Welcome to the bonus report on music theory. In this series of lessons I would like to share some ad-ditional ideas to help you along with understanding chord progressions. This knowledge will come in handy when you try to figure out songs or write your own.

These lessons will provide some basic music theory. A good understanding of music theory will cer-tainly help you as a musician and I recommend that you find resources to help you deepen your understanding.

Basic Theory Lesson The key to understanding chord progressions calls for a basic understanding of key centers and chord construction. In this lesson we will begin our study of these ideas.

It all starts with the major scale. You have to know how the major scale is constructed. From there you can understand how chords are built and key centers.

Let’s star by laying out the chromatic scale. The chromatic scale is a scale that simply contains all of the notes we have available to use in playing and writing music. It looks like this:

Chromatic Scale

As you can see there are 12 different notes. Also notice that there are some notes that have two dif-ferent names like A# and Bb. Whether you call a note a sharp or a flat depends on a couple of things, the most important of which is the key you’re in. More on that later.

The notes that are right next to each other are a half step apart. The notes that are separated by a note are a whole step apart. When you get to number 12 you loop around and start back at number 1 again.

Construction Of A Major Scale

Now it’s time to look at the construction of a major scale. The formula for the major scale is this:

whole step whole step half step whole step whole step whole step half step

It can be abbreviated to this:

w w 1/2 w w w 1/2

Let’s use the formula to create a C Major Scale. Refer to the chromatic scale above. Starting from C we need a whole step. As we said earlier a whole step is every other note in the chromatic scale, so from C we skip the next note and get D.

Now following the formula we need another whole and that puts us on E. Next we need a half step. A half step up from E we get F. Next we need a whole step which gives us G. Another whole step to A.

Next comes another whole step to B and a final half step gets us back to C. So the C major scale goes like this.

w w 1/2 w w w 1/21 2 3 4 5 6 7 8C D E F G A B C

Now let’s do another one starting on G. Up a whole step gives us A. Here we have to go from the end and loop back to the start. Another whole step gives us B. Up a half step and we get C.A whole step puts us on D, Another whole step to E and another whole step to F# or Gb.

Now how do you know if it’s F# or Gb. Simple...each note has to be a different letter. Since we are do-ing a G major scale we have already used the letter G so our next note has to be F#. Then a final half step puts us back on G again.

Here’s the G major scale:

w w 1/2 w w w 1/21 2 3 4 5 6 7 8G A B C D E F# G

Let’s do one more for good measure. How about the Bb major scale.

Starting on Bb and up a whole step we get C. Up a whole step from C is D. Now the next choice a half step up is D# or Eb. We have just used the letter D so the next note is Eb. Another whole step puts us on F. A whole step up from F we get G. Up one more whole step puts us on A and a final half step gets us back to Bb.

Here’s the Bb major scale:

w w 1/2 w w w 1/21 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Bb C D Eb F G A Bb

We will continue our study of the major scale in the next section. Until then pick some other keys and write out a few more major scales on your own.

In the last section we looked at the construction of a major scale and how to build a major scale using half steps and whole steps. In this lesson I would like to give you one of the most useful tools in music theory and an easier way to build the major scale.

The Circle Of Fifths

CG

D

A

E

B

F#

F

bB

b

bE

bA

bD

bG

0 11

22

33

44

5 5

667

CC#

b #

The circle of fifths contains easy access to some of the most useful info in music theory. As you can see, the circle is split into two halves. The right side of the circle contains the sharp keys and the left side of the circle contains the flat keys. The number beside each letter tells you how many sharps or flats are in each key.

For example, starting at the top, the key of C has no sharps or flats. If we move to the right the first letter we arrive at is G. The key of G has one sharp. The next key D, has two sharps. The key of A has three sharps and so on around the circle.

Moving left on the circle the first flat key you arrive at is F. The key of F has one flat. Moving on the key of Bb has two flats. Eb has three flats and so on around the circle.

The next thing you need to know is the order of the letters as you add sharps and flats to the scales you are building. Take a look at the circle of fifths again.

CG

D

A

E

B

F#

F

bB

b

bE

bA

bD

bG

0 11

22

33

44

5 5

667

CC#

b #

The sharps start on F and move around the circle in a clockwise manner. This gives us the order of F C G D A E B.

In other words, the key of G has one sharp which is F. The G major scale then has the notes...G A B C D E F# G.

