Quick myth worth killing: minor chords aren't sad on their own.

Listen to the post-chorus of Heatwave by Martha & the Vandellas. It's I - V7 - vi, and it's pure joy. The minor chord is sitting right there, it just never gets a chance to be sad, because the I - V7 in front of it is too confident.

Now flip it. The verse of Wild Horses is just I - iii. Two chords, starting on a major tonic, and it aches. Nothing resolves, so nothing settles.

The feeling isn't in the chord. It's in what comes before and after it.

New post on the blog goes through cadences, borrowed chords (that iv minor and the wild III7 in Creep), and a handful of progressions with the emotions they tend to carry.

Read the full article here: https://www.tonegym.co/blog/item?id=chordal-harmony