Creating harmonious guitar progressive chords with simplified music theory and tool
11 min read
The Interactive circle of fifths is the ideal tool for any musician who wants to create a song and find the unique scale that will harmonize with all the diatonic chords used and facilitate improvisation. The diatonic chords provide the fundamental harmony for a song in a particular key because they derived from the notes of the scale itself. They create chords that are harmonically related and tend to sound good together within a key, making them easier to use for songwriters and improvisers.
How diatonic chords are built by stacking notes in “thirds” from each note of a 7-note scale
The 12 chromatic semitones are the 12 distinct pitches within an octave, creating the full chromatic scale of 7 seven notes.
Here are the 12 semitones starting with the tonic C on one and three strings, illustrating the fact that you can get the same note on two different strings.
- Each interval 2, 3, 6, and 7 from the tonic contains minor and major intervals which starting by the minor and following by the major interval.
- D sharp or E flat is the minor third, and E or F flat is the major third.
- G sharp or A flat is the minor sixth, and A is the major sixth.
- A sharp or B flat is the minor seventh, and B is the major seventh.
- A fourth, a perfect fifth, and a diminished fifth, which is a semitone or an interval before the perfect fifth, which can also be called a diminished fifth (b5) or an augmented fourth (4#), which is the same note.
A chord is simply constructed from the triad, the tonic (1st), the third (3rd), which is often an octave higher and dictates the overall mood of the music, with a major third sounding cheerful and optimistic, and a minor third sounding darker and more serious, and finally the perfect fifth (5th) of the scale, as these notes are considered consonant when played together. But you can easily add the sixth (6th), which will also be in harmony when played with the other notes.
- C major scale => C (Do), D (Re), E (Mi), F(Fa), G (Sol), A (La), B (Si), C(Do)
- C major diatonic chords = tonic C (Do), third major E (Mi), fifth G (Sol)
- C minor scale => C (Do), D (Re), Eb (Mib), F(Fa), G (Sol), A (La), B (Si), C(Do)
- C minor distonic chords => first C (Do), third minor bE (bMi), fifth G (Sol)
How works the circle of fifths
All the keys on the outer blue ring correspond to major diatonic chords and, those on the inner green ring correspond to minor diatonic chords. Diatonic chords are the chords built using only the notes of a specific key or scale. Each key has seven diatonic chords, because there are seven notes in the scale, 3 major and 3 minor chords and the seventh diatonic chord is a diminished chord, which creates a dramatic effect in music due to its instability and dissonance. We will therefore only use the first six diatonic chords, which correspond to the interactive Cycle of Fifths.
If the tonic key pressed is on the outer rings:
- It will always be a major diatonic chord based on the first degree or note 1 of the scale.
- Left key from the tonic (subdominant ) = major diatonic chord based on the fourth note of the scale.
- Right key from the tonic (dominant) = major diatonic chord based on the fifth note of the scale.
- Below tonic key = relative diatonic minor chord based on the sixth note of the scale.
- Left key from relative diatonic minor = minor diatonic chord based on the second note of the scale.
- Right key from relative diatonic minor = minor diatonic chord based on the tird note of the scale.
In the example on the right, the scale used is C major without sharps or flats, like the A minor scale, because it is the relative minor of the C major and the two scales share the same notes. C (Do) D (Re) E (Mi) F(Fa) G (Sol) A (La) B (Si).
The diatonics chords are shown in orange will be: C1 (major), F4 (major), G5 (major), A6 (relative minor of C major), D2 (minor), E3 (minor).
If the tonic key pressed is on the inner rings:
- It will always be a minor diatonic chord based on the first degree or note 1 of the scale.
- Left key from the tonic (subdominant) = minor diatonic chord based on the fourth note of the scale.
- Right key from the tonic (dominant) = minor diatonic chord based on the fifth note of the scale.
- Above tonic key = relative diatonic major chord based on the tird note of the scale.
- Left key from relative diatonic major = major diatonic chord based on the sixth note of the scale.
- Right key relative diatonic major = major diatonic chord based on the seventh note of the scale.
In the example on the right, the scale used is A minor without sharps or flats, like the C major scale, because it is the relative major and the two scales share the same notes. A (La), (Si), C (Do), D (Re), E (Mi), F(Fa), G (Sol)
The diatonics chords are shown in orange will be: A1 (major), D4 (minor), E5 (minor), C3 (relative major of A minor), F6 (major), G7(major)
The 7 guitar modes
A visual chart of these modes can help illustrate their relationship and how to play them on the guitar. The patterns can therefore be played anywhere on the guitar neck, but the name of the scale will change depending on where the tonic note begins the pattern.
For guitarists, modes are derived from a “parent scale” (like the C major scale, which has no sharps or flats) by starting on a different note while using the exact same notes. Because the sequence of intervals changes, each mode has a distinct sound and feel. The pattern is simply a matter of where you begin within the familiar major scale shape and can be reproduce every where on the guitar fretboard. The seven guitar modes derived from the major scale are Ionian, Dorian, Phrygian, Lydian, Mixolydian, Aeolian, and Locrian. These names are those mentioned in the earliest treatises on Greek music theory.