If you move on to the next key which is D it has two sharps. Remember the sharps always start on F and move around the circle in the order indicated so the key of D has two sharps, F and C. Therefore, the D scale is as follows... D E F# G A B C# D.

Let’s do one more. How about the key of B this time. Looking at the circle we see that B has five sharps. In order they would be F, C, G , D and A. Arranging the notes in the order of the scale and adding the sharps we get...B C# D# E F# G# A# B.

See how easy this makes putting the scales together.

Now we will move on and take a look at a few flat keys.

The order of flats is the exact opposite of the order of sharps. Again looking at the circle you can see that the flats start on B and move counter clockwise around the circle.

CG

D

A

E

B

F#

F

bB

b

bE

bA

bD

bG

0 11

22

33

44

5 5

667

CC#

b #

This gives us the order of flats as B E A D G C F, the exact opposite of the order of sharps. Now, using this info we can build a few flat keys. We will start with F.

Looking at the circle you can see that F has one flat. Since flats start on B that is the only flat note found in the key of F. Here is the F major scale...F G A Bb C D E F.

Now it’s time for Bb. It contains two flats B and E. Here is the Bb major scale...Bb C D Eb F G A Bb

Ready for one last example just for good measure? The key of Ab contains four flats. Following our order of flats and always starting on B they are B E A D. Adding those four flats in to the Ab major scale we get...Ab Bb C Db Eb F G Ab.

I hope you are able to see how easy it is to put together the major scale using the circle of fifths. It is one of the most important tools you can have as a musician. In the next lesson we will use the majorscale to start building chords

Until then, keep practicing your guitar and memorize the circle of fifths!

Understanding Keys And Building Chords Using The Major Scale

So far we have looked at the chromatic scale and learned how to build a major scale. All of this work has been in preparation to learn how to understand keys and build chords. To be an effective guitarist you have to have a working knowledge of keys and chords. You have to know how they are built and where they come from.

Let’s start with a key. What is a key? A key is simply a group of notes and chords that are a fam-ily and live in the same house. All of the major scales are actually just different keys. The individual notes of the scale can be stacked on top of each other to build chords. Chords are built by skipping every other note in the major scale.

The simplest kind of chord is a triad. It has three different notes. Let’s harmonize the C major scale in triads.

The Harmonized Scale

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 C D E F G A B C E F G A B C D E G A B C D E F G

Here is an example of the harmonized scale. Under each note of the C major scale we have built a chord. We did that by skipping every other note in the scale. In other words, the first chord we started on C, skipped over D making E the next note. Then skipped the next note after E to get G. So our first chord is C, E and G.

Look at the rest of the chords and you can see that process repeated for each chord. This gives us a total of seven different chords for each key. These chords are the starting point for writng music. Since the scale generates the chords they go hand in hand to create music. The chord are the har-mony and the scale notes can be used to create melody.

Each chord has its own quality because of the consruction of the major scale ( the w w 1/2 formula).Since all of the scales have the same construction in whole steps and half steps we can make the fol-lowing generalization.

The 1, 4 and 5 chords are always major.The 2, 3 and 6 chords are always minor.The 7 chord is always diminished.

They are often referred to using roman numerals with the major chords using upper case and the minor and diminished in lower case like this.

I ii iii IV V vi vii

Putting the chords under the Roman numerals we get this.

I ii iii IV V vi vii C D E F G A B E F G A B C D G A B C D E F Maj Min Min Maj Maj Min Dim

So the key of C has the following chords:

Cmaj Dmin Emin Fmaj Gmaj Amin Bdim

If you add a fouth note to the chords then they become 7th chords with different qualities. All you really have to know at this point is the the chord in the fifth spot is often a dominant seventh chord. I discuss this on the video.

The diminished chords are rarely used. You will probably notice that I did not use them in the video at all. You did hear me refer to chord progressions using numbers however. You heard me refer to a 1-4-5 progression. Remember in other places you might see these as Roman Numerals.

A 1-4-5 progression in the key of C is C F and G. These three chords get used more than any others in major keys. Remember that the five chord could be a 7th so the progression would beC F G7.

A 1-6-4-5 progression would be C Amin F G. Almost all songs from the 50’s use this pro-gression. What about a 6-2-5-1 progression? Amin Dmin G C

There are many common progressions like this. Learn them in as many keys as you can. The primary guitar keys are C, G, D, A, E. Learn these first and move onto the other keys as you feel more comforatble. These are some of the progressions I covered on the videos.

