Songs that use the Harmonic Minor Axis progression
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- čas přidán 6. 06. 2024
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📌TYPO: at 2:10 I had written "E" as the last chord in the Panic! At The Disco song when it should be "C#" so I have now blurred that chord out. Sorry for any confusion and thanks to those who drew my attention to it.
Here's my "Axis progression" video: • 7 super common chord p... 🎹🎼
The "Harmonic minor axis progression" is my name for a variation on the classic "Am F C G" progression. All we have to do is swap out the G major chord for an E major chord and now we have that powerful resolution of the Harmonic minor scale!
And, an extra special thanks goes to Peter Keller, Douglas Lind, Vidad Flowers, Ivan Pang, Waylon Fairbanks, Jon Dye, Austin Russell, Christopher Ryan, Toot & Paul Peijzel, the channel’s Patreon saints! 😇
SUPPORT ME ON PATREON: / davidbennettpiano 🎹
0:00 Introduction
1:23 Examples
2:32 Harmonic minor scale
4:00 Green Day
5:34 The Passenger
6:06 Roman numerals
8:20 Sub:Om
9:07 Patreon
Thanks to Sub:Om for sponsoring this video! sub-om.com/ 🎸🎶
📌TYPO: at 2:10 I had written "E" as the last chord in the Panic! At The Disco song when it should be "C#" so I have now blurred that chord out. Sorry for any confusion and thanks to those who drew my attention to it.
Tbh the chord names are better than the roman numerals because you don't have to do any mental math for it to sound interesting
Video idea: A look at why the Stock Aitken Waterman hits of the late 80s like Never Gonna Give You Up and Too Many Broken Hearts etc. sound so similar and why they're all so catchy
@@terrapin323The Roman Numerals are better than the Nashville numbering system that is a rip off of the Conservatory roman numeral system. Yes I prefer the chord names however.
I was hoping the typo was something like f**k or c**t, but I'll take your word for it.
And here I was wondering whether the chord names accidentally spelled out a swear word that would get you demonetized... But no matter how I tried, (F#m)DAC# didn't resemble anything remotely profane.
You should make Spotify playlists of all the songs for the progression videos you make. That would be cool to follow.
i wrote a song with this chord progression and contacted david about it because i had a feeling i’d heard it before. he answered me super quickly, gave me helpful information and was very nice. thanks for the video!
I think that the III grade could also be interpreted as a secondary dominant of the vi grade. So basically you have V/vi into vi
That is absolutely correct, particularly if the chord is actually the V7 chord. Many “temporary” modal modulations can be seen as the insertion of one or more secondary dominants.
It’s just the dominant of the i. E is the dominant of Am.
I agree, but in the video Am is represented as vi and C as I , instead of Am as I grade of the minor scale and C as III
@@mattiasu96 not if you watch to the end.
Green Day has always been one of the best to me, in the sense of being one of the most musical punk bands, ever. SO many of their songs take ultra familiar changes like these and write absolutely perfect lyrics and melodies over them. I would love to see you do some Green Day dedicated videos on your channel.
You can also use the regular axis of 12 progression Am F C G first, but then add the E afterwards there to increase and extend the tension/build up right before the chorus kicks in again (assuming both chorus and verse us this progression of course). However, this can always be added that way, even if your song is in the natural minor.
It's interesting to watch Davids videos as they teach me the theory behind things I naturally gravitated towards before knowing any theory.
An alternate way could be a cycle of Am Dm E Dm 3 times and switch to this by going from F (as a replacement for C) the 4th time to enter the loop. (I think that's what "We Don't Talk About Bruno" does)
Ev'ryone's naturally inclined towards the major scale, or from some point in it.
The leading note is natural for the major home or artificially created, for the minor.
No need to over-intellectualise.Or artificially make things complex.
@@StratsRUs Where do I over intellelectualise or artifically make things complex?
Your videos are outstanding, mate. Enjoying them for quite a while.
Love from Austria
Cheers 😊
As soon as you started explaining and playing it on the piano, Muse - New Born started in my brain instantly.
