If you change minor third chord into major third..

[scooter]

It sounds so cool.

 

Fmajor-Bbmajor-A7

 

instead of Fmajor-Bbmajor-Aminor

 

 

What is the theory behind it,why does it work?

 

and does it have a theoretical name ?

[CarmenJuandeago]

It sounds so cool. Fmajor-Bbmajor-A7 instead of Fmajor-Bbmajor-Aminor What is the theory behind it,why does it work? and does it have a theoretical name ?

 

 

mode mixture.... you use chords from the parallel minor

 

i come to think of it as the "creep" chord because it was the first time i was puzzled by it---G-B-C-Cm

[axolotls]

mode mixture.... you use chords from the parallel minor i come to think of it as the "creep" chord because it was the first time i was puzzled by it---G-B-C-Cm

 

 

ditto. confused me for a while until someone said it was just borrowing from the parallel minor mode. pretty sweet if you ask me,

[Poparad]

I think everyone's a little off here. A7 isn't from the parallel minor, F minor, it's from the relative minor: D minor.

 

D minor is made up of the same notes as F major, but can additionally have an A or A7 chord, resulting in the sound of the D harmonic minor scale. That's where that chord is coming from.

[Jasco]

I think everyone's a little off here. A7 isn't from the parallel minor, F minor, it's from the relative minor: D minor. D minor is made up of the same notes as F major, but can additionally have an A or A7 chord, resulting in the sound of the D harmonic minor scale. That's where that chord is coming from.

 

 

Agreed.

[TrickyBoy]

Yes, it's the parallel minor, or a chord the major key borrows from the minor key. The best way to look at this when playing of it is a simple F->Fm exchange that happens. Play in F Major over the F and Bb chords, but instead of thinking "A" when you play over A7, just 'think' F Minor. You've probably heard this sound over and over in your life but never realized that's all that way going on. Try it, think F->Fm instead of F->A7. It'll clear up a lot of stuff for you and you'll play the sound of whats modulating at the core instead of what's 'crudely' changing on the surface, if that makes sense.

 

 

I am completely lost on this one? What is the relationship between Fm and A7?

[jeremy_green]

I am with Pops.

 

A question for thought - in a blues most people are comfortable with changing a minor chord into a dominant. It could be the same approach used here. It's a very common swap.

 

Also there is some voice leading happening here. The BbMaj contains the note "D" The A7's got a "C#" Leading us back to the "C" in the FMaj tonic.

 

So there is semitone movement going on as well.

[gennation]

Yeah, I was half asleep when I typed my post. I'll delete it.

[meganutt7]

Jeremey, while I agree with you in a blues context.... This move is (to my ears/mind) significantly different when it's in a non-blues context... The whole premise of that idea working in a blues context is because of the "static" nature of the chords/chord progression... If you have this sort of "all dominant" chord aesthetic happening, it changes the way we perceive scalar choices, wehereas when you're working from a more "tonal harmony" perspective, this type of move (in the key of F major, at some point hitting an A7) it certainly does inply (as Poparad said) a momentary reference to D minor...

[jeremy_green]

Jeremey, while I agree with you in a blues context.... This move is (to my ears/mind) significantly different when it's in a non-blues context... The whole premise of that idea working in a blues context is because of the "static" nature of the chords/chord progression... If you have this sort of "all dominant" chord aesthetic happening, it changes the way we perceive scalar choices, wehereas when you're working from a more "tonal harmony" perspective, this type of move (in the key of F major, at some point hitting an A7) it certainly does inply (as Poparad said) a momentary reference to D minor...

I agree with you fully Danny.

Just saying the sound is quite common and used pretty often. Dominant chords always seem to pull to the I to my ears (in this case Dmin). The swap to me works because of the somewhat neutral nature of a dominant chord. With both a Maj3 and a min7 it kind of swings both ways - for lack of a better term.

Honestly, in this example I think it works due to the voice leading mostly.

[meganutt7]

well.... I would be a liar if I said I didn't use a minor pentatonic from the root of a dominant7th chord pretty often (if that is the sound I want at any given time) or even on a major triad or even a maj7 chord, ocasionally.. Guys like George Benson did this sort of thing Alot...Certainly no shame in that game... However, if you really hit the C# in the chord, it gives a really nice DEFINED sound that resolves beautifully to a Dm or some other chords.. The alternative is to use the Pentatonic with a #7 (instead of D,F,G,A,C use D,F,G,A,C#) this gives you the best of both worlds, as it were... Or even better yet, sub the 9 for the root, and then you're totally killing it (E,F,G,A,C# which you could view as an A7b13 arpeggio)