So is there any reason for me to read any other tutorials if you’re just gonna create this series of posts?
1. Topics of discussion
In this series, we’ll talk about the chords which are part of diatonic scales. We’re gonna go through this one major scale and its minor relative at a time and in this tutorial, we will learn about all the chords which are part of the C major and A minor scales. For A minor, we will take a look at all 3 variations: natural, harmonic and melodic.
We will be using the circle of fifths as the indicator for the order in which we go through all of these and we will look at both regular and seventh chords, since there are the more commonly used chords in music. So, let’s have some fun.
2. Chords of C major
The C major scale consists of the notes C, D, E, F, G, A and B. And based on the triads you can form on each note, the basic and seventh chords which are part of the C major scale are as follows:
I | II | III | IV | V | VI | VII | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
basic chords | C | Dm | Em | F | G | Am | Bdim |
seventh chords | Cmaj7 | Dm7 | Em7 | Fmaj7 | G7 | Am7 | Bm7 (♭5) |
3. Chords of A minor
The A minor scale consists of the A, B, C, D, E, F and G notes. The harmonic version contains a G♯ instead of a G and the melodic version contains the F♯ and G♯ notes instead of F and G.
The natural Am scale contains the following chords:
I | II | III | IV | V | VI | VII | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
basic chords | Am | Bdim | C | Dm | Em | F | G |
seventh chords | Am7 | Bm7 (♭5) | Cmaj7 | Dm7 | Em7 | Fmaj7 | G7 |
Let’s now look at the chords which are part of the harmonic Am scale:
I | II | III | IV | V | VI | VII | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
basic chords | Am | Bdim | Caug | Dm | E | F | G♯dim |
seventh chords | Am7 | Bm7 (♭5) | Caug maj7 | Dm7 | E7 | Fmaj7 | G♯m7 (♭5) |
Let’s now look at the chords which are part of the melodic Am scale:
I | II | III | IV | V | VI | VII | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
basic chords | Am | Bm | Caug | D | E | F♯dim | G♯dim |
seventh chords | Am7 | Bm7 | Caug maj7 | D7 | E7 | F♯m7 (♭5) | G♯m7 (♭5) |