I just started to play this progression on guitar and recognised song from russian punk group Гражданская Оборона "Все идет по плану". Din't knew that same progression used in Beatles song 🙂
yeah in Russia it’s probably #1 song with this progression lol
"Noah takes a photo of himself every day for 6 years" has this
Carly Comando - Everyday
I just checked if that song actually had these chords, as it sounds like it does but I suddenly was not sure..(but yeah, it does)
The title 😂 must be an emo song.
just a small point: the passenger is definitely the song all those pop punk songs are drawing from (*especially* green day) but worth noting the example of UFO's doctor doctor is also using the variant that switches between the two. very influential song that's been covered a billion times
Glad you mentioned that the first chord often ends up feeling like the home chord. Nice video with good examples!
I love the minor axis progression. It's creates such a dramatic background without beeing dissonant. The harmonic variation is a bit spicier and in combination they sound awesome.
I also found a variation where the axis progression starts on the IV chord. It's in the verse section of Madonnas "like a prayer".
I believe David has mentioned that variation in another video. The chorus of Green Day's "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" uses it too!
I honestly can’t remember if David has included a SOAD example but it definitely made me happy to see Lonely Day, I love that song and it’s definitely one of my favourites from them
i don't think he has and i've been waiting!
Actually he has in a video he made a year ago
@@royalex21 seriously?? which video
@@MintMartThis one: czcams.com/video/9zbP0GQzUuI/video.html
@@MintMart czcams.com/video/9zbP0GQzUuI/video.html
Love these chord progression videos!
2:08
I believe there is an error:
The dominant for F#m is C#, not E
Well spotted. I’ll fix that 😊
@@DavidBennettPianoit just appears blurred out/censored now, is there supposed to be a correction on there?
I’m on mobile casting to my TV, so apologies if I don’t see it, but I was extremely confused when I saw that the last chord of the Arctic Monkeys (edit: Panic at the Disco!) song was blurred out for some reason, lol.
@@TundieRiceno its meant to be blurred, i dont think you can add text through the youtube editor (or maybe you can)
@@TundieRice weird, it shouldn’t have effected the arctic monkey chord. I’ll have a look
@@DavidBennettPiano thanks for the response, I’m invested now, lol
Thank you for mentioning that the proper labeling for the progression starts with i rather than vi. I'd always labeled it as i-bVI-bIII-bVII because the third chord, while being the relative major of the first, never felt tonic.
Beautifully explained, as always. Thank you, David!
Thank you. These explanations of chord progressions has been massively helpful to me.
another banger, I know I'm gonna be surprised with how many songs this has been used in, and the wide variety of genre!
You adding the bit about why and how you labeled the chords throughout the video was great.
I love that chord progression, so powerful.
This reminded me of a theme in the music of the series “The Leftovers”. What I think I remember might not have been the same chord progression. But David‘s introduction on the piano had a mournful sound, and I recall something like it being used to great effect on the show, fitting well with the themes of its story.
it's the same progression
The departure its one of the best emotional songs i ver heard, max ritcher its a great composer
@@PrepucioJudeu That‘s it! I found it here on CZcams (can‘t link, search for “The Leftovers soundtrack”). Also “A Blessing”, which I believe is the same theme featuring strings. I‘m fascinated that David featured its chord progression and the memory of that music came on so strongly. The soundtrack was stellar, haunting and sorrowful and filled with longing.
Great video as always David.
I've said it before: These chord-progression vids are the TOPS!
Love this chord progression
Maybe that's one of the reasons why I love Green Day so much. And these three songs you showed are one of my favorites. Definitely need to experiment with this progression muself.
Great video. Thanks!!
thanks David!
I’m happy that more bands are sponsoring your videos.
It’s like a win-win-win situation, where they open to a wider audience, you got the sponsor and we can listen to new music.
So much better than the annoying mobile game apps that often are seen on random videos.
The Zeebrahead song "Hello Tomorrow" uses this chord progression. "You're Welcome" reminded me of it the first time I heard it.
Dude I love all your videos. I'm a guitarist and music teacher and though your username has piano in it, I send all my students your way. Keep up the good work.
Thank you.
Brilliant insruction
Thanks!!
