Harmonising the Major Scale
'Add engaging title' it says on the screen...so my engaging title is one of those 'what it says on the tin' varieties :)
Following on from my recent blog post about how to generate the notes for any given Major scale, I'm going to extend that idea for you a little by looking at what chords would typically work best in the given key. For the sake of consistency I am going to work with the C Major scale. All the chords listed below can be formed using a selection of notes from the parent scale i.e. C, D, E, F, G, A, B.
Each of the notes of the scale is designated as a Major (Maj) chord, a Minor (Min) chord or a Diminished (Dim) chord when you 'Harmonise' said scale and the designation follows a set formula of Maj, Min, Min, Maj, Maj, Min, Dim. The chords are also given a designated number and Roman Numerals are typically used, as follows: I, ii, iii, IV, V, vi, vii. Here's how that would look for the key of C:
And here's a look at the 1st position version of each of these chords:
C Major
D Minor
E Minor
F Major
G Major
A Minor
B Diminished
The same rules and formula can be applied to any key. Hopefully, this will have given you enough information to work out which chords should be used in other keys. However, there is a tip sheet located on my website that will also help further. Click here to access that. Typically, when you hear popular recorded music, the songs will utilise a small selection of chord changes and fit neatly into the prescribed set for the key.
I am available to provide guitar lessons in the Blessington Lakes area. Use the contact form to find out more.
Until later
Shane
