Minor Descent Progression in F Minor for Mandolin

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

Notes: F G Ab Bb C Db Eb

Tuning: Standard (G D A E)

Scale

Scale shapes

4NPS - First Position

E|-10--12--13--15-|
A|-10--11--13--15-|
D|-10--11--13--15-|
G|--9--11--13--15-|

Basic Chords

Chords

Degree	Chord	Notes	Fingering (low to high)
I	Fm	F Ab C	`1 3 3 1`
I	Fm	F Ab C	`5 3 3 4`
I	Fm	F Ab C	`1 3 3 4`
I	Fm	F Ab C	`10 10 11 8`
II	Gdim	G Bb Db	`3 5 4 3`
II	Gdim	G Bb Db	`6 5 1 3`
III	Ab	Ab C Eb	`1 1 3 4`
III	Ab	Ab C Eb	`5 6 6 4`
III	Ab	Ab C Eb	`5 1 3 4`
III	Ab	Ab C Eb	`8 6 3 4`
IV	Bbm	Bb Db F	`3 3 4 1`
IV	Bbm	Bb Db F	`3 3 4 6`
IV	Bbm	Bb Db F	`6 3 4 6`
IV	Bbm	Bb Db F	`6 8 8 6`
V	Cm	C Eb G	`5 5 6 3`
V	Cm	C Eb G	`5 5 6 8`
V	Cm	C Eb G	`8 5 6 8`
V	Cm	C Eb G	`8 10 10 8`
VI	Db	Db F Ab	`1 3 4 1`
VI	Db	Db F Ab	`1 3 4 4`
VI	Db	Db F Ab	`6 3 4 4`
VI	Db	Db F Ab	`6 6 8 9`
VII	Eb	Eb G Bb	`3 1 1 3`
VII	Eb	Eb G Bb	`0 1 1 3`
VII	Eb	Eb G Bb	`3 5 6 3`
VII	Eb	Eb G Bb	`3 5 6 6`

Minor Descent (i–♭VII–♭VI–♭VII)

Chords: Fm – Eb – Db – Eb

E|1---------------------------3---4---1---------------------------|3-----------------------1---4---6---3-----------------------1---|
A|3-------------------3---6-----------3-------------------3---6---|1---------------1---4---------------1---------------1---4-------|
D|3-------1---5---6-------------------3-------1---5---6-----------|1-------3---6-----------------------1-------3---6---------------|
G|1---5-------------------------------1---5-----------------------|3---6-------------------------------3---6-----------------------|

E|1---------------------------3---4---1---------------------------|3-----------------------1---4---6---3-----------------------1---|
A|4-------------------3---6-----------4-------------------3---6---|1---------------1---4---------------1---------------1---4-------|
D|3-------1---5---6-------------------3-------1---5---6-----------|1-------3---6-----------------------1-------3---6---------------|
G|1---5-------------------------------1---5-----------------------|3---6-------------------------------3---6-----------------------|

Seventh Chords

Chords

Degree	Chord	Notes	Fingering (low to high)
I	Fm7	F Ab C Eb	`1 1 3 4`
I	Fm7	F Ab C Eb	`5 1 3 4`
I	Fm7	F Ab C Eb	`x 3 6 4`
I	Fm7	F Ab C Eb	`5 6 6 4`
II	Gm7b5	G Bb Db F	`3 3 4 1`
II	Gm7b5	G Bb Db F	`3 3 4 6`
III	Abmaj7	Ab C Eb G	`5 5 6 3`
III	Abmaj7	Ab C Eb G	`5 5 6 8`
IV	Bbm7	Bb Db F Ab	`1 3 4 1`
IV	Bbm7	Bb Db F Ab	`1 3 4 4`
IV	Bbm7	Bb Db F Ab	`3 3 4 4`
IV	Bbm7	Bb Db F Ab	`6 6 8 9`
V	Cm7	C Eb G Bb	`3 1 1 3`
V	Cm7	C Eb G Bb	`3 5 6 3`
V	Cm7	C Eb G Bb	`3 5 6 6`
V	Cm7	C Eb G Bb	`5 5 6 6`
VI	Dbmaj7	Db F Ab C	`10 10 11 8`
VI	Dbmaj7	Db F Ab C	`10 10 11 13`
VII	Eb7	Eb G Bb Db	`3 1 4 3`
VII	Eb7	Eb G Bb Db	`x 1 4 3`
VII	Eb7	Eb G Bb Db	`6 1 1 6`
VII	Eb7	Eb G Bb Db	`6 1 4 3`

