Using borrowed chords - introduction + examples

[Richard_close2u]

Thanks for following along and getting involved Jason.

@Strummer_of_69

with multiple borrowed chords, would the melody/ vocal tend to drift out of key into the tones of the borrowed chords or would it be more usual to stay within the scale?

What a question!

Always - if it sounds good it is good.

Any borrowed chord is making an alteration in the harmonic structure.
Above that, of course, can be melodic structure.

The borrowing we have seen in this study has been exclusively parallel major and minor key mixture. One example of the wider concept of modal mixture. Major is Ionian is a mode. Minor is Aeolian is a mode. Borrowing chords is also called modal mixture. You can have a major key progression that borrows from, say the parallel Dorian mode too.
Whichever modes are used for borrowing, because they are parallel, they will share some common tones.

If we use example 10 in E minor as an example.

E minor scale:
E, F#, G, A, B, C, D

E major scale:
E F#, G#, A, B, C#, D#

There are four common tones. If the overall harmonic structure is E minor with occasional chords borrowed from E major, then a melody could be played over the progression such that it comprised some or all of the notes from E minor except when the borrowed chords arrive. The borrowed chords coming from E major will signal the need to approach the melody differently.
The notes G, C and D are those to notice and possibly avoid / replace, depending on which chord is borrowed. They may be replaced by their alphabetical counterparts G#, C# and D# if these are chord tones within the borrowed chords. Think of the notes within the triads to know which notes in E minor are going to clash badly with chords from E major. So the melody has to be moulded and shaped to be pleasing, not dissonant.

In Example 10 A major and B major were borrowed.
A major = A, C#, E
When this chord comes along you will be targeting the note C# which comes from the E major scale.
B major = B, D#, F#
When this chord comes along you will be targeting the note D#.

If creating a vocal melody you may wish to be able to use the full palette of seven notes scales, no matter what chords are being played.

If riffing and improvising on a guitar, limiting the play to pentatonics can remove some of the difficulties though there are still notes in each that cause the same issues as above.

E minor pentatonic:
E, G, A, B, D

E major pentatonic:
E, F#, G#, B, C#

One more aspect worth mentioning here. The very common use of a major for the dominant in a minor key (most often V7) is such a desirable example of a borrowed chord that its usage led to the creation of two new scales. The reason it is so desirable and used so much is the strong and satisfying resolution from V7 to i, dominant to tonic. This occurs because the major 3rd in a V7 moving to a tonic minor chord is a leading tone, just a semitone away from the root note of the tonic. It does not appear in the minor scale.
When I presented it in example 9 above i did so as though it was just another, regular major / minor borrowing.
I deliberately chose not to mention that a chord progression in a minor key with a V7 chord is not usually spoken of as chord borrowing. The progression would more normally be described as in the harmonic minor. This is a (natural) minor with a raised 7th degree - the one that creates the leading tone. It was created specifically to give this dominant to tonic resolution in minor keys.
The chords derived from harmonic minor had an implication for melodies too and that in turn led to the creation of the melodic minor scale. It is two scales in one depending on whether ascending or descending. It navigates round the difficulty of a large interval created when raising the 7th for the harmonic minor.
That is probably enough on that subject within this topic.

I hope some or all of that makes sense.
I may need to re-read this as it is late Sunday night to be diving to these depths haha.

[Strummer_of_69]

Thank you Richard and it’s my pleasure to follow such an interesting topic. I do appreciate such an I depth explanation. I’ve recently invested in a loop pedal so I’ll have a go at making up my own progressions and lead lines.

Just as an example: if I’m playing a I iv v progression the key of Em and borrow the V from E major to replace the minor v I should still avoid the note D# in the melody or when improvising even though it’s a chord tone of B major?

[Richard_close2u]

E minor scale:

E, F#, G, A, B, C, D

E major scale:

E, F#, G#, A, B, C#, D#

Major and minor diatonic chords in the keys of minor and E major on the Circle of Fifths.

i chord = E minor = E, G, B

iv chord = A minor = A, C, E

v chord = B minor = B, D, F#

V chord = B major = B, D#, F#

V7 chord = B7 = B, D#, F#, A

The note D# will be a target note over the B major / B7 chord.
It is what makes all the difference between the v minor quality and the V major quality.

[Eccleshall]

Hi Richard
Enjoying following along , guitar in hand with this topic
The “drifting” that @Strummer_of_69 mentions is a really good way of describing the feel you get here - especially when say you go from Em to A - You instinctively want to play Em - Asus4 - A.
I think the drift, or ambiguity sounds great, maybe because the Asus4 played in 05770x position could also be a D9overA, which would be diatonic

@Richard_close2u

because the b7 in a V7 is a leading tone

Cheers
Ruaridh
Quick Question - Don’t you mean the Major third in the V7 is the leading note, and the b7 also resolves, but downwards… or am I getting the wrong end of the stick

[Strummer_of_69]

Thank you Richard
I’ve had a while to digest your analysis and I think I understand. When you said G# C# and D# were the notes to question and probably avoid when introducing borrowed chords I assume you meant with the exception of chord tones?
I’ve been playing some progressions with my looper and it’s making a lot more sense.

