question about chord progression beginning in A# minor

dksucharda

New member
Learning a chord progression that starts in A#minor and then goes to F# and then Cm. These are the primary chords of the song. The song is "Over Everything" a song from TV show Empire. I am pretty good at theory and the circle of fifths. I know theory is the foundation for basic music composition and that rules can be broken all the time, and if that is what is happening here than fine. But if there is a good explanation I would like to learn.

I am not aware of any key signature A#m. I am aware of Am which could be the I chord making the Dm the IV chord and Em the V chord. If it were Am the C Chord should be major and in this case it is minor, but again, we are not in Amin, this song starts in A#min so maybe none of this matters. I just have no frame of reference since I cant figure out what key it is in. If I could understand this, I could maybe figure out the rest. or maybe not. thoughts?
 
BTW: found this progression on Chordify. Neat service, especially how it is set up, but honestly as I play the chords to the song the A#m and F# sound great, but I am really doubting the Cm as the next chord. Not only does it not sound right, but i cant make it make sense theory wise either.
 
I have tried to learn some theory. not hard enough.

But if it doesnt sound right trust your ears
 
Haven't checked out the song, but in terms of theory, the C minor would the "ii" chord in A# (minor chord starting on the 2nd note of the scale) which is used pretty often in music.
 
Thanks for hour response funk Junkie. In Am the I chord is Am, the IV chord is Dm, and the V chord is Em. The ii chord is usually diminished to my understanding, and the Major chords are III, VI, and VII which are C, F, and G respectively. chord progression.PNG. This has been my frame of reference.
 
You're looking at a different key, A Minor is a half step lower than A# Minor. That means everything on your reference sheet is a note higher, so instead of B being the ii chord, C will be the ii chord. Hope that clears it up.
 
I had wondered that as well. When I look at the circle of fifths I have never seen a key signature that says A#minor. but I know Am is the relative minor of Cmajor. So even though it isn't an "official" key signature I understand where maybe the Am key is just elevated by a semitone and as long as everything else is just shifted up a semitone it will work and sound that same; almost like putting a capo on a key signature. Is this basically what you are saying? I haven't seen this before. I would be curious to hear if others have found this commonly. thanks Funk Junkie!!
 
A# is the same note as Bb, so whatever diagram you're looking at for the circle of fifths may have it listed as Bb minor but the notes are the same. I'm not trying to be rude or too direct, but A# minor absolutely is an "official" and very normal key signature! Your capo analogy describes it perfectly though, everything's just up a semitone from A minor.
 
Funk Junkie, I am in NO way offended!!:cheers:. Honestly I appreciate your ongoing comments. I took another look at a different reference and here is what I found:circle of fifths.PNG Sure enough: with 5 flats there is the key of Db major and the relative minor A#m/Bb minor. I will look at this again tonight to see if I can make it make sense with the song now, but it makes a lot more sense after having you talked me through it. So Thanks for the help. I may call on you again in the future:)
 
So I got home and went to chordify again. Fairly early in the song they, show a Cm chord. I was able to follow your explanation and agree with your logic. However, in using that theory, if the A# minor (7 sharps, crazy) it the key signature and the I chord than C should be major not minor. Also, I would think it should be C# and they don't even have that as part of the chord name, Correct? In a minor progression the minor chords are I,IV, and V and the Major chords are III, VI, and VII. I don't always have faith in these sights that tell you what chord they think it is in. I think many are wrong and this may be the case here, if so fine. I am just trying to learn. Again, thank you for your patience and explanations.
 
I would look at this song as in the Key of Bb minor/Db major. A# minor is not incorrect but you have to mess with all the enharmonic spelling (B# “C”, E# “F”). With Db/Bbm there are 5 flats. You are correct that the Chordify is giving incorrect chords. Mainly because the root is not always in the bass which can make the chords elusive.

The chord that seems to be the problem is the Cm chord. It’s actually an F7 but in the verse, the 5th C is in the bass (C5 Eb7 F1 A3). In a minor key, the 5 chord is minor, but in Harmonic Minor, the 5 chord is borrowed from the parallel major (Bb major) making it a major triad or a dom7 chord. Which means the A in the chord is not diatonic to the key of Bbm/Db. Just note in the pre-chorus they sometimes walk up from the VI (Gb) to the i (Bbm) by adding the VII (Ab) in-between.

Verse: Bbm (Bb Db F), Gb (Gb Bb Db) F7 (C Eb F A)

Pre: Gb Bbm Gb Bbm Gb Bbm Ebm F7

Chorus: Gb Bbm Gb Bbm Gb Bbm Gb F7

Verse: i VI V7
Pre: VI i VI i VI i iv V7
Chorus: VI i VI i VI i VI V7

This is a very common chord progression. Listen to Justin Timberlake's “Cry Me A River”

Chords: i iv VI V7

It makes sense seeing how Timberland is the Music Producer/Supervisor of the show.

Hoped this cleared things up. If you have any further questions let me know.

Keep makin’ them BANGERS!

Kyle Morris

 
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This is SUPER Helpful. Thank you. I know a lot of these web sights that offer the chord progressions are nice to have but often are incorrect. You have laid this out so nicely and easy to follow. I will work on this in the next couple days and see how these chords play against the song, and now I know the basic progression for "Cry Me A River" too. Thanks. I am surprised there aren't more of these discussions on this page.
 
Yep!! That's it! Thanks Kyle. You must have listened to the song on Chordify to hear or see the problem with the Cm. It just didn't make sense or sound right. Thank you for going the extra distance and really helping me out. Much appreciated.
 
Glad this helped. It's what I do for a living, helping producers out with understanding music theory.

Here's a link to a free download that helps you figure out all the major and minor triads plus some of the most popular chord progressions ever used.

You'll also get a free mini-course delivered to your inbox.

Sign Up Producers Menu - The Big Banger Theory

Let me know how it goes.

Keep makin' them BANGERS!


​Kyle Morris
 
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