Originally Posted by Bass Thumper
Ahhh, ok, I can accept that. It's basically a fundamental rule that was established way back, I'm sure for good reasons.

So, this "start with the major scale rule" applies to decomposing minor chords.
Does it also apply to the other chord types in the table above (dim, sus4, sus2, etc.) ?

Yes. The major scale in always based on the tonic note of the chord. For instance an Am chord is based on an A major scale, a Bm7b9 is based on the B major scale, a G7sus is based on the G major scale. This is always true regardless of the song's key signature. So if the above chords were played in a song's C key signature they would still be based on the A, B, and G major scales. Understand?

PS - that was a good question to ask.

{edit} Think of it like this, The first letter you see determines the major scale that the chord is based on. I say first because you may see a Gm7/F, or any other slash chord, and the second letter is only for the bass. For instance a C, C/B, C/A, C/G are all based on the C major scale.

Last edited by MarioD; 11/04/23 11:08 AM.
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