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Posted by: juangar1992 Jul 26 2008, 04:50 AM

modal chord progressions in metal??

Posted by: Gerardo Siere Aug 3 2008, 06:39 PM

I don´t understand what you mean, can you tell us a song for example.

Posted by: juangar1992 Aug 5 2008, 11:41 PM

i dont know how to use chord progressions in metal, like making a chord progression that makes stand out the mode you are using.

Posted by: Pedja Simovic Jan 6 2009, 12:43 AM

Usually chord progressions used in metal are either Pentatonic based or Harmonic minor based. Thats big generalization but in Neo Classical Metal thats pretty much whats out there.


Harmonic minor is mostly used as in I minor V dominant 7 , but in between you can use all the other chords.

Here is couple of examples of chord progressions in Harmonic minor

I minor IV minor bVI major V dominant 7 or major = A minor D minor F major E7 or E major

Now lets say you want 5th mode of Harmonic minor (Phrygian dominant) then you use

I dominant 7 bII major bVII major I dominant 7 = E7 F major D minor E7


That should make sense if your know your Harmonic minor theory and harmony !

Shoot me a private message or ask here more questions

Posted by: Ivan Milenkovic Jan 6 2009, 01:27 AM

First you should know what key you are in and what scale are you using. Could be regular major/minor key, or harmonic minor, these two are often in use. No matter what the progression is, you are using chords that are derived from notes from particular scale. Each of the 7 notes builds one mode and one chord.

In metal you usually use powerchords for rhythm guitar, so just leave out the third interval out of a chord and there you have a powerchord progression within a scale.

Now we get to your question. Usually the lead guitar follows the rhythm guitar, so that the accented notes in the solo or a lead theme are within the chord that is played in the back. The mode you will use during lead playing should correspond to powerchord behind it. Since powechord has only 2 different notes, it's easy to follow the progression and accent those notes.