Countless classic songs have been built using familiar combinations of relative major and minor chords. As you may know, if you start from a major chord, for example, G, its relative minor is rooted ...

Over the last two columns, we looked at various ways to craft melodic solos over alternating relative major and minor chords. As a basis for study, I used the 16-bar chord progression from my original ...

Whether you mean to or not, you’ll almost inevitably work in a particular key when writing a song. You might decide “right, this will be in C minor,” or you might just string together a seemingly ...

Don't be afraid. The circle of fifths looks confusing but it's only ever here to help. And a basic understanding of what it's trying to tell you could lead you down a whole new creative superhighway.