Here are the seven guitar modes starting with the tonic C key:
1 – Ionian mode and over 2 octaves ( No sharps or flats)
- Description: The standard major scale in C (Do), which sounds cheerful and confident.
2 – Dorian mode and over 2 octaves ( 2 sharps and 0 flats)
- Description: A minor scale with a raised sixth. It has a jazzy, soulful sound and is common in blues and funk.
3 – Prygian mode and over 2 octaves ( 4 sharps and 0 flats.)
- Description: A minor scale with a lowered second, creating a distinct Spanish or flamenco sound.
4 – Lydian mode and over 2 octaves ( 1 sharps and 0 flats.)
- Description: A major scale with a raised fourth. It has a dreamy, uplifting quality.
5 – Mixolydian mode and over 2 octaves ( 1 sharps and 0 flats.)
- Description: A major scale with a lowered seventh. It has a bluesy, dominant-sounding character, common in rock music.
6 – Aolian mode and over 2 octaves ( 3 sharps and 0 flats.)
- Description: The natural minor scale, which sounds sad, somber, or serious.
7 – Lorian mode and over 2 octaves ( 5 sharps and 0 flats.)
- Description: An unstable and dissonant-sounding mode with a flattened second and fifth. It’s rarely used as a primary melodic scale.
The two pentatonic scales and their patterns slide along the fretboard in C major (or A minor, the relative minor), which can be transposed to any other key on the fretboard.
Here are the pentatonic patterns slide along the fretboard.
Here are two pentatonic shapes with three positions on the fretboard.
You can see in the first image that pentatonic pattern 1 becomes pentatonic pattern 2 at the 12th fret and that pentatonic pattern 1 repeats at the 17th fret. The same applies to the second image, where pentatonic pattern 2 becomes pentatonic pattern 1 at the 12th fret and pentatonic pattern 2 repeats at the 17th fret. These two pentatonic forms can be transposed into any key and facilitate improvisation, since the two pentatonic patterns blend together on the fretboard and there are only two patterns to remember. Give musicians more space so they can use Blues Rock licks to add more color to their solos.
These are the most harmonious and commonly used chords in the key of C major, but they can be used in any other tonic key using the same shape or pattern.
For C major and minor chords, only the third will change, and most of the time, the one that is an octave higher is used. For the major E and minor D#.
- C major tonic on the 5 or 6 strings.
- C minor tonic on the 5 or 6 strings.
Here are C major and minor 7 chords only the third and seventh notes will change.
- C major 7 tonic on the 5 or 6 strings.
- C minor 7 tonic on the 5 or 6 strings.
Here are the C major 6 and C minor b6 chords built with only 3 notes, which create melodic arpeggios or can also be used as chords.
Here is a C major 6 chord and a minor b6 chord that can be played with only 3 notes, creating melodic arpeggios with the tonic, third, and sixth. Thus, only the third and sixth will change. In general, the minor sixth is constructed with the major sixth interval instead of the minor sixth interval, but it sounds dissonant compared to the minor sixth interval, because the minor sixth interval is an inversion of the major third. Thus, to obtain a C minor built with a minor sixth interval, we must specify it as follows: C minor b6 or flat sixth.
- C major 6 with tonic on the 5 or 6 strings.
- C minor b6 with tonic on the 5 or 6 strings.
Here is an impressive and well-known melodic song, created by Sting (Shape of my heart), which uses these major 6 and minor b6 chords almost throughout the entire song.
Creation of more tension in your song
However, to create more tension in your song, you need to find the secondary dominant chord, which is the fifth chord of another chord in the interactive cycle of fifths. For example, if you choose A minor, the fifth chord will be E minor, but instead of using a minor chord, you will use an E 7 chord to create this tension in your song. Thus, only the seventh note of the scale changes.
How to borrow diatonic chords outside the circle of fifths.
To borrow diatonic chords from outside the circle of fifths, a technique known as a modal interchange. This involves taking chords from a related key, most commonly the parallel major or minor key, to add variety and depth to a progression.
- Identify the home key:
Determine the diatonic chords for your starting key, such as C, Dm, Em, F, G, Am, and Bdim in C major. - Select a related key:
The most common source for borrowed chords is the parallel minor key. For C major, this would be C minor. - Incorporate the chords:
Substitute one or more of these borrowed chords into your original progression. A common use is to borrow a minor iv chord (Fm in C major) or a borrowed VI chord (Ab in C major) to create a different mood.
Examples of borrowing
- In the key of C major:
A typical progression is C – G – Am – F. You could borrow from C minor to create a more somber chorus by using Cm – Fm – Ab maj – Bb maj. - Adding drama or depth:
Borrowing chords is a common technique in pop and other genres to add harmonic interest without fully modulating to a new key.
Here is a concrete example taken from another great Lady Gaga song (Always Remember Us This Way), which is built with diatonic chords in C major or its relative minor A minor (A m, F major, C major, G major). There is only one diatonic chord that is borrowed from the parallel diatonic chords in C minor, the B flat major chord.
