[fireblade]

Hi Guys,

I'm trying to figure out chord progressions in my head.
In the Key of E I thought the chords went

E F#m G#m A B C#m D#dim & E

How come I keep seeing progressions with B7 where the D# should be?

Cheers in advance

FB

[Tekker]

Originally Posted by fireblade

I'm trying to figure out chord progressions in my head.
In the Key of E I thought the chords went

E F#m G#m A B C#m D#dim & E

Yes, that is correct.

How come I keep seeing progressions with B7 where the D# should be?

I don't quite understand what you mean by this, in general chord progressions don't have hard fast rules that you have to follow. None of the chords technically "have" to be in any certain order, it just depends on the chords the person who wrote the progression wanted to use.

How do you know that the D#dim should be used instead of B7?... Are you playing a specific song and the chord is different than what you know it should be?

If it's just a general progression, then the D#dim doesn't have to be used at all.... In fact, the diminished chord is the most rarely used chord. Off the top of my head, I can't think of a song that uses a diminished chord.

Now having said that, the viio chord and the V7 chord can be substituted for each other. They both have the same function, which is to pull back to the tonic (I chord). So if you have a song that you know is supposed to use one of these two chords, you can change things up a little by substituting in the other chord.

-tkr

[fireblade]

Sorry Tekker I didn't mean progression.
I meant Scale. I was after the chords to use when playing in E.
It's just that on many sites that quote the E chord scale the D#dim isn't included but a B7 is in it's place.

Guitar Chords In The Key of E &copy Craypoe.com 2001

for example.

I'm assuming that just like notes in a major scale "sound" right together, chords in a major scale will sound right together.
It seemed odd to me that there would be 2 B chords in one scale.

[Tekker]

Ah, I see....

Yes, in that case they are substituting B7 in for D#dim (which is a V7 being substituted for viio).

He's probably going off the same idea that the diminished chords are rarely used, so he's giving the more commonly used chord (V7) in its place because they both have the same function.

You are correct in that if he were to use all of the chords, he would have to use D#dim. He just chose not to use it.

I'm assuming that just like notes in a major scale "sound" right together, chords in a major scale will sound right together.
It seemed odd to me that there would be 2 B chords in one scale.

Yes that is correct. But the reason he can do that is because they are "almost" the same chord....

D#dim = D# F# A
B7 = B D# F# A

Therefore, they sound similar enough that it will not change the overall effect that much.

-tkr

[fireblade]

Thanks Tekker,
that was exactly what I wanted to know. Makes sense now.
Cheers mate
FB