[Richard_close2u]

Ruaridh, I’m so glad it is floating your boat.

@Eccleshall

Quick Question - Don’t you mean the Major third in the V7 is the leading note, and the b7 also resolves, but downwards… or am I getting the wrong end of the stick

Ah yes, good spot. I need to edit and correct that. I was thinking of the dominant 7 resolving back to a major tonic chord. I did make a post with graphic to explain why a G7 resolves so strongly to a C major tonic here.

Let’s look at the situation that gave rise to your question - which is a progression in the key of E minor.

In the key of E minor, the actual dominant chord, the v chord, is B minor.
Placing tonic Em and dominant Bm (v) adjacent to one another we have:

E, G, B
B, D, F#

Movement from dominant to tonic sees:
the root B remain static, becoming the 5th of Em;
the 3rd D moves a whole tone up to become the root E (not a strong push / pull);
the 5th F# moves up to become the 3rd G (which is a strong push / pull as they are just a semitone apart).

Extending the dominant chord to a 7th makes little difference here. Placing tonic Em and dominant 7th Bm7 (v7) adjacent to one another we have:

E, G, B
B, D, F#, A

All is as before in terms of movement apart from that note A. But, notice that it is one whole tone from both the G and the B within the tonic chord. It has not given us any additional strength of resolution by adding a ‘leading tone’ that is just a semitone away from a tonic chord note. It could be described as the b7 moving up to become the 5th of the tonic or down to become the 3rd of the tonic. Whichever, both moves are a whole tone.

In summary, both Bm and Bm7 are the dominant chords in the key of E minor but neither have that strength in pushing / pulling to the tonic that was shown in example 10 above.

Now compare with the major versions of the dominant, B and B7 (V and V7) instead of Bm and Bm7. Placing tonic Em and B (V) adjacent to one another we have:

E, G, B
B, D#, F#

Movement from dominant to tonic sees:
the root B remain static, becoming the 5th of Em;
the 3rd D# moves up a semitone to become the tonic’s root E (a strong push / pull of a semitone);
the 5th F# moves up to become the 3rd G (another strong push / pull).
We have two ‘leading tones’ whose movement from dominant (major) to tonic (minor) gives a strong resolution.

Now compare with the 7th version of the major dominant, B7 (V7).

E, G, B
B, D#, F#, A

It is similar to the dominant (major) with the note A being the additional chord tone. As with Bm7 this is not a leading tone as it is not a semitone from any of the tonic chord tones.

To round this up, in a minor key, the true dominant is a minor chord that when played straight or as a minor 7th lacks the strong resolution that a leading tone provides. It is still the dominant. But it lacks oommph.

When the dominant is played as a borrowed V or V7, both have two leading tones. The 3rd resolves up a semitone to become the root of the tonic and the 5th resolves up a semitone to become the 3rd of the tonic. Playing as a 7th does not impact on the quality or strength of resolution - as the b7 is a whole tone from notes in the tonic chord - so either can be played to equal effect and the choice will be made on the old adage if it sounds good it is good, and musician’s ear.

And, finally, in a short answer to @Eccleshall

@Eccleshall

Don’t you mean the Major third in the V7 is the leading note, and the b7 also resolves, but downwards

Yes, I should have written that. Thanks for the correction and gving me the opportunity to clarify and elucidate further.

ps
I love it when people engage, analyse, think and ask questions. It makes me have to reconsider, reflect and, as here, correct any oversights or errors I make.

[Richard_close2u]

@Strummer_of_69

When you said G# C# and D# were the notes to question and probably avoid when introducing borrowed chords I assume you meant with the exception of chord tones?

Whoops. My bad. Another good spot and another need for me to make good on something I wrote. I accidentally typed those the wrong way round. The first set of notes should have been the natural notes and the second set the sharps. I have now corrected myself. Thanks.

@Strummer_of_69

I’ve been playing some progressions with my looper and it’s making a lot more sense.

Great stuff. Anything worth sharing?

[DarkWillowTM]

Fantastic explanation! Probably I am a bit stupid so its all Greek to me… I think I assimilated them from awesome guitarist without noticing the theory behind.

[Strummer_of_69]

Thanks Richard I can stop scratching my head now
I’m really still getting to grips with my looper so there’s nothing but experimental play going on at present but I have to say it’s an amazing investment.
I will endeavour to get to grips with it and share some of my progressions.

[Richard_close2u]

@Strummer_of_69

there’s nothing but experimental play going on at present

In which case, enjoy this moment of learning and fun to the maximum.

[Eccleshall]

Thanks for this,
I’ve found interesting to look at the chords in the key and borrowed chords for Minor keys here.
There’s a lot of emphasis often on harmony in the major keys in much teaching, so refreshing to address the balance
I’ve found it invaluable to follow these with the guitar rather than simply reading them.
Cheers
Ruaridh

[bblak]

Great stuff. Had a full read through a couple of months back and again a few weeks back. I hear it, I understand the origins. Now I’m ready to actually start playing it and what a breath of fresh air this is.

I was also very intrigued (and a little disappointed) that the choice of the borrowed chord was omitted, or at least just hinted at. I get it now, teacher.

