In music, when you get this one single concept, it unlocks the door to many things!
The 6th tone of any major scale is your gateway to “minor!”
Just remember the 6th tone. That’s it.
For example, if you take a regular C major scale (C D E F G A B C) and start and end on the 6th tone without changing any of the notes, you’ll get an “A minor” scale (A B C D E F G A).
The same applies for chords.
If you take a C majorchord (C + E + G) and play the 6th tone as the lowest “bass” note (A), you’ll have an “A minor 7” chord (A + C + E + G).
Once you understand that concept, just make your C major chord bigger.
Playing C major 7 (C + E + G + B) on your right hand with “A” (the 6th tone of C) on your left, gives you an “A minor 9” chord.
Want to take it a step further?
Simply play a C major 9 (C + E + G + B + D) on your right hand with the 6th tone, “A,” on your left and you’ve got yourself an “A minor 11” chord.
Just remember: “If you know major, you know minor!” (an original quote I’ve made famous on my dvds).
It’s true.
Don’t think of minor as its own world. Don’t think of minor scales as things you have to memorize from scratch using half steps and whole steps.
You’ve already done the hard part by learning your major scales. Now, just convert them all to minor scales by starting and ending on the 6th tone. It’s that simple.
And the same goes for chords. Playing major chords over their “6” bass gives you a minor chord. The bigger the chords involved, the bigger the end result.
Hope this 15 second trick changes your thinking about minor.
Until next time —
