Cadences

Minor Plagal Cadence

IV to minor iv to I: a plagal (IV-I) cadence whose IV chord turns minor on the way home, borrowing its b6 from the parallel minor.

Tempo 120 BPM

Practice in all 12 keys

Bar 1: Fmaj7 IVmaj7
Bar 2: Fm6 iv6
Bar 3: Cmaj7 Imaj7
Bar 4: the bar before again, Cmaj7

Rootless Shells Guide tones Rooted shells Rooted Drop 2

Four-note rootless voicings in their two forms, with the 3rd or the 7th on the bottom, played over the root.

Customize each chord

Fmaj7
Fm6
Cmaj7
Cmaj7

Meter: 4/4
Bars: 4

The inner line A, Ab, G in C is the sound of it: the minor iv’s flattened 6th slides down to the 5th of the tonic. It’s heard in ballads and at the ends of bridges. Fm6 has the same notes as Bb9 without its root, so the minor iv and the backdoor bVII7 are often swapped for each other. Practice voicing it with that line on top.

Reharmonize Analyze these changes

None of the usual substitutions apply: there are no dominant 7ths to replace and no whole steps to fill.