The same major scale that gave us 3 major chords will also provide us with three relative minor chords, one related to each of the three major chords. These are based upon the second, third, and sixth scale degrees and stand in the same relationship to one another as do the three majors.
ii, iii, vi chords
Using these minor chords in your songwriting will add some depth and color to your compositions.
The supertonic chord ii
ii chord is the strongest pre-dominant chord because it resolves to V very easily. One of the most common progressions using ii is the ii-V-I progression. Jazz uses this example fairly regularly. ii can move to IV or vi, although this isn’t as strong as ii-V.
The submediant chord vi
This chord is the relative minor for the key that your are composing in. Also called the submediant, it acts as a weak predominant. vi progresses well to IV or ii but generally doesn’t follow these chords. Try the progressions I-vi-IV-V and vi-IV-V-I. Can you hear the heavens rumbling? Another good progression is I-vi-IV-ii. Are the skies getting dark?
Next try the progression vi-ii. Now remember that in the supertonic chord section, ii progressed well to V then I. So try vi-ii-V-I. Has that bolt of lightning struck yet?
Before we discussed the cadence V-I to end a passage or song. Compare the progression V-vi. Deceptive isn’t it. Funnily enough it is called the deceptive cadence and adds some nice suspense, especially if you end a song with it.
The mediant chord iii
The mediant chord not used that often in the major keys for songwriting and is found more often in the minor keys. This doesn’t mean that we should avoid it completely and I find that the iii chord can add some interesting colour, especially in a bridge. iiirarely moves to V and generally leads to the chords vi, ii and IV.
Some nice progressions using iii are iii-vi-ii-V, iii-ii-V and iii-IV-V. Experiment and see what you can come up with.