Have you ever asked a musician what minor chords sound like? It’s kind of a trick question because music isn’t one-dimensional or made up of single isolated chords.
People often say minor chords sound “sad” or “introspective,” but when you study popular music, you find that a chord’s mood is defined by its place in a progression. Melody, instrumentation, tempo, and music production also play important roles.
In this article, we’re going to explore minor chord progressions and show you how Roman numeral analysis can help make sense of big-picture patterns. We’ve embedded our interactive MIDI chord and melody charts so you can listen while you read.
Hooktheory offers a free collection of over 50,000 chord and melody charts from every genre of music. Check out our site’s trends database, and you can filter by chord progressions to focus on songs written in a minor key. By the time you read this article, you’ll have a clear path forward to continue exploring on your own.
What are minor chord progressions?
Minor chord progressions can refer to one of two things. They’re typically a sequence of chords that appear in songs written in a minor key. However, the phrase can also refer to songs in a major key if the song section is predominantly minor.
For example, the Key of C Major naturally includes D minor, E minor, and A minor chords. A songwriter might focus on those to create tension during a verse and pivot to major chords during the chorus to resolve that tension. You could refer to the verse section as a minor chord progression because of its tone quality and harmonic structure, even though the song is in a major key.
It takes some practice to learn how to identify a song’s key signature. Sheet music and chord charts make the process easier. Ear training will also help you to identify chord progressions and find the tonal center quickly.
Roman numerals cheat sheet
It’s rare for sheet music and chord charts to display Roman numerals, unless you’re reading a music theory textbook. However, our TheoryTab database shows the numeral for every chord and we also clearly display the key signature. We also offer an ear training game called Chord Crush to practice this skill in a way that’s fun and interactive.
If you’re studying classical music or jazz, the author might display the numerals without explicitly stating the key. When that happens, use this rubric to decipher the key:
Major Key: I – ii – iii – IV – V – vi – vii°
Minor Key: i – ii° – III – iv – v – VI – VII
Capital numerals refer to major chords and lowercase numerals to minor chords. The little circle symbol refers to a “diminished” triad (minor chord with a flat 5th).
How to know if a song is in a minor key (without Roman numeral analysis)
If you’ve got the sheet music or chord charts without analysis, check the opening bars on the musical staff for a clue about the key signature. Just to the right of the clef, you’ll find a collection of accidentals or “sharp” and “flat” symbols. If there are no accidentals, it’s probably in the natural Key of C Major or A Minor.
There are some exceptions to this rule, like when the music is highly chromatic, multimodal, atonal, or features ongoing key changes. You can ignore those edge cases for now.
Each key signature has a specific number of accidentals. Count the sharps or flats and reference a diagram like the circle of fifths, shown below, to whittle the options down to two possibilities.
Every major key has a relative minor key, and vice versa. So once you’ve identified the seven notes in your key, you still need to figure out if it’s major or minor.
For example, the C Major scale and A Minor scale have the same notes (C-D-E-F-G-A-B-C / A-B-C-D-E-F-G-A). Their tonal center, or root note, is the only difference.
Use your ear to find the home chord
Listening to a song is the best way to identify the home key once you know the notes that you’re working with. Be sure to listen all the way through, because sometimes a songwriter temporarily shifts into a related key before returning to the primary one.
Check the sheet music or chord chart to identify the chord that sounds like the home key. If you play an instrument you can pick out the chord by ear as well.
Common chord progressions in popular music
Now that we’ve defined techniques for distinguishing major and minor chord progressions, let’s move forward and look at some real world examples. There’s an almost unlimited number of minor key songs. We’ve rounded up sequences that appear throughout every genre and era of music.
