In this article, we're going to look at a chord cycle in which we play two consecutive chords. The Dominant 7 to the minor 7. We're going to utilize the circle of 5ths as our pathway to cycle through this progression. The circle of 5ths can represent many aspects of music but in this article, we're going to simply utilize it to guide us to what chords to play.
An example of two chords that sound really good as you progress through any chord progression, is the Dominant 7 to the minor 7.
Without getting into a lot of details about dominant 7th chords, I'll quickly demonstrate that the quickest way to build one is to just locate the note that is a whole step below the root of a Major triad. In the card above, C Major is our example and B flat is our dominant 7th tone. Notice that you can play it anywhere on the keyboard.
Creating a minor 7 chord is exactly the same as creating the dominant 7th chord. You're just adding the same flatted 7th tone to a minor chord.
We're going to start out with C7 and voice it by playing the root in the left hand and the flatted 7th (B flat) in octaves in our right hand. The third (E) is played in the middle. Notice that the 5th (G) is being omitted. You can achieve a much more satisfying sound by leaving out notes such as the 5th for a more open voiced sound.
Now we're going to cycle to the F minor 7 chord. Our left hand has moved from C to F. In our right hand, we've moved down from the B flat to A flat. The E has moved down from E to E flat. So now the minor third is being played in octaves and the flat 7th is in the middle.
As we cycle through our progression, we now have the same structure that we started on. We're now on the B flat 7 chord. The dominant 7th is being played in octaves in the right hand with the 3rd in the middle.
Again we're moving through the circle of 5ths to the E flat minor 7 chord where the structure is the same as before. As you can see, we're only playing two different chords as we cycle through all 12 different possibilities.
Just to reiterate, we're utilizing the circle of 5ths in our chord cycle and moving counter clockwise. As you may know, we're actually moving in intervals of fourths which is essentially how chords tend to move naturally in music. Be aware that this Dominant to minor 7 chord cycle is only one of unlimited possibilities.
In this Video & Cards article, we used just two different chords to cycle through all 12 keys of music. Don't just think of it as an exercise because it sounds very musical and can be very fun as well as an effective tool to learn how to play music in any key.
Until next time, Go Play!
Check out this recent article on the Dominant to Major 7 chord cycle.
Greg Lee
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