{"id":9910,"date":"2022-12-09T12:30:00","date_gmt":"2022-12-09T20:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/blog\/?p=9910"},"modified":"2024-04-23T14:31:11","modified_gmt":"2024-04-23T21:31:11","slug":"3-minor-progressions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/blog\/3-minor-progressions\/","title":{"rendered":"Try These 3 Beautiful Minor Chord Progressions"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Minor chords are beautiful. They\u2019re also behind some of the most popular piano songs of all time, from Beethoven\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/blog\/moonlight-sonata-beethoven-1st-mvt-sheet-music-tutorial\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">\u201cMoonlight\u201d Sonata<\/a> to Hans Zimmer\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/blog\/interstellar-theme-tutorial\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">theme from Interstellar<\/a>. Sure, minor keys are \u201csad\u201d keys, but there\u2019s something wonderful about them that makes them more loveable than just \u201csad.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here are three minor chord progressions you should try out! They&#8217;re not made entirely out of minor chords, but they create that lovely minor sound we know you&#8217;re looking for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-rank-math-toc-block\" id=\"rank-math-toc\"><p><strong>Table of Contents:<\/strong><\/p><nav><ol><li class=\"\"><a href=\"#minor-progression-1\">Minor Progression #1<\/a><\/li><li class=\"\"><a href=\"#minor-progression-2\">Minor Progression #2<\/a><\/li><li class=\"\"><a href=\"#minor-progression-3\">Minor Progression #3<\/a><\/li><\/ol><\/nav><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:10px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<span class=\"blue-text-block\"><center><h2 style=\"font-size:22px\"><b>\ud83c\udfb9 Your Go-To Place for All Things Piano<\/b><\/h2><p>Get exclusive interviews, fascinating articles, and inspiring lessons delivered straight to your inbox.<\/p><iframe class=\"email-form-include\" src=\"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/weeklyemail\" frameborder=\"none\"><\/iframe><\/center><small><i>By signing up you\u2019ll also receive our ongoing free lessons and special offers. Don\u2019t worry, we value your privacy and you can unsubscribe at any time.<\/i><\/small><\/span>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:10px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"minor-progression-1\" style=\"font-size:28px\"><strong>Minor Progression #1<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>This progression contains the chords <strong>C#m-A-D\/F#-G#<\/strong>. In C-Sharp Minor, that&#8217;s <strong>i-VI-II-V<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"512\" height=\"768\" src=\"https:\/\/www.musora.com\/musora-cdn\/image\/quality=85\/https:\/\/pianote-blog.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/09120534\/Minor-Progression-1-3.png\" alt=\"Keyboard diagrams for chords C#m, A, D\/F#, and G#.\" class=\"wp-image-14115\" srcset=\"https:\/\/pianote-blog.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/09120534\/Minor-Progression-1-3.png 512w, https:\/\/pianote-blog.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/09120534\/Minor-Progression-1-3-200x300.png 200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 512px) 100vw, 512px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>D\/F# is a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/blog\/slash-chords\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">slash chord<\/a>. This means you play a D chord with your right hand over an F# in the bass with your left hand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Try playing a broken chord pattern over this progression. Does it sound familiar? Guess what the song is and make a comment on our <a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/GGUOBcK7zDY\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">YouTube video<\/a>!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"minor-progression-2\" style=\"font-size:28px\"><strong>Minor Progression #2<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Our second progression is a <strong>i-VII-iv-V-V<\/strong> progression in D Minor. (Sidenote: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/blog\/d-minor-practice-routine\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">D Minor<\/a> is an awesome minor key to learn to how to improvise in because it contains only one flat!)<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.musora.com\/musora-cdn\/image\/quality=85\/https:\/\/pianote-blog.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/09120619\/Minor-Progression-2.png\" alt=\"Keyboard diagrams for Dm, C, Gm, Asus4, and A with keys highlighted in red and labelled.\" class=\"wp-image-14117\" style=\"width:692px;height:576px\" width=\"692\" height=\"576\" srcset=\"https:\/\/pianote-blog.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/09120619\/Minor-Progression-2.png 922w, https:\/\/pianote-blog.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/09120619\/Minor-Progression-2-300x250.png 300w, https:\/\/pianote-blog.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/09120619\/Minor-Progression-2-768x640.