Question on Chord Progressions

[Kip Winger]

I was reading the article on Chord Construction, and I noticed that the progression on your page says that no matter what major scale you use, you use the progression Major, Minor, Minor, Major, Major, Minor, Diminished. I am taking guitar lessons, and my instructor told me that for the major scale you use the progression Major, Major, Minor, Major, Major, Minor, Dimished, Major. I am confused on what the differance is, and which one is correct. Could someone please clarify this for me? Any help would be appreciated.

Thank you

[cyberfret]

There is really only one chord wrong in what you said your teacher was telling you. I would ask for clarification from them, it might have just been an accident and not lack of knowledge on your teachers part. Or if they did not write it down, you might have remembered it incorrectly.

Major, Major(should be Minor), Minor, Major, Major, Minor, Diminished, Major(this is the first chord again)

So the second chord should be Minor. And the extra Major that you see in your teachers example is just the I chord again. There are only 7 different chords. So the 8th in this case is the same as the 1st.

So the correct answer is:

(I) Major, (II) Minor, (III) Minor, (IV) Major, (V) Major, (VI) Minor, (VII) Diminished


--Shawn