Your channel is becoming my database for chord progressions
Excellent 😊
Great video. I’ve written charts for years and always use the “relative major” of a song in a minor key. This is the relationship between a minor and major scales that share notes.
For example, if the progression starts on Am then write the whole chart in key of C. The relative major of a minor scale is the same as asking “what major key is this minor chord the 6 minor of?”
6m 4 1 5 is much easier to communicate and understand than 1m b6 b3 b7.
The hard thinking is only done by the chart writer and the band can jam!
I can't believe you mention Bad Religion ❤
If you want to see some great harmony I recommend "Mediocre Minds", the bridge part. It's great.
Being a big Alter Bridge fan, one of my favorite examples is the bridge and first guitar solo of Blackbird. It’s in F#m (guitar is half step down, so it’s played as Gm).
6:06 I'm so glad you talked about this. I think the way you presented it also shows pretty well how the indiscriminate relative-to-the-major-scale system is simply superior as it is more versatile and unbiased.
Funny thing is, because we've arbitrarily decided to base that system on the major scale rather than any other scale, which means that the major scale's notes are the "natural" scale degrees (as a side note, I find it quite strange how even in classical music theory, you're taught that the "natural" intervals are the ones from the major scale, but they still use the Roman numeral system than depends on whether you're in the minor or major key), it's always more "energy efficient" to look at things from the perspective of the relative major because it means you have three less flats.
See, the concept of key is quiet subjective because it entirely depends on our perception and interpretation. But if you ignore which key or keys the piece of music could be in, roman numerals independently of key provide an objective reference frame. I could call the progression in this video:
i-bVI-bIII-V
or bii-VI-III-bVI
or ii-bVII-IV-VI
or biii-VII-bV-bVII
or iii-I-V-VII
or iv-bII-bVI-I
or bv-II-VI-bII
or v-bIII-bVII-II
or bvi-III-VII-bIII
or vi-IV-I-III
or bvii-bV-bII-IV
or vii-V-II-bV
and either one would make perfect sense. But notice which one is shorter?
I've seen a variant of this progression in a lot of songs where it starts on the I major chord rather than the vi minor chord, making a I-III-vi-IV progression. Two songs I can name with the progression are "Snowman" by Sia and "Love in Black and White" by Mars Argo.
Oddly enough, “Forever” by the berzerker uses this progression.
You are a good human
2:08 I've been listening to House of Memories a lot over the last couple days, so it was really cool seeing it featured in the video!
Thank you ! Love your videos. I'm curious about the blurred out last chord in the Panic at the Disco example.
You are extremely sharp. Whenever I think of a comment I might like to make, you address it (even if you come to the opposite conclusion that I would).
I hear the harmonic minor axis progression in many Philip Glass compositions, such as "Truman Sleeps" from "The Truman Show."
Thank you so much. I knew this was familiar from a film score and I couldn't place it. It was Truman Sleeps.
Thanks! Best! :)
You're welcome!
Another song by Bad Religion " 21st Century Digital Boy" uses almost the exact same progression, it's even in C#min again!!
Never thought Id see him use a BR song as an example, and today he chooses one of my favourites.
I love chord progression vids
Love these chord progression videos, Always there there is an aha moment
when I realize a bunch of the songs of progressions sound good to me are my all time favorite..
And btw, first time I see band sponsorship. Its a really good idea for the band and for your content too - Will go check them out
Thanks
There's also another variation that is very natural minor, vi-IV-I-iii or if you prefer to lable it i-bVI-bIII-v, often used in eurovision songs.
uy buen video, muy bueno Sub Om.
1:24 "What an I say except You're Welcome"
A video talking about the double harmonic major scale, and possible progressions inside that structure, please, please!!
"Apology Song" by the Decemberists, one of my favorite songs, uses this exact progression in the chorus!
Man I wish we had roman numerals on the thumbnail instead. The actual first thing i did when I saw this video was think to myself "What are the roman numerals for these?" and spent the 20 seconds to figure it out.
Rather than E, you could use Em instead. The tone of the chord progression changes quite a bit, and it perhaps becomes a lot more static at that fourth chord, but it's still perfectly valid and good-sounding.
Perfectly good… just lose that harmonic minor feel as well as the pull of the dominant chord.
