I, IV, V and minor keys
Found in: Scale & Key Signature
Debbie T., Canada
Here’s a theory question from a student that has me stumped: are songs in minor keys (like Scarborough Fair) still built on a I, IV, V foundation? Which major chords would one expect to find in a minor key, and why?
David F., Nebraska
Intuitively, it seems like using the 6-2-3 works remarkably similar to the 1-4-5 only with minor chords, the relative major then being in the position of 3, a step and a half from 6.
Leeanne I., Australia
Yes, it does work. I have transposed some of the songs in Songs for Christmas that use minor chords. The relative major of a minor scale ends up the same as the relative minor of the major scale, just reversed!
Mark M., New York
We can cut through the complications of relative majors and minors, and the different varieties of minor scales, by saying simply, yes, 1-4-5 works in both major and minor keys, 100%, absolutely. They happen to be different chord types, but they are still 1-4-5, and they function in essentially the same way. I used Arabic numerals because they are more universal/generic. Uppercase Roman numerals are major chords, so we wouldn’t call it I-IV-V in a minor key — we’d call it i-iv-V — or in some cases even the V would be minor and written as v. It’s still 1-4-5, regardless of what flavor they take on.
The simplest answer to your last question is that you find all the same chords in the relative major and minor key. So just as in C major you find that C, F, & G are major, A, D, & E are minor, and B is diminished, you find all these same exact chords in the key of A minor. That’s because the “two” keys are actually made up of a single shared scale — all the same notes means all the same chords.
Worth noting, there’s not 5 in Scarborough Fair. So songs in minor keys can be built on a 1-4-5 foundation, but just like songs in major keys, don’t necessarily have to be.
Ian B., California
Another way to look at it is minor keys often have a foundation on i-iv-V (5 being a major chord). However, in pop/contemporary styles the 5 is kept minor. This allows a very easy transition between chord progressions in relative major or minor. In Scarborough Fair, the 4 is major (i-IV-v).
Karen N., Connecticut
Another simple way of thinking about harmonic progressions in any key, major or minor, is looking at the scale patterns. In any minor key it’s minor-dim-Major-minor-minor (or Major if harmonic minor is used)-Major-Major (or diminished if harmonic minor is used)-minor (1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8).