How Borrowed Chords & Modal Mixture Work in Minor Keys

You shouldn't feel limited to the 7 notes of the minor scale when you're composing in minor. Just like the major key, the minor key is actually quite flexible - you'll often see its notes get poked in or out to create other interesting scales.

Each of these scales can create new chords that we can "borrow" - that's called modal mixture, or modal interchange. Combining borrowed chords with scales is a guaranteed way to write interesting chord movements, as you're about to see.

This lesson comes with a free jam track. If you support my work through memberships or Patreon, I've provided 3 more jam tracks and a printable 2-page PDF.

Blending Aeolian and Harmonic Minor

Here are the diatonic triads of the A minor scale, also called the Aeolian mode. They are the only triads we can build using the seven notes of A Aeolian.

Am i

B° ii°

C ♭III

Dm iv

Em v

F ♭VI

G ♭VII

Am i

B° ii°

C ♭III

Dm iv

Em v

F ♭VI

G ♭VII

We can write music using just these notes and chords. But they're not the only notes and chords that sound good near an Am chord (the tonic chord of A Aeolian).

To find those other desirable options, we'll first adjust the Aeolian scale's seventh note. In Aeolian, or "natural minor," the seventh note is b7. We'll frequently see this note get pushed upward a half-step to become a major seventh instead (which we call the leading-tone).

Doing so creates a set of notes we call A Harmonic Minor. Those notes can create these triads:

Am i

B° ii°

C+ ♭III+

Dm iv

E V

F ♭VI

G♯° vii°

Am i

B° ii°

C+ ♭III+

Dm iv

E V

F ♭VI

G♯° vii°

The real gem here is the V chord. E major, which contains that leading tone, plays wonderfully with our Am tonic chord - it serves as the dominant chord, which creates a lot of beautiful tension when played before and after Am.

So we should feel free to compose "in Aeolian" for however long we want, and then when it gets boring, we switch to composing "in Harmonic Minor" to briefly borrow its dominant chord (V). To demonstrate, I'll think of the A Aeolian scale and grab its first and sixth triads: Am and F. Over those two chords, I'll play the A Aeolian scale.

Then, I'll switch to Harmonic Minor and grab its second and fifth triads: Bdim and E. Over those two chords, I'll play A Harmonic Minor. The result will be a composition that features a flexible seventh, or variable seventh.

If you want to practice along with this jam track on your own, I'm providing it for free to all users (you'll need a free account first).

Now examine those chords more closely. All four in the jam could have "come from" Harmonic Minor, correct? So technically, we should be able to play the Harmonic Minor scale over all four chords. And indeed we can - the result is a bit more fiery, which might be the exact sound you are looking for (you can hear an example of that played in the full lesson up top).

Hopefully this gets the point across: the "minor key" should be thought of as a set of notes whose seventh note could be in either position. But it's not just the seventh that is variable - the sixth can, and should, be poked as well!

Blending Aeolian and Dorian

Aeolian normally contains a b6 scale degree, but if we raise that a half-step to become a natural sixth, we get this set of notes and triads:

Am i

Bm ii

C ♭III

D IV

Em v

F♯° vi°

G ♭VII

Am i

Bm ii

C ♭III

D IV

Em v

F♯° vi°

G ♭VII

The prized chord here we can borrow is IV, a major chord built on scale degree 4. In Aeolian, we'd see a minor chord here, but the major chord instead provides a bright and inquisitive lift.

Let's again grab some chords from A Aeolian, like Am C and F, but throw a D major in there "from A Dorian." Then we'll play the A Dorian scale over that chord, but stick to A Aeolian over the other three.

Again though, this was not our only option for soloing over that progression. Am and C could have "come from" A Dorian, so let's instead use the Dorian scale over the first three chords in the jam, and save A Aeolian for the F chord (which is requesting a b6, F natural, and not F#).

This clearly demonstrates it: the minor key's sixth is variable as well.