Amy Macdonald's This is the Life is built on this variation
between the bars by elliott smith does that, gives it a melancholic-bluesy feel in gm, cool stuff
Or use both - Em in the middle of the verse and E at the end of the verse, creating tension leading into the (pre-)chorus, for example.
One example would be Amsterdam by Jacques Brel (which doesn't use the axis progression as such, but still) which uses both the minor and major version of the V chord.
@@challalla and of course Zombie by the The Cranberries
I've been playing two of my favorite songs recently, and noticed they're both using this progression. Now I realized that Doctor, Doctor is the same thing. Apparently I really like the sound of harmonic minor :)
Great video david!!! I was thinking if you could do a video on one of my favourite chord progressions!!! IV/ii/vi/I on the major scale or VI/iv/i/III on the minor scale..... this progression is used on sweater weather by the neighbourhood, so you could call it that!!!!
Thanks
Haha! Seems Green Day uses one chord progression for all of their songs! Well done video - as always! And I still like the term „axis progression“!
Very similar to the Unforgiven/Fade to Black progression (Am C G Em or E)
6:06 I still prefer to always use the numbering relative to the major key, as in Am is vi, not i. It's just easier to have one set of numberings, and there is the case to be made that the minor key is a mode of the major.
I like to see everything from the major perspective but not in the way you're talking about. I like to read them from the parallel major's perspective. For instance, if a song is in A minor then I write out the chords from the perspective of A major, which is the standard thing most people do I think. This means that for example Am - F - C - E would be i - bVI - bIII - V instead of i - VI - III - V. What you're talking about is different because you're saying you look at it from the relative major perspective so from your pov the same chords are now vi - IV - I - V/vi which is perfectly valid but sort of implies that C is home and not A, which is why I prefer the other way.
Bad Religion reference; very well done, Sir ⚡👊
If you look at the circle of fiths G=Em so its not too far apart. Only one semitone
Please may you do a video on Todd Rundgren's music? A harmonic analysis of his works to be specific, he barely gets any recognition online as a composer by other music channels.
6:32 this is especially true in New Born, where this chord progression caps the verse progression. The verse is Em B, Em B, Em C ,G B.
Вы забыли про самую знаменитую песню: Все идет по плану Егора Летова!.. Какой стыд!
Хаха. Я тоже про неё вспомнил сразу же. И "Моя оборона". Летов гармонический минор любил вообще. И размер 2/4.
@@MonadTransformer да, действительно! Хорошее замечание про "Мою оборону" и размер 2/4) Я думаю, что гармонический минор любили и всевозможные блатные песняры до Летова и после него. Но Летова уважаю, за то, что делал такие песни не пошло, звучащие остро в своем панк-рок стиле. Ну, и тексты, конечно, поражали своей смелостью и бескомпромиссностью в свое время.
Я искал этот комментарий. Это первая песня которую я научился играть аккордами потому что её играли на каждом углу в 90-х.
@@user-tq3dc1be9w у меня та же история!
This video made me realise how much I love this chord progression. And I'm also a huge Green Day fan. Now I wonder if that's a coincidence or not ^^
How do you know so much about music?! I mean, not just theory but such a huge range of songs across pretty much any era and genre?
This chord progression in the key of Am is very popular among Russian guitar songs
What’s that melody note that a lot of the songs are singing over the V chord at the end of the progression? I’m guessing it’s the natural 7 since that’s the note that distinguishes harmonic minor from natural minor. Thanks for another great video!
UFO makes an appearance!!! Always a welcome addition.
Nice video. I wonder if you can make a video about this almost similar progression too the "natural minor axis progression":
i, bVII, bIII, bVI.
2 things: someone once mentioned to me that he thought Jennifer Anniston reminded him of Iggy Pop and now I can’t unsee it; and I must now go watch the Axis of Awesome for the two hundredth time.
I've come across a sequence I think that's in many songs, and only realised that after I used it. It was I-II-V-iii-I-II-V-V, so, in the key of Ab Major, which is how I came up with this, it turned out to be Ab-Bb-Eb-Cm-Ab-Bb-Eb-Eb.