The first example employing the bVII (Gbmaj) was chosen as it is the V chord of B major which is the strongest resolution! I need to think in major so I must always enharmonically think this way…

Tried the bVII in different places in the progression, swapped & added in. Also tried the IV of B major (Ab minor key) as a iv and interspersed this about.

It was a daunting thought for me to take 7 diatonic chords and swap out 7 parallel diatonic chords in progressions and think about how am I going to learn all these combos (7x7=49 in a two chord vamp and increasing like crazy as the progression lenth increases).

So I’m now thinking, ok - just try a borrowed 5th, then a 4th etc and intersperse. The ones that dont sound good to me will show themselves instantly and the ones that do work can be played via triads, 7ths, arpeggiated, shell voicings with note cherries on top!

Pardon my utter glee, I must express this and thank you. Time to walk this path and learn some new paths…

[AndrewAntipodes]

The D - Bm - Bb - A progression conjures up a couple of melodic or bass ideas as well…

• the last 3 chords give us a note movement of F# - F - E
• the first 3 chords all share a D note, which could be extended on the A chord as well by using an Asus chord (chord fingering from lowest to highest: 0 0 2 2 4 0, where each no. is the fret)

[Richard_close2u]

Thanks for reading Andrew. When I read your comment in your song topic that you liked composing using borrowed chords I hoped you would check this topic out.

@AndrewAntipodes

the first 3 chords all share a D note, which could be extended on the A chord as well by using an Asus chord (chord fingering from lowest to highest: X 0 2 2 3 0, where each no. is the fret)

(notation corrected on the E and B strings)

That’s a great spot. Weaving notes through progressions as you suggest makes for great voice leading.

Something like this …

[john90]

Late to the party @Richard_close2u but what a fantastic lesson. Just as good as the COF one. Two questions -

1. In the examples where you are in a minor key and borrow chords from the major, you don’t use the ‘b’ notation (e.g. bIII). Is there a reason for that? Sorry if I’ve missed it in the text.

2. Here is a chord progression in C : - C E Am F C G C G (one bar each). I made it up by ear but it’s very familiar - you can sing Stagger Lee or the Clash song Jimmy Jazz, and no doubt many others along to the progression. E is a ‘borrowed chord’ but it isn’t from the parallel minor nor is it a secondary dominant. Where is it coming from then?

[Richard_close2u]

Hi John, thanks for checking this topic. It is one I have wanted to return to and extend / supplement / complete for a long time.

@john90

In the examples where you are in a minor key and borrow chords from the major, you don’t use the ‘b’ notation (e.g. bIII). Is there a reason for that?

Good question. It is all to do with major scale formula, scale degrees of the major scale of the original key, intervals etc.

In the notes for Example 1 here we see that a Gb major chord played in the key of Ab major is labelled bVII because its root is a semitone lower than the 7th scale degree of the Ab major scale. The chord is Gb major and the 7th scale degree is G.

In the notes for Example 2 here we see that the borrowed chord must be labelled bVI as its root note is one semitone lower than the 6th scale degree of the D major scale. The chord is Bb major and the 6th scale degree is the note B.

In example 3 here we learn that a borrowed D major chord is labelled bIII and a borrowed A chord is labelled bVII. The chords are D and A and the 3rd and 7th scale degrees are D# and A# respectively.

There are further instances of a borrowed chord in the major key examples having to take a ‘flat’ prefix for similar reasons.

Now looking at the minor key examples.

In Example 9 we are in the key of B minor.
The B minor scale is → B, C#, D, E, F#, G, A
The borrowed chord is F# major.
Its root note is F#.
F# is an exact match for the 5th scale degree.
No flat or sharp modifier is needed.
The borrowed chord is simply labelled V.
The difference is that the truly diatonic chord would be F#m, notated with a lower case Roman numeral v.

In Example 10 we are in the key of E minor.
The E minor scale is → E, F#, G, A, B, C, D
The borrowed chords are E major, A major and B major.
Their root notes are E, A and B.
All are exact matches for the 1st, 4th and 5th scale degrees.
The difference here is that the diatonic chords would be minor i, iv and v.

[Richard_close2u]

@john90

Here is a chord progression in C : - C E Am F C G C G … E is a ‘borrowed chord’ but it isn’t from the parallel minor nor is it a secondary dominant. Where is it coming from then?

I have emboldened an option you have discounted. Might I encourage you to revisit and check that?

[john90]

Ach! Since we covered this in a lesson a while back, I somehow got it in my head that secondary dominants only applied to the tonic chord rather than the following chord in the sequence. An unforgivable lapse in memory given I actually wrote a couple of songs using the technique after our lesson! And of course the sequence sounds better using E7 rather than E. My apologies for being an inattentive student @Richard_close2u .

[john90]

Ah, of course - that makes total sense. There was me thinking the ‘b’ stood for ‘borrowed’ lol. Thanks @Richard_close2u

[Willsie]

I read this thread over two evenings, without guitar in hand. Very interesting topic and I will try to experiment with it. Is the use of borrowed chords intended to be used for composing/writing or is it practical to think that it could be used to add interest/variation to existing songs?