Try making up your own progressions as well. The chords from a key can be put together in any order you want!

What About The Minor Keys?

The minor keys work the same way the major keys do. In fact the natural minor scale is the same as the major scale starting from the 6th note. They are called relative keys. In other words the key of C major and A minor are relative keys and have the same notes.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 C Major C D E F G A B C A Minor A B C D E F G A

There are other forms of minor that slightly complicate things. One form that you need to be aware of is the harmonic minor scale. In A it goes like this.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 A B C D E F G# A

The seventh note of the scale is raised by one half step in comparison to the natural minor scale. In this example that gives us a G# instead of a plain G. This changes the chords slightly. The most important change is to the 5 chord. By changing the G to G# the 5 chord is now major or seventh instead of minor. This creates a stronger resolution back to the one chord in a progression.

If you really want to study music theory in more detail I recommend the book Harmony and Theory from the Musicians Institute. It is available from Hal Leanard Publishing.

I hope this report helps you understand chord progressions and puts you on the road to many years of guitar playing enjoyment.

Best Wishes,

Bob

Key 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8C C D E F G A B CG G A B C D E F# G

D D E F# G A B C# DA A B C# D E F# G# AE E F# G# A B C# D# EB B C# D# E F# G# A# BF# F# G# A# B C# D# E# F#F F G G Bb C D E F

Bb Bb C D Eb F G A BbEb Eb F G Ab Bb C D EbAb Ab Bb C Db Eb F G AbDb Db Eb F Gb Ab Bb C DbGb Gb Ab Bb Cb Db Eb F Gb

Chord Maj Min Min Maj Maj Min Dim Maj

In this section I would like to continue with a discussion of intervals. Intervals are useful for many reasons. These melodic skips are the basis of melody (along with rhythm) and give us a way to classify sounds. They are an important part of chord construction and ear training as well.

If you have been practicing your patterns you have already played several interval types on your guitar. Knowing the locations of these intervals is helpful in construct-ing melodic ideas when you solo. Practicing them will also aid in training your ear.

What is an Interval?

Simply put, an interval is the distance between two notes. I like to think of them as a sound distance, not a physical distance. Intervals can go up (ascending) or down (descending). These sounds can be memorized which is what ear training is all about.

There are a couple of ways to figure out intervals. The first one involves counting half steps on the chromatic scale. One half step (the notes right next to each other on the chromatic scale) is known as a minor second. A whole or two half steps is known as a major second. The following table details all of the intervals in the chro-matic scale.

Distance in Half Steps Interval Name0 unison1 minor 2nd2 major 2nd3 minor 3rd4 major 3rd5 perfect 4th6 augmented 4th, diminished 5th or tritone7 perfect 5th8 minor 6th9 major 6th

10 minor 7th11 major 7th12 octave

Looking at the chromatic scale all you have to do is count half steps to figure out the interval.

What is the interval from E to C#?Counting from E to C# we get 9 half steps. Therefore, E to C# is a major 6th.

What is the interval from F to Db?Once again, counting half steps the answer is 8, a minor sixth.

You can see how easy this is. Pick a few more and figure out what the intervals are. Now let’s learn how to name intervals using the major scale.

In total there are 6 different intervals names or qualities. The most common are major, minor, augmented and diminished. Theoretically it’s possible to have doubly augmented and doubly diminished intervals. These are rare and have no use to us so I will not be discussing them here.

Using the major scale intervals can be identified and named starting from the tonic. When doing this all of the intervals are either major or perfect. Look at the following chart:

From To Interval1 1 Perfect Unison1 2 Major Second1 3 Major 3rd1 4 Perfect 4th1 5 Perfect 5th1 6 Major 6th1 7 Major 7th1 8 Perfect Octave

As you can see the unison, 4th, 5th and octave are referred to as perfect intervals and the 2nd, 3rd, 6th and 7th are major intervals. Using the C major scale as a refer-ence C to D is a major 2nd, C to E is a major 3rd, C to F is a perfect 4th and so on.

What about intervals inside the scale? What if we start on G and want to know the interval from G to F? You can either refer to the chromatic scale and count up or you have to reference the G major scale. Why? Because using the major scale to name interval we always have to start on the tonic.

Let’s take a look at the G major scale.