4:00 how did i correctly guess Holiday would be the first Green Day example
kindly reminder that Egor Letov also used it in plastic world song
As soon as I heard the chord progression I was like "Oh that's New Born by Muse." I was so proud of myself when that song came up lol.
Hey Dave, I love your channel and the stuff you talk about. Even though I don't understand a lot of it. Can I ask? I'm learning Stitches by Shawn Mendes and the chords are Am, G, C, F. Which I would have thought was 1, 7, 3, 6. But I can't find anywhere on your channel about this progression. Is this right? with a 7th in it, not to mention a 6th? I don't understand. Thanks again for your time and effort.
I’m glad you like the videos 😊 Am G C F is either 1 7 3 6 in A minor or possibly vi V I IV in C Major. I’ve not actually done a video on that exact progression before so perhaps it is one for the future 🙂🙂
Definitely feel that this chord progression is more comfortable in a chorus, rather than a verse.
OH GOD THIS IS THE ВСЕ ИДЕТ ПО ПЛАНУ PROGRESSION
Yegor Letov also used this progression in his songs
I'd like you to make a video of the I - III - vi - IV progression. I think I never heard it in a song but it sounds so cool.
I forgot to say thank's for all the content you bring us. Greetings from Argentina :)
That's a great progression! I'll keep it in mind
You could talk about the major version of this progression (I - III - vi - V) used for example in Hawaii by Maluma or in Happier than ever by Billie Eilish
Phillipp Glass - "Truman Sleeps" from "The Truman Show."
5:30 It makes sense, because on the second time around, the 4th chord in sequence, (if it were minor) would be the relative minor of the fourth chord in sequence. But raising the 3rd a half step within that chord, raises the 7th of that scale. And so that creates a more powerful leading tone to the 1 chord? Is that the idea?
Good to know half of my music taste is based around this chord progression
When it comes to the (non-harmonic) minor axis progression I feel we're still in a major key and that the progression should be labeled as vi IV I V. The presence of F and G which are respectively the subdominant and dominant chords of the C major scale really makes me hear the note C as the tonic, even though the first chord of the progression is Am.
Instantly I started hearing " loneliest day of my liiiiiiiiiiife"
I’m your captain by Grand Funk is a great example of this progression.
Could you do a video about the Am G F7 E7 cord progression, the descending stepwise but in minor
I think its a very common one and has many related ones such as the one where its just F major, or where theres Am7 instead of G
Or even chromaticaly descending stepwise with augmented and half diminished 7th chords
Notable examples of the first one are hit the road jack and street cat strut, of the second could be megalovania, and of the third everybody wants to be a cat
There's at least one song by Miracle of Sound that uses this progression - All as One!
It's a great song, would recommend to anyone who likes symphonic/power metal. Like the Green Day examples, it starts as the plain minor version then ends its chorus, in the harmonic, though it throws in an extra IV right before the harmonic minor V chord.
It's even in the same key as 21 Guns.
I'm a HUGE fan of MoS! His recent song "Skål" uses this progression... sort of. It actually replaces the V chord with the minor v chord and then cycles back to the original minor axis progression. The sequence of the chords in the chorus is:
i - bVI - bIII - v
I - bVI - bIII - bVII
or:
Em - C - G - Bm
Em - C - G - D
@@frankjuggaloheathen1035 Based fellow MoS appreciator
Skeleton Key by Dessa uses this progression in B flat minor
The opening theme of the novela soñadoras Also has some use of these chord progression
Another example of this progression is the famous song of the Soviet Union/Russian band called "Grazhdanskaya Oborona" ("Civil Defence") called "Vsyo Idyot Po Planu" ("Everything Goes According to Plan").
Merci for these videos educating us about music theory.
And what a great idea for bands to not only do their own publicity, but to support your channel.
I hope a Rock Executive and Don Henley hire an unethical financial advisor and an ethical massage therapist that forgets to cut their toenails.
Well, Sub Om called their song after Adam Neely's band. So respectful!
We actually wrote it totally unaware of Adam’s band. Thank you for listening !
Всё идет по плану
благодаря Летову везде со 100% точностью узнаю эту последовательность
Sum 41's still waiting uses this progression if I remember correctly!