Part 7: Make a minor key feel like home · Lesson 064 / 117
Hear the notes the pentatonic will leave out
Give B and F a clear musical context in natural minor.
A natural minor contains B and F as well as A, C, D, E and G. We will later make a five-note pentatonic by leaving B and F out. Before that, hear what they can contribute.
Over Dm, F is the chord's minor third. Over Em, B is the chord's fifth. These are straightforward chord tones in those contexts, not suspicious notes simply because a familiar pentatonic box does not include them.
Practise a held F over Dm and a held B over Em in separate comparisons. Then place them into the Am–Dm–Am–Em progression. The key-reference labels are b6 for F and 2 for B above A, while their chord roles are different.
Do not infer that either note is equally settled over every chord. The purpose is to notice how the current harmony supplies a reason to choose a particular natural-minor note.
Hear it
Minor Colours
Audio fileFour-beat count-in · 60 BPM · Warm sampled electric guitar. Listen once before playing along.
A concrete example
F over Dm: b6 above tonic A, minor third above chord root D. B over Em: 2 above A, perfect fifth above E.
Try it, slowly
- Play F with Dm and name the chord's three notes.
- Play B with Em and identify its fifth.
- Listen to each target in the complete progression without adding more notes.
Check one idea
Is F outside the harmony when the current chord is Dm?
Show the explanation
No. Dm contains D–F–A. F is its minor third, even though it would later be omitted from A minor pentatonic.
A good place to stop
You can explain why B and F are useful in these specific chord contexts.
Return to the example after a short break. A clear explanation matters more than speed.