• Whenever I Hear A Minor Chord, Here Are The Three Basic Things That Come To My Mind

    in Piano

    So, you want to know what comes to my mind when I hear a minor chord? I’ll tell you!

    Attention: Now, this post is not for you if you’re yet to develop the chord recognition or awareness that lets you distinguish the minor chord from every other chord. I’ll recommend you focus on training your ears with the ear tutor software and when you can recognize minor chords, you get back to this lesson.

    I stream music on YouTube from time to time and I come across unfamiliar song, listen to the chords and progressions, and try to analyze what’s going on.

    Even before I figure out the key of the song, different chord types hit me differently and maybe after hearing the chord patterns and how they pull up to the 1-chord, I eventually get to find the key.

    For example, a  certain song can start out with a minor chord (let’s say the A minor chord):

    …and while I’m yet to find the key, the chord hits me and a few things start going through my mind that I want to share with you in this lesson.

    If you stick with me till the end of this lesson, you’ll learn what comes to my mind when I hear a minor chord (especially when I’m yet to figure out what key it is.

    Here’s What To Think When Next You Hear A Minor Chord

    When you hear a minor chord, there are three things that should come to mind and they are:

    The 2-chord

    The 3-chord

    The 6-chord

    …in the major key.

    We’ll be using the A minor chord (as a reference):

    The Minor Chord As The 2-chord

    When the A minor chord:

    …is played or heard, the 2-chord should come to mind.

    Thinking about the A minor chord as the 2-chord begs the question, “in what key is the A minor chord the 2-chord?” or “in what key is A the second tone of the scale?” and that puts us in the key of G major:

    A look at the G major scale:

    ….shows that A is the second tone and the A minor chord is the 2-chord:

    A:

    A minor chord:

    Every other minor chord in the keyboard can also be a 2-chord. So, when you hear a minor chord, think of it as the chord of the second tone of the scale in a particular key.

    The Minor Chord As The 3-chord

    The minor chord is also the 3-chord in a particular key and in the case of the A minor chord (which is our reference):

    …it’s the 3-chord in the key where A is the third tone of the scale.

    Pop Quiz: In what key is A the third tone of the scale?

    If you know your major scale and numbers, then you should know that A is the third tone in the F major scale:

    F major scale:

    A:

    …so, when the A minor chord is played or heard, the 3-chord in the key of F major should come to mind.

    The Minor Chord As The 6-chord

    Final Words

    I appreciate you for sticking with me until the end of this lesson and I have no doubt that you’ve learned a lot from this lesson.

    The next time you hear a minor chord, the numbers that should come to mind are 2, 3, and 6. Once you’ve mastered this, you’ll begin to see every minor chord as a 2-chord, 3-chord, and 6-chord.

    Special thanks and appreciation to my mentor and role model, Jermaine Griggs, for the opportunity to share this with you and I’ll be looking forward to your questions, comments, and suggestions on the comment section.

    All the best and see you in another lesson.

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    Chuku Onyemachi

    Head of Education at HearandPlay Music Group
    Onyemachi "Onye" Chuku is a Nigerian musicologist, pianist, and author. Inspired by his role model (Jermaine Griggs) who has become his mentor, what he started off as teaching musicians in his Aba-Nigeria neighborhood in April 2005 eventually morphed into an international career that has helped hundreds of thousands of musicians all around the world. Onye lives in Dubai and is currently the Head of Education at HearandPlay Music Group and the music consultant of the Gospel Music Training Center, all in California, USA.




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