Thursday, August 21, 2008

F Chord Progressions: Relative Minor Substitutions

Remember from last time:

I. F major
ii. Gm
iii. Am
IV. Bb major
V. C major
vi. Dm
vii(b5). Edim

Each major chord in the key of F has a relative minor that might sound great instead of playing the major chord, and vice versa. What? In other words...

I/vi: F major could possibly be substituted with Dm
IV/ii: Bb major could possibly be substituted with Gm
V/iii: C major could possibly be substituted with Am

Instead of playing I-V-IV-I, for instance, try the following permutations (not an exhaustive list), but we'll start with the original progression:

I-V-IV-I: F C Bb F
I-iii-IV-vi: F Am Bb Dm
I-V-ii-I: F C Gm F
vi-V-IV-I: Dm C Bb F
vi-iii-ii-vi: Dm Am Gm Dm
etc.

Substituting a major chord with its relative minor (and vice versa) might liven up a boring progression with a less boring progression (albeit still widely used).

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