Now a problem arises. Why? Because we want to know the interval from G to F . The note F does not exist in the G major scale. The G major scale contains F#. What are we to do?

Holding the tonic constant, any other note in the major scale can be sharped (raised a half step) or flatted (lowered a half step). When we change the notes in this fash-ion the interval changes as well. Look at the following to see how things change:

Flatted Interval SharpedMinor Major Augmented

Diminished Perfect Augmented

Major and perfect intervals both become augmented when raised a half step. When lowered by a half step the major interval becomes minor and the perfect interval becomes diminished. In our example of G to F , the F has been lowered a half step from F# to F natural so this interval is a minor 7th.

Let’s do another one. Using the G scale again consider the interval from G to B. That is the first note to the third note. No problem, a major third. If we lower the B to Bb we know have a minor third. If we raise the B to B# we have an augmented third.

What’s that you say? There’s no such thing as a B#. Well, once again, theoretically it’s possible. The note B# is

the same as a C and in the real world it would probably make more sense to call it a C. There are time however, when spelling chords you will run across a situation like this or have a note like Bbb (B double flat) Even though this note is an A to be theo-retically correct you might have to call it Bbb.

If you are confused that’s ok. If you have any questions ask and I will clear them up. Knowing these intervals by sound is very important. They also play a big role in building chords as you will see in the next section.

Building Chords Using The Major ScaleNow that we have intervals under our belt it’s time to move onto to chord construc-tion. Chords are built in 3rds which is every other note in the scale. The most basic chord is called a triad which has three different notes. There are four basic types of triads…major, minor, diminished and augmented. Here are the formulas of the four basic triads:

Major = 1 3 5Minor = 1 b3 5Diminished = 1 b3 b5Augmented = 1 3 #5

What does all this mean? The numbers refer to the note positions in the major scale and what changes you have to make to the note, if any to build a chord. Here is an example.

Above is the C major scale with each of it’s notes numbered from 1 to 8. These scale positions relate to the numbers in the formula for each chord. In the major triad the formula is 1 3 5. This means you take the first, third and fifth note from the major scale to build a major chord.

In this example the C major chord or triad would have the notes C, E and G, the first, third and fifth notes from the scale. Also notice how the interval names fit into the chords. In the major triad there is a major third from 1 to three and perfect 5th from 1 to 5. Interestingly enough the interval from 3 to 5 is a minor third.

This also ties back into knowing the number locations of the notes inside the scale fingerings. It will allow you to create arpeggios and chords on the fly.

Looking at the formula for the minor triad we see it contains the notes 1 b3 and 5. This means that you simply flat the third note of the scale. Doing that we get the notes C, Eb G for a C minor triad. Now the interval between 1 and 3 is a minor third. There is still a perfect 5th between 1 and 5 but now the interval from 3 to 5 is a ma-jor third.

Moving on to the diminished chord we see the notes 1 b3 b5. The notes in a C di-minished triad are C Eb Gb.Now the interval between 1 and 5 is a diminishes 5th. The intervals between 1 and 3 and 3 and 5 are both minor thirds. Do you see how the interval names fit into the chord names?

The last chord on our list is the augmented chord which is 1, 3 and #5. The spelling for the C augmented chord is C E G#. The interval between 1 and 5 is an augment-ed 5th and the intervals between 1 and 3 and 3 and 5 are both major thirds.

Apply these formulas to other major scales and practice spelling chords. If you have any questions please ask. In the next section I will cover the harmonized scale. This info is crucial to figuring out chord/scale relationships and what key you are in.

The Harmonized ScaleIn the last section we talked about how to build triads. In this one we will learn about the harmonized scale. What is the harmonized scale? It’s simply taking a scale and building a chord on each note of the scale.

Remember that chords are built in thirds. Thirds are just every other note in the major scale. Also remember that triads are the simplest kind of chord and contains three different notes. The chart below shows the C major scaleharmonized in triads.

The horizontal row at the top is the C major scale. The vertical rows are the chords built from each note. Again, chords are built in 3rds so these are stacked thirds. Looking at the first chord you can see C, E and G from the scale. We know from the last lesson that this is a major chord built from the 1, 3 and 5 of the scale. The qual-ity of each chord is shown in the bottom horizontal row.

Now look at the chord built under number 2. The notes are D, F and A and this is a D minor chord. How do we know this is a minor chord. Let’s go back to the last lesson for a second. The chord formulas are given from the first note of the major scale. To figure out the other chords in the C major scale we have to look as the major scale with the same letter name as the root of the chord.