Below are a couplevisual maps of musical trends that our system has identified, based on tens of thousands of popular chord progressions that were written in minor keys. The most common thing you’ll find is diatonic chords without extensions:
- i chord (14%)
- III chord (6%)
- iv chord (5%)
- v chord (3%)
- VI chord (9%)
- VII chord (9%)
Notice that the diatonic ii° chord isn’t listed here. The diminished chord is surprisingly rare, despite occurring naturally in the minor key. This second mapshows other possibilities for minor chord progressions, including less common extensions and borrowed chords:
The Dominant V in a minor key (via the harmonic minor scale)
Dominant V chords are the most common borrowed chord in minor chord progressions. They don’t occur in the natural minor scale, but exert such a strong pull to the tonic that songwriters often substitute it for the natural minor v chord that would otherwise be there.
Music theory can justify this dominant V chord in a minor key because of the harmonic minor scale. This modified scale uses the major 7th instead of a minor 7th, as outlined here:
Natural minor scale: [A B C D E F G A] creates a minor v chord [E G B]
Harmonic minor scale: [A B C D E F G# A] creates a major V chord [E G# B]
In the following sections, we’ll explore examples based on their starting chord. You’ll find that some of them use the natural V chord and others use the dominant. Let’s go!
Minor chord progressions that start on the i chord
The most common minor chord progressions in the TheoryTab database start with a i chord and move through a sequence of diatonic chords. Here are three examples.
No Doubt – “Don’t Speak” (i → v → iv → VII progression)
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This straightforward progression from No Doubt’s “Don’t Speak” stays firmly within the minor key. As I explained in the last section, it’s common for songwriters to swap a dominant V chord in for the natural minor v chord, but that doesn’t happen here. Instead, they use a VII chord to deliver that major tonality and then walk up by a whole step toreach the minor tonic.
There’s a slight variation during the second pass. The VII resolves down to a III chord, alluding to the relative major’s V → I (dominant tonic) relationship, before returning to the VII → i resolution. This takes people out of the minor mode for a moment and refreshes the ear.
Destiny’s Child – “Say My Name” (i → VI → iv → VII → vii° progression)
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The chorus to “Say My Name” features avariation on the more common i → VI → iv → V progression. Here the V chord has been replaced with a diatonic VII chord that walks up by a half step to the vii° chord. This diminished chord is acting as a rootless V⁷ voicing, pulling the ear back up to the minor tonic. Instead of V⁷ (GBDF) we hear a B° triad (BDF) resolving up to C minor (CE♭G).
Gnarls Barkley – “Crazy” (i → III⁷ → VI → Vsus4 → V progression)
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The verse and chorus of Gnarls Barkley’s hit song “Crazy” are basically the same. It starts on the minor tonic, moves up to the relative major (III) with a dominant seventh extension (III⁷). This seventh chord makes it a secondary dominant of the VI chord that follows (V⁷/VI).
The final Vsus4 chord is tonally ambiguous and moves down to the borrowed dominant V chord, creating dynamic tension before returning to the minor tonic.
Minor chord progressions that start on the III chord
It might come as a surprise that a minor chord progression would begin with the relative major III chord. These next examples show how the melodic shape helps reinforce the actual tonal center of a song.
Alan Parsons Project – “Eye in the Sky” (III → i progression)
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The intro to “Eye in the Sky” features see-saws between the III and i chord twice before moving on to a pre-chorus. Listen to the embedded audio above and notice how the minor tonic chord clearly sounds resolved. It’s not just that it comes second in the sequence. The shape and rhythm of the melody also play a role.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (III → ii → ♭II → i progression)
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Fans of the show TMNT will instantly recognize this iconic chord progression. It begins on the major III chord and walks down through two borrowed chords. The ii chord would typically be a ii° and the ♭II chord is an altered triad that takes advantage of the descending chromatic half step movement. Quite unusual, actually!
When we reach the minor triad at the end of the sequence, it feels powerful and grounded. This verse demonstrates a bigger lesson about minor chords, proving that they don’t always feel “sad” or “introspective.” It’s all about the chords that precede them, the lyrics, the tempo, and the melody. Compare this to the “Eye in the Sky” example and reflect on the different moods they evoke.
Minor chord progressions beginning on a iv chord
The iv chord is common in minor chord progressions, however it’s rarely used to start a sequence. When the subdominant chord shows up in this way, it’s usually during a bridge or prechorus due to its unresolved and distant relationship to the minor key.
