In our previous tutorial, we went over writing songs in the Major Key. As you may have noticed,

songs in the Major Key seem to be happier, or brighter, than some of the songs you listen to.

In general, songs in Major will give you this feeling, and you might want your song to be darker or sadder.

You probably don't want your song about heartbreak sounding bright or happy, unless that's what you really want.

Yes, they do!!!! Every Major has a Relative Minor, which is the 6th mode of the Major Scale.

But as we learned about Modes, just changing the order of the notes give it a different feel.

So, a Minor Scale will actually sound darker or sadder than it's Relative Major, even though

the chords are the same.

If you already know your Modes, and the "L Method" of finding the Major and Minor Chords of a Major Scale,

You already know what chords are in a Minor Scale.

To review the L Method, click here:

In a Major Scale, we have the following formula: I ii iii IV V vi vii° where uppercase is Major, lower is Minor.

For example, the chords of A Major are: A Bm C#m D E F#m G#dim

If we then know our Relative Minor is the 6th Mode of the Major Scale (or simply 3 frets down from the Major Root),

we can figure out the key and chords of our Relative Minor Scale.

The 6th Mode (or 3 frets down from our Major Root) of A is F#. So, the Relative Minor of A Major is F# Minor.

Since they both contain the same chords, only the order changes, like Modes, we simply start at the 6th

chord of A Major, and continue from there. 6-7-1-2-3-4-5. The Minor From Major chord formula is: vi vii° I ii iii IV V

The Minor Chord Formula is i ii° III iv v VI VII

So, the chords of our F# Minor Scale are F#m G#dim A Bm C#m D E

When we start writing a song, we usually start on the 1 chord, in this case F# minor.

So, starting there will set the tone for the song. Starting on a minor chord will give you that sadder opening.

As with our Modes, starting on a different Mode gives our solo a different feel. It's the same with chords.

Just like in our Writing Songs in Major, we can start with a few "rules".

As a general rule in writing songs, we start on the Root of the Scale, or the 1 Chord.

In our F#m Scale, the 1 chord is......F#m.

If our scale was Am, we would start and end on an Am Chord.

Our example states that you play the 1-7-6 chords. In our F#m Scale, the 1 is F#m, 7 is E, 6 is D.

If you play that progression ( F#m, E, D), it will sound really good, and somewhat familiar.

If you play the same progression using an Am Scale, the chords would be Am, G, F, F. If you would realize

that you are actually playing the end of Stairway to Heaven. It's a very common progression.

We can also change up that pattern, using the same chords. We can play 1-6-1-7 ( F#m, D, F#m, E )

You can mix it up in any way you like, as long as you start on the 1 chord.

To change things up a little, I'm going to change the Key/Scale to Em.

We know how to get the chords of Em, using the Minor Chord Formula is i ii° III iv v VI VII

This give the Scale of Em the chords: Em, F#°, G, Am, Bm, C, D

If you play the 1-6-3-7 Progression in Em (Em - C - G - D), you will immediately hear that it's a little brighter.

You will also realize that it's also very familiar. It has been used a so many songs, that it was actually given

it's own name: SFCP (Sensitive Female Chord Progression), among others. It's extremely common, used in

Heart - Alone, Cranberries - Zombie, and Toto's Africa. So, obviously it's not just a female progression.

As we stated earlier, the Minor Scale is a Relative Minor of the Major Scale.

In our 1-6-3-7 Progression example, if we stay on the 3 chord too long, in the previous example, the G Major Chord,

our ears may actually believe the Scale is the Relative Major, G, instead of the Relative Minor, Em Scale.

A simple way to combat that is to play more of the 1 Chord, Em, to make give the ear the foundation that the Scale is minor.

As in all music, there are no "rules" that can't be broken. A common rule that is broken is to play a chord outside of Scale.

Some work great, some sound horrible.

One great "borrowed" chord is the Dominant 5 chord, which is NOT in the Em Scale. The 5th chord of Em, is Bm.

But we're going to substitute it with a B Dominant 7th, B7, which is not in the Scale.

Try the 1-6-4-Dominant 5, in Em, the chords are: Em-C-Am-B7. The Dominant 5th gives a feeling of needing resolution from the 1.

The Andalusian Cadence has been used in countless songs. It has been used in "Hit the Road Jack",

and has even been used in rock: Dire Straits - Sultans of Swing.

In the Em Scale, the Chords are (Em-D-C-B7). Give it a try, and see that you've definitely heard it before.

In the Key of Em, the 2 Chord, is F#m°.

To stay in the key, you have to play a half diminished, not a full diminished to stay in the key.

The F#m° becomes an F#min7b5 chord to stay in the key of Em.

Try the 2 going to the root (2-1) : F#min7b5 to Em

A variant of this is the 2-Dominant 5-1 ending, which will give you a somewhat Medieval sound,

especially when played on an keyboard, like a pipe organ.

The Minor Chord Formula is i ii° III iv v VI VII

As stated earlier, the Minor Key is simply the 6th Mode (Ionian) of the Major Key.

So, if you know the Major Key, you know all the chords of the Minor Key.

Pay attention to the caveat of staying on the 3 chord too long, which will draw the ear to the Major.