To add a bit of variety to your chord progressions you can use Borrowed Chords from Parallel Keys.
A parallel key is different from a relative key.
C major and A minor are relative keys because they share all the same notes.
C major, C minor, and C harmonic minor are all parallel keys because they share the same tonic note.
Let’s check out a graphic example of Parallel & Relative keys.
Parallel vs. Relative Keys
Common Borrowed Chords
Typically we borrow chords from the minor key to add to the major key and vise-versa.
- Chords that are commonly added to major keys are: ii° bIII iv bVI bVII.
- Chords that are commonly added to minor keys are: I IV V7.
If we look at all the available chords that we now have to work with they would be:
