me to "get" new theory stuff that I learn. And then it's even harder to integrate that little bit with my existing theory knowledge, meager as it is.

[thetroy]

I use theory when I'm reading music or composing. When I'm improvising I hardly think about it at all. I try to keep in mind what chords are playing and what keys I'm playing but for the most part it's just my muscle memory and my ears dictating what is played.

[metalhead28]

TheTroy is one hundred percent correct, but I just thought I would point out a different way of visualizing this.

The chord types for a given key are dictated by stacking thirds from the parent scale. That's true for the major key chord types you described and it's the same theory for any scale you use.
Just stack thirds from within the scale and wherever they fall, there are the notes which dictate your chord type.
For example, if you start on the second degree for your chord root, then go up two notes within the scale and fall on a minor third, then up two more notes and find a perfect fifth - it's a minor chord you should use.

Does that make sense?

[Leo Chang]

TheTroy is one hundred percent correct, but I just thought I would point out a different way of visualizing this.

The chord types for a given key are dictated by stacking thirds from the parent scale. That's true for the major key chord types you described and it's the same theory for any scale you use.
Just stack thirds from within the scale and wherever they fall, there are the notes which dictate your chord type.
For example, if you start on the second degree for your chord root, then go up two notes within the scale and fall on a minor third, then up two more notes and find a perfect fifth - it's a minor chord you should use.

Does that make sense?

Oh yes, makes perfect sense! Thanks

[xenophobe]

I bought a book on Scale/Chord relationships and I didn't understand a single word of it.