Melodic Minor Scale

Knowing that the minor scale's 6th and 7th are both flexible, we should assume that both might be raised at the same time. When we do this it creates the Melodic Minor scale, which is a topic I've yet to fully cover but I'll be tackling soon.

If you'd like to start experimenting with it though, the easiest way is to simply use it over a dominant chord. So instead of only raising the 7th when playing over E major, also raise the 6th. This avoids that large melodic gap that occurs in Harmonic Minor, and provides more brightness.

If you'd rather not wait for my video lesson on it, Melodic Minor and its modes already have a chapter in The Chord Progression Codex, along with every other scale worth borrowing from.

Blending Aeolian and Phrygian

If you poke the minor scale's second note down to become a b2, you'll create a Phrygian scale:

Am i

B♭ ♭II

C ♭III

Dm iv

E° v°

F ♭VI

Gm ♭vii

Am i

B♭ ♭II

C ♭III

Dm iv

E° v°

F ♭VI

Gm ♭vii

The useful chords here are bII and bvii. Both will feature that b2 note, which has a dark and tense sound. To combine this sound with Aeolian, I've written the following progression:

i Am –bII Bb –i Am –bvii Gm

i Am –bII Bb –i Am –bvii Gm

Play this progression

I could use A Aeolian over the Am chords, but A Phrygian over the Bb and Gm chords. The minor scale's second would be variable throughout.

Again, though, this progression could be thought of as pure Phrygian. In that case, the second note would stay fixed as a b2.

I've demonstrated both options here in this example:

Blending Aeolian and Dorian #4

If you raise the minor scale's 6th and its 4th, you'll create a useful mode of Harmonic Minor called Dorian #4 (or the Romanian scale). All on its own, it has a lovely sound, and it also offers us a II chord to borrow:

Am i

B II

C ♭III

D♯° ♯iv°

Em v

F♯° vi°

G+ ♭VII+

Am i

B II

C ♭III

D♯° ♯iv°

Em v

F♯° vi°

G+ ♭VII+

I'll employ that II chord after a few chords from regular Aeolian, then close off with a dominant chord "from" Harmonic Minor:

i Am –bVI F –II B –V E

i Am –bVI F –II B –V E

Play this progression

Now hear how all of that comes together as I improvise over the top using all three scales:

Don't Disturb The Third

For music to qualify as "minor," it really has to use the minor third (b3) and not the major third. The major third can really spoil the minor mood too, so if you're trying to preserve the darker qualities of your song, don't try poking the third at all.

If you do, you'll suddenly be "in major." That's totally fine - it could be a Picardy Third, or you could be doing a simple parallel key change. In either case, once you're in major, you'll probably want to think about "major scales" instead.

More Borrowed Chords and Modal Mixture

Becoming familiar with more scales means having more flavorful chords to bring to the party. Extending those chords diatonically provides even more distinct options, and quickly starts leading to unique progressions that aren't easily stumbled upon.

To conquer those deeper topics, I wrote The Chord Progression Codex. It's 430 pages of guidance on modern harmony, and covers everything you'd ever need to know about borrowed chords, modal mixture, and writing your own progressions.

If you're more interested in video lessons on this topic, I did a 6-week masterclass on composing with modal mixture for site members and supporters. The slides, presentations, audio examples, and student submissions are still available to learn from and cover much more than this single lesson.

What Chords Can You Borrow In Minor?

In minor keys, you can borrow from any parallel scale that already has a minor third. These scales can be modes of major, harmonic major, harmonic minor, or melodic minor.

• In A minor, the most common borrowed chord to hear is E (V), which is easily borrowed from Harmonic Minor or Melodic Minor.

• We'll also frequently hear and see D (IV), which comes from parallel Dorian.

• The bII and bvii chords (Bb and Gm) are both borrowed from parallel Phrygian.

• The II chord (B) can "come from" Dorian #4.

There are unlimited options, especially when you include extended chords. However, it's best to avoid borrowing chords from scales that use a major third. The one exception is the tonic chord - it's common to borrow the major I chord from parallel major when writing in minor, and we call this a Picardy Third.