Kelly Clarkson – “Beyond These Hazel Eyes” (iv → III → iv → i progression)
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The bridge on Kelly Clarkson’s “Beyond These Hazel Eyes” is an excellent example of the iv chord used during a bridge. It moves first to the III chord, mimicking a ii → I progression in the relative major key. When it circles back to the iv → i progression, we hear a more complete resolution and know that we’re in fact in a minor key.
The Neighborhood and Grimes (iv → i progressions)
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Here’s a second example of a pre-chorus featuring the subdominant chord in relationship to the minor i. It ping pongs between these two and creates tension. Notice how the melody rests on a low note as it resolves to the tonic. This is a common trick used by songwriters to signal the home key. It lands on the third scale degree during the first pass and completes its path to the first scale degree on the second pass.
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Grimes uses this same technique on the verse for her song “Vanessa,” shown above. Like the Neighborhood song, her melody resolves down to the minor third-scale degree. This is the most colorful tone you can land on in a minor triad.
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A more elaborate example of the iv → i relationship can be heard in the chorus of Fleetwood Mac’s song “The Chain.” They stay on the opening iv chord while singing “You don’t love me now” to build tension, before resolving to the tonic. Then, they turn around on a stepwise progression from VI → VII → i. If we were in the relative major key, this would be a deceptive cadence from IV → V → vi, but in this context, it serves to draw the listener back up to the root.
Minor chord progressions that begin with VI chords
It’s very common to hear a minor chord progression that begins with a major VI chord. The major tonality creates a nice contrast to the minor key. The root notes are separated by a third, meaning that the i and VI triads share two notes in common. For example, in the Key of A Minor, the i chord is spelled A-C-E and the VI chord is C-E-G.
Oasis – “Wonderwall” (VI → VII → i progression)
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This prechorus to “Wonderwall” by Oasis is built on a repeating VI → VII → i progression. Notice how the melody repeats as the chords ascend to the minor tonic. Like Fleetwood Mac’s song above, this sequence resembles a deceptive cadence (IV → V → vi) in the relative major scale.
The “Wonderwall” prechorus breaks free of the repeating pattern and turns into a VI → VII → III progression for a moment, like a standard IV → V → I, to give the song a more positive feel. It toggles between the i⁷ and III chord, blurring the lines between the tonal center.
Check out this chord and melody chart for Lady Gaga’s “Bad Romance.” It uses the same VI → VII → i progression with the III chord variation.
Rhianna and Miley Cyrus (VI → i → VII → III progression)
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The song “Diamonds” by Rhianna offers a clear example of a four-chord progression beginning with the major VI chord and resolving down to the minor tonic.
We hear the bass move up by a third, creating a feeling of elevation. However, the minor tonality of the i chord conveys a darker mood. So, the resolution down to the VII chord and up to the III chord helps restore emotional balance to the song. In the end, it has a triumphant feel supported by the music production and arrangement.
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This prechorus on Miley Cyrus’ tune “Wrecking Ball” offers a variation that omits the VII chord. It moves from VI → i → III → VI, so that the final chord bleeds into the first one. Notice how the melody descends and anchors at the end of the phrase. It jumps up a sixth interval at the top of the phrase to signal the restart.
On its own, we’d have a hard time calling this a minor chord progression. You have to look at it relative to the song’s intro, which is clearly in D Minor. However, the tonal center of the chorus is the relative major scale of F Major. So, as a rule, we recommend looking at the song’s full chord chart to discern what’s happening.
Continue exploring minor chord progressions
The more time you spend listening to songs while reading the chord and melody charts, the better grasp you’ll have on the different ways to write minor chord progressions.
Visit the Hooktheory trends database to filter by different keys and popular chord progressions. You can also browse TheoryTab and search by song titles to find music from artists that you’re curious about. Happy hunting!
About the Author
Ezra Sandzer-Bell is a musician and copywriter with a passion for merging music theory with technology. Learn more about his musical journey and the philosophy behind his work here.
