Minor and 7th substitutions….

[Grady B]

Sorry to be late to the game here, but this question is relative to EP280. Great tune that Brian puts together here, but I have a question about the chord changes.

In the intro….Help me understand the theory of the G to Cm transition. Seems the whole tune is based on G major.

In the final section, the three major chords are G, C, D. Ok, all diatonic to G major. Then, the B that would be a Bm if truly diatonic, is a B/B7. Sounds great, but my theory head is trying to understand the substitution so that I can apply it to other applications.

Appreciate any insight. Grady

[Mark H]

I’ve often wondered how Cm works musically within a key of G song, specifically in Dylan’s “Idiot Wind”:

G intro, followed by:

Cm
Someone’s got it in for me
C . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . G
They’re planting stories in the press…

[charjo]

Hi Grady,
The Cm and the B are not diatonic to the key of G, as you said, but they can be considered “borrowed” chords. One of the commonest substitutions is to take chords from the the parallel minor key, ie. the minor key with the same root. The chords of G minor are Gm, Adim, B, Cm, Dm, E, F(7). In other words the C is replaced by Cm and the Bm is replaced by B. It’s possible that you might need to use non-diatonic notes in your lead to accommodate the out of key chords. Brian used another type of substitution called a secondary dominant when he transitioned from G to G7 to C. The G7 was the secondary dominant or V chord of the C (like viewing the C chord as the new tonic). Hope that helps.
John

[Grady B]

Helps a lot. Thanks John.

[Jean-Michel G]

If you are interested, I have attached a PDF document with a short but relatively complete overview of the various types of substitutions.
It covers diatonic substitutions, secondary dominants, modal borrowing, tritone substitutions and negative harmony.
Hope you find it useful.

[charjo]

Very nice, Jean-Michel. I will have a thorough look at that later today. What did you originally produce that for?
John

[Jean-Michel G]

Several years ago I participated to an international summer music academy where I ran a workshop on composition techniques. I produced a set of brief summaries that I later bundled into this document.
I simply changed the cover page and signed with my forum id to post it here.
Interested in any feedback.

[Grady B]

Thank for this. I look forward to reviewing and applying. Thanks. Grady

[Author]

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