Natural Minor Chord Progressions
Natural minor scale chords and progressions

In the introductory natural minor scale lesson, we learned that the scale works over minor chords, naturally! As well as individual chords, natural minor also works over sequences of chords in a minor key. We can call these natural minor chord progressions, as they will allow you to solo over them using the natural minor scale.

As we're using more than one chord for the same scale, each chord needs to be compatible with that parent scale. This means that natural minor may only work over certain parts of the song or progression, because for it all to fit neatly together into one scale, it must all be part of the same diatonic system.

This lesson is about training your ear to pick out these natural minor compatible chord movements so you can solo confidently in a minor key.

The natural minor chord scale

First, you need to understand the theory behind how chord progressions and scales work together as part of the same system. Natural minor has its own "chord scale" based around its scale intervals. We're basically building chords on each degree of the scale, so each degree marks the root note of a new chord.

Each chord in the scale is typically labelled using Roman numerals - lower case for the minor chords and upper case for the major chords...

1	2	b3	4	5	b6	b7
i	ii	III	iv	v	VI	VII

i is known as the tonic chord. This is the chord that determines the key we play the natural minor scale in. For example, if the tonic was D minor, the chord scale above and the scale we use to solo would be in the key of D minor.

So, as each chord is built on a degree of the natural minor scale, we should be able to use our knowledge of the scale's intervals to work out what each chord would be in a given key. Let's stick with D minor in this example...

i	ii	III	iv	v	VI	VII
Dm	Edim	F	Gm	Am	Bb	C

Note: Edim stands for E diminished. You can learn all about diminished chords in the chords section later. We won't be using it in this lesson.

From this scale, we can pick out different combinations of chords to create a D natural minor chord progression.

For example...

i	VII	VI
Dm	C	Bb

Click to hear >

That's a very typical movement over which we could use the D natural minor scale. The scale also works over the Bb (B flat) and C major chords because they are part of this D minor chord scale shown earlier.

We don't have to start and end on the tonic either...

VI	VII	i
Bb	C	Dm

Click to hear >

It's important to hear these progressions as relative movements that can be used in any key. If the tonic chord was Bm instead of Dm, how would that change the other chords in the scale?

i	ii	III	iv	v	VI	VII
Bm	C#dim	D	Em	F#m	G	A

That means the chords in the above i VI VII progression would change accordingly...

VI	VII	i
G	A	Bm

Click to hear >

So the main thing to understand here is that the Roman numerals represent a chord progression drawn from the intervals of a parent scale without specifying key.

Natural minor chord progressions chart

Below is a useful chart showing you some common 3-chord natural minor progressions. The key is in red on the left, which also represents the tonic chord of the progression and the key in which you'll play the scale.

To get in the right key, the root note of the scale you're playing should coincide with the root of the tonic chord (e.g. A minor - A, B minor - B etc.)

	i iv VII	i VII VI	i v iv	i III VII	i VI v
Am	Am Dm G	Am G F	Am Em Dm	Am C G	Am F Em
Bm	Bm Em A	Bm A G	Bm F#m Em	Bm D A	Bm G F#m
Cm	Cm Fm Bb	Cm Bb Ab	Cm Gm Fm	Cm Eb Bb	Cm Ab Gm
Dm	Dm Gm C	Dm C Bb	Dm Am Gm	Dm F C	Dm Bb Am
Em	Em Am D	Em D C	Em Bm Am	Em G D	Em C Bm
Fm	Fm Bbm Eb	Fm Eb C#	Fm Cm Bbm	Fm Ab Eb	Fm C# Cm
Gm	Gm Cm F	Gm F Eb	Gm Dm Cm	Gm Bb F	Gm Eb Dm

Obviously the examples used above aren't the full extent of natural minor chord progressions. For example, you could have iv v i instead of i v iv. You could also have 4 and 5 chord sequences that reside within the chord scale. Keep experimenting with this concept and you shouldn't need a million and one examples, because your ear will eventually be able to identify that "natural minor sound" in the songs you hear and write.

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Natural Minor Chord Progressions Natural minor scale chords and progressions

The natural minor chord scale

Natural minor chord progressions chart

Natural Minor Chord Progressions
Natural minor scale chords and progressions