Another Question on chord numbering

[jw]

Since a lot of you here seem to have had a lot more formal training in music therory than I:
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If you are charting a song in a minor key, how do you name/number the tonic?
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Say for instance the song is in Dm, the key signatire is the same as it's relative major, 1 flat. So would you call a Dm a i or a vi?

[Will Kirk]

Hello there jw

Whenever you write a piece in any key, that key is always your tonic, whether it's Dm or Cmajor. So in this case, the tonic of Dm is i, which is D

hope this helps

[jw]

Thanks for the reply.
But this leaves me with another question. Wouldn't some of the chord numbers depend upon which minor scale your are using? For instance I have a song in Dm that has a progression like this: Dm, C, Bb, A, Dm. If yo go by the harmonic minor, the C is a VII flat, but in natural minor it would be VII.
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If you were a session musician reading a chord chart, how would you know?

[Will Kirk]

Originally Posted by jw

Thanks for the reply.
But this leaves me with another question. Wouldn't some of the chord numbers depend upon which minor scale your are using? For instance I have a song in Dm that has a progression like this: Dm, C, Bb, A, Dm. If yo go by the harmonic minor, the C is a VII flat, but in natural minor it would be VII.
.
If you were a session musician reading a chord chart, how would you know?

The number's for the ones you listed are i vii(diminished) vi V i and the harmonic minor actually the 7th scale degree is diminished. Well, I am a musician, and I read the music alot better than chord charts, but if you didn't know how, I'd suggest to learn it's MUCH better and far more accurate

[jw]

Originally Posted by Sor Is My Hero

The number's for the ones you listed are i vii(diminished) vi V i and the harmonic minor actually the 7th scale degree is diminished. Well, I am a musician, and I read the music alot better than chord charts, but if you didn't know how, I'd suggest to learn it's MUCH better and far more accurate

I read sheet music very well myself, and I agree it's easier and more acurate. I was just wanting to know how to chart the song for band members who don't read score and/or where the score is not written out for each part of the ensemble.
BTW all the chords in that progression are major chords except for the tonic (Dm). I would read a VII(dimished) as 7 root with flated 3, and 5.
Thanks for your response. I think we may have a language barier here.

[Bassoonery]

I would name chords according to the harmonic minor because it is about harmony (chords...)

I would never use natural minor to name chords. I would rarely use melodic minor because this is generally just used in minor melodies to make them more conjunct (without the big leap you get at the end of a harmonic minor).

[reith]

Hello there,

The idea of using the Roman Numerals is so that you can abstract the progression away from key. So I - IV - V or i -iv - v are the same progression no matter what the key.

Capitals for major triads, lower-case for minor triads.
M

[Thorolf]

Originally Posted by reith

Hello there,
The idea of using the Roman Numerals is so that you can abstract the progression away from key. So I - IV - V or i -iv - v are the same progression no matter what the key.
Capitals for major triads, lower-case for minor triads.
M

Yeah, it’s just another way of saying Tonic, Dominant, SubDominant etc. (I=Tonic, V=Dominant, IV=Subdominant etc. in a major key).

Regards