Minor Descent Progression in A Minor for Banjo

The A Minor scale on banjo: the Minor Descent progression in its chords, with tab you can play along to in the interactive lesson.

Notes: A B C D E F G

Tuning: Standard (G D G B D)

Scale

Scale shapes

3NPS - First Position

D|--7---9--10--12--14-|
B|--7---9--10---------|
G|--7---9--10---------|
D|--8--10--12---------|
G|-10--12--14---------|

Basic Chords

Chords

Degree	Chord	Notes	Fingering (low to high)
I	Am	A C E	`7 7 5 5 7`
II	Bdim	B D F	`x x x 0 3`
II	Bdim	B D F	`x x x 3 3`
II	Bdim	B D F	`x 0 4 0 3`
II	Bdim	B D F	`x 0 4 3 3`
III	C	C E G	`0 2 0 1 2`
III	C	C E G	`0 2 0 1 5`
III	C	C E G	`0 2 5 5 2`
III	C	C E G	`0 2 5 5 5`
IV	Dm	D F A	`12 12 10 10 12`
V	Em	E G B	`0 2 0 0 2`
V	Em	E G B	`0 2 4 0 2`
V	Em	E G B	`0 2 4 0 5`
VI	F	F A C	`10 10 10 10 10`
VII	G	G B D	`0 0 0 0 0`

Minor Descent (i–♭VII–♭VI–♭VII)

Chords: Am – G – F – G

D|7-------------------10--7-------------------10--7---------------|0-------------------3---7---0-------------------3---7---0-------|
B|5-----------8---10------5-----------8---10------5-----------8---|0-----------1---3-----------0-----------1---3-----------0-------|
G|5---5---9---------------5---5---9---------------5---5---9-------|0-------2-------------------0-------2-------------------0-------|
D|7-----------------------7-----------------------7---------------|0---3-----------------------0---3-----------------------0---3---|
G|7-----------------------7-----------------------7---------------|0---------------------------0---------------------------0-------|

D|10------------------14--17--10------------------14--17--10------|0-------------------3---7---0-------------------3---7---0-------|
B|10----------12--13----------10----------12--13----------10------|0-----------1---3-----------0-----------1---3-----------0-------|
G|10------12------------------10------12------------------10------|0-------2-------------------0-------2-------------------0-------|
D|10--14----------------------10--14----------------------10--14--|0---3-----------------------0---3-----------------------0---3---|
G|10--------------------------10--------------------------10------|0---------------------------0---------------------------0-------|

Seventh Chords

Chords

Degree	Chord	Notes	Fingering (low to high)
I	Am7	A C E G	`0 2 0 1 2`
I	Am7	A C E G	`0 2 2 1 2`
I	Am7	A C E G	`0 2 0 1 x`
I	Am7	A C E G	`0 2 2 1 x`
II	Bm7b5	B D F A	`x 0 2 0 0`
II	Bm7b5	B D F A	`x 0 2 0 x`
II	Bm7b5	B D F A	`x x 2 0 0`
II	Bm7b5	B D F A	`x 0 2 0 3`
III	Cmaj7	C E G B	`0 2 0 0 2`
III	Cmaj7	C E G B	`0 2 0 0 x`
III	Cmaj7	C E G B	`x 2 0 0 2`
III	Cmaj7	C E G B	`x 2 0 0 x`
IV	Dm7	D F A C	`x 0 2 1 0`
IV	Dm7	D F A C	`x 0 2 1 x`
IV	Dm7	D F A C	`x x 2 1 0`
IV	Dm7	D F A C	`x 0 2 1 3`
V	Em7	E G B D	`x x 0 0 0`
V	Em7	E G B D	`0 0 0 0 0`
V	Em7	E G B D	`0 0 0 0 x`
V	Em7	E G B D	`x 0 0 0 0`
VI	Fmaj7	F A C E	`x x 2 1 2`
VI	Fmaj7	F A C E	`x 2 2 1 2`
VI	Fmaj7	F A C E	`x 2 2 1 x`
VI	Fmaj7	F A C E	`x 3 2 1 2`
VII	G7	G B D F	`x x 0 0 3`
VII	G7	G B D F	`x x 0 3 3`
VII	G7	G B D F	`0 0 0 0 3`
VII	G7	G B D F	`0 0 0 3 3`

Minor Descent (i–♭VII–♭VI–♭VII)

Chords: Am7 – G7 – Fmaj7 – G7

D|2-------------------5---2-------------------5---2---------------|3-----------3---5---3-----------3---5---3-----------3---5---3---|
B|1-----------3---5-------1-----------3---5-------1-----------3---|0-------3-----------0-------3-----------0-------3-----------0---|
G|0---0---4---------------0---0---4---------------0---0---4-------|0---4---------------0---4---------------0---4---------------0---|
D|2-----------------------2-----------------------2---------------|----------------------------------------------------------------|
G|0-----------------------0-----------------------0---------------|----------------------------------------------------------------|

D|2-----------5---7---2-----------5---7---2-----------5---7---2---|3-----------3---5---3-----------3---5---3-----------3---5---3---|
B|1---1---5-----------1---1---5-----------1---1---5-----------1---|0-------3-----------0-------3-----------0-------3-----------0---|
G|2-------------------2-------------------2-------------------2---|0---4---------------0---4---------------0---4---------------0---|
D|----------------------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------|
G|----------------------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------|

Ninth Chords

Chords

Degree	Chord	Notes	Fingering (low to high)
I	Am9	A C E G B	`x x 2 0 2`
I	Am9	A C E G B	`0 2 2 0 2`
I	Am9	A C E G B	`0 2 2 0 x`
I	Am9	A C E G B	`x 2 0 0 x`
II	Bm7b5b9	B D F A C	`x 0 2 1 x`
II	Bm7b5b9	B D F A C	`x x 2 1 0`
II	Bm7b5b9	B D F A C	`x 0 2 1 3`
II	Bm7b5b9	B D F A C	`x 3 2 1 0`
III	Cmaj9	C E G B D	`x x 0 0 0`
III	Cmaj9	C E G B D	`x 0 0 0 x`
III	Cmaj9	C E G B D	`x x 0 1 0`
III	Cmaj9	C E G B D	`x 0 0 1 x`
IV	Dm9	D F A C E	`x 0 2 1 2`
IV	Dm9	D F A C E	`x 2 2 1 0`
IV	Dm9	D F A C E	`x x 2 1 2`
IV	Dm9	D F A C E	`x 2 2 1 x`
V	Em7b9	E G B D F	`0 2 0 3 3`
V	Em7b9	E G B D F	`x 2 0 3 3`
V	Em7b9	E G B D F	`x x 0 0 3`
V	Em7b9	E G B D F	`x x 0 3 3`
VI	Fmaj9	F A C E G	`0 2 2 1 2`
VI	Fmaj9	F A C E G	`0 2 2 1 x`
VI	Fmaj9	F A C E G	`0 2 2 x x`
VI	Fmaj9	F A C E G	`x 2 0 1 x`
VII	G9	G B D F A	`0 0 2 x x`
VII	G9	G B D F A	`x 0 2 0 x`
VII	G9	G B D F A	`x x 2 0 0`
VII	G9	G B D F A	`0 0 2 0 3`

Minor Descent (i–♭VII–♭VI–♭VII)

Chords: Am9 – G9 – Fmaj9 – G9

D|2-----------5---7---2-----------5---7---2-----------5---7---2---|--------------------3---7-----------------------3---7-----------|
B|0---1---5-----------0---1---5-----------0---1---5-----------0---|------------1---3-----------------------1---3-------------------|
G|2-------------------2-------------------2-------------------2---|2-------2-------------------2-------2-------------------2-------|
D|----------------------------------------------------------------|0---3-----------------------0---3-----------------------0---3---|
G|----------------------------------------------------------------|0---------------------------0---------------------------0-------|

D|2-------------------5---2-------------------5---2---------------|--------------------3---7-----------------------3---7-----------|
B|1-----------3---5-------1-----------3---5-------1-----------3---|------------1---3-----------------------1---3-------------------|
G|2---0---4---------------2---0---4---------------2---0---4-------|2-------2-------------------2-------2-------------------2-------|
D|2-----------------------2-----------------------2---------------|0---3-----------------------0---3-----------------------0---3---|
G|0-----------------------0-----------------------0---------------|0---------------------------0---------------------------0-------|

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