Wrong Chord Progression?

Lafayette

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In the late sixties or early seventies I was reading or scanning a magazine and saw the ad "Play Guitar in 7 Days". I sent for it and even though I didn't play guitar in seven days (nor did I ever expect too) I did learn some things. One of the lessons I learn was when playing in a major key you as a rule followed the I IV V pattern and the V was a 7th chord. And if I recalled correctly the same applied to minor keys i.e. if you played in A Minor the progression was Am, Dm, and E7.

Recently, I have gone on a project of putting together a guitar chord booklet for a 20 something year old kid. In doing so I have been double checking my information via the internet. In doing this I haven't found anything to back up my assumption concerning minor key progressions.

Did this old guitar book really teach this method? Or is my memory faulty? And is my belief incorrect? I do not want to give this really nice kid bad information. Does anyone out there still have this book?

By the way, I also had a Mel Bay guitar song book at this time and I think it taught the thing.

Lafayette
 

AcornHouse

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The chord progression rules that book gave are typical of classical progressions, where the V chord is major or Dom7, regardless of whether you're in Major or minor. In Jazz, folk, pop, rock, those rules are only sometimes followed. For example, in a minor blues, everything would be minor 7th chords (i7 iv7 i7 iv7 i7 v7 iv7 i7), or in a reg blues, everything would be Dom7 chords. In rock, you see I V IV instead of I IV V more often.
So, it just depends on what style he wants to play.
 

AlohaJoe

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Your memory is correct, although that pamphlet presented a highly simplified version of music theory. A dominant chord (in your example, E7) would be the most common choice for the dominant (5 chord) in a major or minor progression. That's not to say it's the only choice, just the most commonly found in popular music. There are also plenty of examples of minor 7ths serving as dominants. Use the melody as a guide and trust your ear. If it sounds good it's good.
 

Lafayette

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Thank you guys.

What you gave makes more sense now then back then and is reassuring.

Lafayette
 
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