In this case the note is D. The 1st, 3rd and 5th notes of the D major scale are D, F# and A. This would be a D major chord. The notes in the C major scale under number two are D, F and A. Notice that the third is different.In the D major scale it’s F# but the C major scale has F natural.

F natural is a flatted third in this case. Our formula for the minor triad is 1, b3 and 5 so D, F and A is minor chord. Using the same process for the rest of the chords gives us the chord qualities in listed across the bottom.

Since all major scales have the same structure these chord qualities appear in the same position in every major scale. We can generalize as follows.

In any major scale the 1, 4 and 5 chords are always major.In any major scale the 2, 3 and 6 chords are always minor.In any major scale the 7 chord is always diminished.

At the end of this report there will be a chart that contains a chart for all of the major keys. Download it and print it out if you want. It will be a great reference. In the next lesson we will look at some chord progressions and analyze them.

Analyzing Chord ProgressionsIn the last lesson we talked about the harmonized scale. In this lesson we will put that knowledge to use and learn how to analyze chord progressions. Being able to analyze a chord progression is the key factor in determining which scale to choose when soloing. Use the reference guide as we work through the following examples.

Consider the following chords:

D E minor B minor G A minor

How do we determine which scale these chords come from? Let’s do an analysis and find out.

Remember that major chords occur in the 1, 4 and 5 positions in the major scale.

The D chord could be the 1 chord in the key of D, the 4 chord in the key of A and the 5 chord in the key of G.

The G chord could be the 1 chord in the key of G, the 4 chord in the key of D and the 5 chord in the key of C.

The minor chords occur in the 2, 3 and 6 positions in the major scale.

The E minor chord could be the 2 chord in the key of D, the 3 chord in the key of C and the 6 chord in the key of G.

The B minor chord could be the 2 chord in the key of A, the 3 chord in the key of G and the 6 chord in the key of D.

The A minor chord could be the 2 chord in the key of G, the 3 chord in the key of F and the 6 chord in the key of C.

Looking through our analysis and list of chords can you find the winner? All of these chords are found only in the key of G so that is the key of this progression.

Let’s do another one! Look at the following progression.

E A E F# minor C# minor A B

The E chord is the 1 chord in E, the 4 chord in B, and the 5 chord in A.

The A chord is the 1 chord in A, the 4 chord in E and the 5 chord in D.

The F# minor chord is the 2 chord in E, the 3 chord in D and the 6 chord in A.

The C# minor chord is the 2 chord in B, the 3 chord in A and the 6 chord in E.

The B chord is the 1 chord in B, the 4 chord in F# and the 5 chord in E.

Once again, here’s a table containing this info.

As you can see all of these chords are only found in the key of E...hence we have a winner!

Sometimes you run into a situation like this. Suppose we have the following chords.

D B minor A F# minor

The D could be the 1 chord in D, the 4 chord in A and the 5 chord in G.

The B minor could be the 2 chord in A, the 3 chord in G and the 6 chord in D.

The A chord could be the 1 chord in A, the 4 chord in E and the 5 chord in D.

The F# minor could be the 2 chord in E, the 3 chord in D and the 6 chord in A.

Here it is in table form.

All of these chords appear in both the key of A and the key of D. What do you do now? In some cases by using your ear one chord will tend to feel like the home base or the key center. It may be the first chord of the song and often it will be the last chord of the song.

But as you can see, picking the correct key can on occasion be a challenge.

Building Chords In 7ths Using The Major ScaleNow that we have learned how to build triads, harmonize the major scale and ana-lyze chord progressions it’s time to move onto the next step…building 7th chords. Seventh chords consist of four notes. Why are they called 7th chords? Because we are adding in the 7th note of the scale.

Here are the formulas for the seventh chords we can build from the major scale.

Major 7th = 1 3 5 7Minor 7th = 1 b3 5 b7Dominant 7th = 1 3 5 b7Minor 7b5 = 1 b3 b5 b7

Once again the numbers refer to the note positions in the major scale and what changes you have to make to the note, if any to build a chord. Here is an example.

Above is the C major scale with each of it’s notes numbered from 1 to 8. These scale positions relate to the numbers in the formula for each chord. In the major 7th chord the formula is 1 3 5 7. This means you take the first, third, fifth and seventh note from the major scale to build a major 7th chord.

