Somber Chords

[Doll]

I think the title is pretty self-explanatory. I need them. May I have them?

[ares]

d minor, the saddest one of all

[fenderplayer1100]

Am7

[Ethan.]

It also kind of depends with how you play it, on what instrument, types of effects used, and the accompanying music.

Any minor chord can sound sad. But you can also make them sound happy.

[Doll]

Ok, thanks guys.

[Ethan.]

No prob man :thumb:

[Det_Nosnip]

I've always found C minor to be a particularly "somber" key (and, by extension, its chords fit the bill). Obviously, all minor keys are going to sound "sad," but the emotional palette is a vast, complex thing, and IMO different minor keys are more appropriate for different "sad" emotions. D minor is the key of tragedy...a very dramatic, sad key. G minor is kinda melancholy, bittersweet to me. B minor always come off as a bit exotic for some reason. A minor possesses the simplicity and childlike innocence of C major, yet with a bitter tinge...end of innocence, maybe?

[Dr. Jake Destructo]

e-
b-
g-9
d-9
a-(10)
e-8

7ths ftw. The ghost note is the 5th and isn't necesarrilly needed (and if you're switching chords quickly, it's a lot easier just to leave it out) but it adds a lot of strength to the chord.

[Det_Nosnip]

Hmm..you find 7ths somber? I'd connect them with a stronger emotion...there's an intensity to them.

[Ethan.]

I agree that D minor is a really "somber" chord, but I found a little progression that sounds very mexicanish and upbeat. Its really simple; D minor, A minor, E major. Playing the chord alone and slowly, or maybe a slow arpeggio, makes it sound very somber. But another set of chords with it can totally change the "mood" of it you know what I mean?

By the way, has anyone ever noticed how many songs are in A minor? A lot...

[Dr. Jake Destructo]

Hmm..you find 7ths somber? I'd connect them with a stronger emotion...there's an intensity to them.

For me, minors are just sad, not somber. 7ths are more of a ponderous yet optomistic sound. Somber is probably a bad word to attach to it, you're probably right.

Freebyrd - A minor is the relative minor of C major(meaning they share all the same notes, only you start in a different mode and get a different sound), the most common key signature around I'd say. Plus on a piano, the notes of A minor are all played on the white keys making it really easy for a novice to write songs in Am.

[Det_Nosnip]

Great, I was going to be a smartass and say "Almost as many as are in C major," but you HAD to ruin it by being straightforward and informative. :rolleyes:

[Ethan.]

Haha you would have got me.

I always thought I heard there was another major key that was in the same key as a minor key. I just never looked it up.

[Dr. Jake Destructo]

Yeah, basically jump six letters up from a major to find the relative minor.

[Det_Nosnip]

The natural minor scale is, essentially, one of many modes based off of the major scale. In fact, it even has a Greek mode assigned to it, unless I've completely flown the roost.

edit: in fact, I have not! I was referring to Aeolian.