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 692px) 100vw, 692px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>Asus4 is a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/blog\/sus-piano-chords-101\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">sus chord<\/a>. This means we substitute the middle note of an A major triad (C#) with the fourth note from the root (D).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Try playing the notes E, F, and D over this progression\u2014it sounds pretty! If your left hand sounds a little muddy, you can also substitute shell chords (playing just the root and fifth) or break your chords up into arpeggios. Another trick is to play a root-fifth-root pattern.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Does this chord progression sound familiar? It was used in the intro to Sting&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/NlwIDxCjL-8\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">&#8220;Shape of My Heart.&#8221;<\/a> (Younger music lovers: you might recognize that riff from Juice WRLD&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/mzB1VGEGcSU\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">&#8220;Lucid Dreams.&#8221;<\/a>)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"minor-progression-3\" style=\"font-size:28px\"><strong>Minor Progression #3<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Now let&#8217;s dial things down to a simpler key. This progression is the <strong>i-VI-VII-v<\/strong> of A Minor or <strong>vi-IV-V-iii <\/strong>of C major:<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.musora.com\/musora-cdn\/image\/quality=85\/https:\/\/pianote-blog.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/09120702\/Minor-Progression-3-1024x683.png\" alt=\"Keyboard diagram of chords Am, F, G, and Em with keys highlighted in red and labelled.\" class=\"wp-image-14119\" style=\"width:768px;height:512px\" width=\"768\" height=\"512\" srcset=\"https:\/\/pianote-blog.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/09120702\/Minor-Progression-3-1024x683.png 1024w, https:\/\/pianote-blog.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/09120702\/Minor-Progression-3-300x200.png 300w, https:\/\/pianote-blog.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/09120702\/Minor-Progression-3-768x512.png 768w, https:\/\/pianote-blog.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/09120702\/Minor-Progression-3.png 1152w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>We used this progression in one of our most popular lessons, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/blog\/create-emotional-music\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Create Emotion With 3 Notes<\/a>. The three notes in question are E, F, and C. Play them in that order (or mix them up) over this progression, and you&#8217;ll be amazed at how beautiful this sounds!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Playing different chord progressions and improvising over them is a fantastic way to wind down after a practice session. It&#8217;ll help you relax and inspire creativity. Try one of these minor progressions next time!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"tve-leads-shortcode tve-leads-triggered tve-tl-anim tl-anim-instant tve-leads-track-shortcode_16124\"><div class=\"tl-style\" id=\"tve_tcb2_blank\" data-state=\"50\" data-form-state=\"\"><style type=\"text\/css\" class=\"tve_custom_style\">@import url(\"\/\/fonts.googleapis.com\/css?family=Bebas+Neue:400&subset=latin\");@import url(\"\/\/fonts.googleapis.com\/css?family=Open+Sans:400,400i,700,700i,600,600i,800,500&subset=latin\");@media (min-width: 300px){[data-css=\"tve-u-18c41a11f2c\"]{--tve-border-radius: 6px;overflow: hidden;border-radius: 6px !important;background-color: rgb(255,228,230) !important;--background-color: rgb(255,228,230) !important;--tve-applied-background-color: rgb(255,228,230) !important;background-image: none !important;--background-image: none !important;--tve-applied-background-image: none !important;margin-bottom: 1px !important;padding-top: 0px 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data-tcb-events=\"__TCB_EVENT_[{&quot;t&quot;:&quot;tve-viewport&quot;,&quot;config&quot;:{&quot;anim&quot;:&quot;grow&quot;,&quot;loop&quot;:1},&quot;a&quot;:&quot;thrive_animation&quot;}]_TNEVE_BCT__\">\t\t<span class=\"tcb-button-texts\" style=\"\"><span class=\"tcb-button-text thrv-inline-text\" style=\"\" data-css=\"tve-u-18c4af1a3bb\">Try Pianote for 7 Days<\/span><span class=\"tcb-secondary-text thrv-inline-text tve-froala fr-box fr-basic\" style=\"\"><\/span><\/span>\t<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>String together some minor chords to create some truly beautiful progressions. Try these 3 minor progressions on the piano.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":39,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1104,507],"tags":[1134],"class_list":["post-9910","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-chord-progressions","category-chord-theory","tag-easy-chords"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9910","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/39"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9910"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9910\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17092,"href":"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9910\/revisions\/17092"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9910"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9910"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9910"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}