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Dominant, subdominants and dominants
Dominant, subdominants and dominants
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Progrock
25 posts
Jul 10, 2010
4:46 PM
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Hey there,
I haven't been on here in a long time. I posted this on another forum and I'm curious if any of you would have and answer for me. Her it is:
When I was in school I learned how you can divide all the chords into the three categories. Tonic, sub-dominant and dominant.
Of course this means the I,IV and V chords. But also in tonic category is the VI- and the III- so we have I,III- and VI- for the tonic. In the sub-dominant category we would have the II- and of course the IV. Finally the dominant would be the V and you can also use the dim or m7b5.
So this all works well with pulling this chord to the other in major. IV pulling to V and V pulling to I but what about in minor?
I know the V chord can still go to the VI- and III- but what would be the correct application here? Would I treat it in the same way but substitute one of the other tonics for the I chord. Here is an example of what I'm talking about.
C,F,G,C Simple I,IV,V progression.
Can I apply the same concept but interchange the other chords from the categories like this?
Am,F,G,Am
Em,F,G,Em
or
Am,Dm,G
Em,Dm,G
I know for say Am I could just look at in as the I chord being Am and changing the Em to E major making the V chord pull more to Am but I'm talking unaltered strict diatonic chords in the minor keys.
For minor is this not a good way of looking at it or am I on the right track?
For anybody that will say just play whatever sounds good, I know I can do that. I'm trying to get a correct theoretical explanation on this. I learned the major chird application part from the actual curriculum they use in Berklee College of music but I didn't get to the minor part. As usual I'm probably over thinking this!
If any of you could help me out I would really appreciate it!
Thanks!
Don
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Eric E
Moderator
73 posts
Jul 10, 2010
5:25 PM
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Hey Don,
How are you? You are on the right track. Since the I, III and IV contain some of the same notes (CEG for the C chord, EGB for the III chord and ACE for the VI chord)you see how the III and VI relate to the I chord. On the other hand if the VI is your minor tonic, the III is not the best sub, the I is better because of the shared notes (but then it will sound like its in the major I key again). But you are right, the harmony can be interchanged in the same way. If you write out harmony for Harmonic and Melodic minor scales you'll get much more interesting harmony than the major scale diatonic keys and then you'll see that the chords that share two notes can be interchanged. Also, listen for what sounds good. Try some of the subs and see.
Hope that helps,
--Eric E.
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Progrock
26 posts
Jul 11, 2010
8:51 AM
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Hey Eric,
How's everything with you?
I realize that following the way I described may not be the best approach. Especially since the E is minor so it doesn't have as strong of a pull to Am as an E major. Plus it is also in the tonic category in major. I just looked at the setup for major and just wondered how that relates to the minor. I also figured one of my students would end up asking the same questions so I better have a definitive answer.
I guess if the question comes up it would be a great way to get into the harmonic minor and melodic minor scales.
Thanks Eric!
Don
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ChrisDowning
91 posts
Nov 23, 2010
10:43 AM
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I think its worth remebering that most of the great players from the 20's to 50's really didn't take much of an academic approach to harmony and just used their ears. As Joe Pass once famously said, "Don't ask me about modes, I don't think like that." I'm sure there are a lot of music academics out there who make a very good living out of analysing what great guitarists played. It's just lucky they never got to tell the players.
I pretty much think you can sub anything with anything if it sounds good. I'm constantly falling into the trap of reading and studying when I should be playing and practicing. More playing and less theorising is my mantra.
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