Borrowed chord.html



A borrowed chord is a chord borrowed from the parallel key. If the root of the borrowed chord is not in the original key, then they are named by the accidental. For instance, in major, a chord borrowed from the parallel minor's sixth degree is a "flat six chord" written ♭VI. Borrowed chords are an example of mode mixture.

Six chords borrowed from the parallel minor key are commonly found in the Baroque, Classical and Romantic eras (shown here in C major):

• Diminished Supertonic Triad (ii^o): D, F, A♭
• Half-Diminished Supertonic Seventh (ii^Ø7): D, F, A♭, C
• Major Triad on the Lowered Third Scale Degree, or "Flat Three" (♭III): E♭, G, B♭
• Minor Subdominant (iv): F, A♭, C
• Major Triad on the Lowered Sixth Scale Degree, or "Flat Six" (♭VI): A♭, C, E♭
• Fully Diminished Leading-Tone Seventh (vii^o7): B, D, F, A♭

The following three chords are also found in Romantic era, albeit rarely:

• Minor Subdominant Seventh (iv^♭7): F, A♭, C, E♭
• Major-Minor Subdominant Seventh (IV^♭7): F, A, C, E♭
• Dominant Flat Ninth (V^♭9): G, B, D, F, A♭

The Major-Minor Subdominant Seventh, which contains an A natural, is borrowed from the parallel ascending melodic minor scale.

In popular music, the Major Triad on the Lowered Third Scale Degree (♭III), the Major Triad on the Lowered Sixth Scale Degree(♭VI) and the Major Triad on the lowered Seventh Scale Degree, or "Flat Seven" (♭VII, in C major: B♭, D, F) are common.

Borrowing from a parallel major key is a common feature of grunge music,and can be occasionally be found in other styles of post-grunge Rock.Otherwise it is generally limited in western music to ending a minor piece on a major tonic triad, a chord which is then called a Picardy third, and use of the Major Dominant chord (in C minor: G, B, D). However, the latter of these could also be viewed as use of the Harmonic Minor scale.

See also

• Aeolian harmony