In this example the C major 7th chord would have the notes C, E, G and B, the first, third, fifth and seventh notes from the scale. Also notice how the interval names fit into the chords. In the major 7th chord there is a major third from 1 to three and per-fect 5th from 1 to 5. The interval from 1 to 7 is a major seventh.

Looking at the formula for the minor 7th chord we see it contains the notes 1 b3 5 and b7. This means that you simply flat the 3rd and 7th notes of the scale. Doing that we get the notes C, Eb, G and Bb for a C minor7 chord. Now the interval be-tween 1 and 3 is a minor third. There is still a perfect 5th between 1 and 5 but now the interval from 1 to 7 is a minor 7th.

Moving on to the dominant 7th chord we see the notes 1 3 5 and b7. The notes in a C dominant 7th chord or C7 are C, E, G and Bb. This chord consists of a major 3rd interval between 1 and 3 and a minor 7th interval between 1 and 7.

The last chord on our list is the minor 7b5 chord which is 1, b3, b5 and b7. The spelling for the C minor 7b5 chord is C, Eb, Gb and Bb. The intervals are the same as the minor seventh chord with the exception of the diminished 5th between 1 and 5. In fact, this chord is sometimes referred to as a half diminished chord because of that.

As we move on you will see how chord symbols like C7#9b5 aren’t really that big of a deal. The numbers tell you exactly what notes are in the chord and how to alter them. Perhaps you are seeing that already.

Apply these formulas to other major scales and practice spelling chords. If you have any questions please ask. In the next section I will cover the harmonized scale in 7th chords. This info is crucial to figuring out chord/scale relationships and what key you are in.

The Harmonized Scale In 7ths

In this section we will harmonize the major scale in 7th chords.scale. If you need a refresher on the harmonized scale go back to page.

As a reminder, remember that chords are built in thirds. Thirds are just every other note in the major scale. When harmonizing the major scale in sevenths, we are just adding one extra note to each chord. The chart below shows the C major scale har-monized in sevenths.

The horizontal row at the top is the C major scale. The vertical rows are the chords built from each note. Again, chords are built in 3rds so these are stacked thirds. Looking at the first chord you can see C, E, G and B from the scale. We know from the last lesson that this is a major 7th chord built from the 1, 3, 5 and 7 of the scale. The quality of each chord is shown in the bottom horizontal row.

Now look at the chord built under number 2. The notes are D, F, A and C. This is a D minor7 chord. How do we know this is a minor7 chord? Let’s go back to the last lesson for a second. The chord formulas are given from the first note of the major scale. To figure out the other chords in the C major scale we have to look as the ma-jor scale with the same letter name as the root of the chord.

In this case the note is D. The 1st, 3rd, 5th and 7th notes of the D major scale are D, F#, A and C#. This would be a D major chord. The notes in the C major scale under number two are D, F, A and C. Notice that the third and seventh are different. In the D major scale the 3rd is F# but the C major scale has F natural. Also, in the D major scale the 7th is C# but in the C major has C natural.

F natural is a flatted third in this case and C natural is a flatted 7th. Our formula for the minor 7th chord is 1, b3, 5 and b7 so D, F, A and C is minor7th chord. Using the same process for the rest of the chords gives us the chord qualities in listed across the bottom. Since all major scales have the same structure these chord qualities ap-pear in the same position in every major scale.

We can generalize as follows.

I a major scale harmonized in 7ths:

The 1 and 4 chords are always major 7ths.The 2, 3 and 6 chords are always minor 7ths.The 5 chord is always dominant 7th.The 7 chord is always minor7b5.

There are a couple of differences here to point out between harmonizing the scale in triads vs. harmonizing the scale in 7ths. The most important difference is the 5 chord. The dominant 7th chord plays a big role in chord progressions. It is an unsta-ble chord and wants to resolve back to the one chord.

Also, as you will see when we harmonize the harmonic minor scale, the 5 chord is unique to both major and minor keys. The other chords all show up in various spots. As you can see, even in the major scale you have two major 7th chords and 3 minor 7th chords. There is only one minor7b5 in the major scale but it shows up in other positions in the minor scale.

Because of the unique nature of the dominant 7th chord in the 5 spot, it’s usually a good tip off as to what key you are in. Keep an eye out for the dominant 7ths and you can’t go wrong.