Minor Descent (i–♭VII–♭VI–♭VII)

Chords: Fm7 – Eb7 – Dbmaj7 – Eb7

E|4---------------------------3---4---4---------------------------|3-----------------------1---4---6---3-----------------------1---|
A|3-------------------3---6-----------3-------------------3---6---|4---------------1---4---------------4---------------1---4-------|
D|1-------1---5---6-------------------1-------1---5---6-----------|1-------3---6-----------------------1-------3---6---------------|
G|1---5-------------------------------1---5-----------------------|3---6-------------------------------3---6-----------------------|

E|8-----------------------8---11--13--8-----------------------8---|3-----------------------1---4---6---3-----------------------1---|
A|11--------------8---11--------------11--------------8---11------|4---------------1---4---------------4---------------1---4-------|
D|10------10--13----------------------10------10--13--------------|1-------3---6-----------------------1-------3---6---------------|
G|10--13------------------------------10--13----------------------|3---6-------------------------------3---6-----------------------|

Ninth Chords

Chords

Degree	Chord	Notes	Fingering (low to high)
I	Fm9	F Ab C Eb G	`0 1 3 1`
I	Fm9	F Ab C Eb G	`0 1 3 x`
I	Fm9	F Ab C Eb G	`0 3 3 x`
I	Fm9	F Ab C Eb G	`1 1 3 3`
II	Gm7b5b9	G Bb Db F Ab	`1 3 1 3`
II	Gm7b5b9	G Bb Db F Ab	`1 3 1 x`
II	Gm7b5b9	G Bb Db F Ab	`0 3 1 4`
II	Gm7b5b9	G Bb Db F Ab	`0 3 4 4`
III	Abmaj9	Ab C Eb G Bb	`0 1 1 x`
III	Abmaj9	Ab C Eb G Bb	`1 1 1 x`
III	Abmaj9	Ab C Eb G Bb	`1 1 1 3`
III	Abmaj9	Ab C Eb G Bb	`x 1 1 3`
IV	Bbm9	Bb Db F Ab C	`1 3 3 x`
IV	Bbm9	Bb Db F Ab C	`3 3 3 x`
IV	Bbm9	Bb Db F Ab C	`3 3 3 4`
IV	Bbm9	Bb Db F Ab C	`x 3 3 4`
V	Cm7b9	C Eb G Bb Db	`x 1 4 3`
V	Cm7b9	C Eb G Bb Db	`3 1 4 3`
VI	Dbmaj9	Db F Ab C Eb	`1 1 3 1`
VI	Dbmaj9	Db F Ab C Eb	`1 1 3 x`
VI	Dbmaj9	Db F Ab C Eb	`x 1 3 1`
VI	Dbmaj9	Db F Ab C Eb	`1 1 4 x`
VII	Eb9	Eb G Bb Db F	`x 1 1 1`
VII	Eb9	Eb G Bb Db F	`0 3 1 x`
VII	Eb9	Eb G Bb Db F	`x 3 1 3`
VII	Eb9	Eb G Bb Db F	`0 1 4 1`

Minor Descent (i–♭VII–♭VI–♭VII)

Chords: Fm9 – Eb9 – Dbmaj9 – Eb9

E|1-----------------------3---1-----------------------3---1-------|1-------------------3---6---1-------------------3---6---1-------|
A|3---------------1---4-------3---------------1---4-------3-------|1-------1---4---6-----------1-------1---4---6-----------1-------|
D|1-------1---5---------------1-------1---5---------------1-------|1---5-----------------------1---5-----------------------1---5---|
G|0---3-----------------------0---3-----------------------0---3---|----------------------------------------------------------------|

E|1---------------------------3---4---1---------------------------|1-------------------3---6---1-------------------3---6---1-------|
A|3-------------------3---6-----------3-------------------3---6---|1-------1---4---6-----------1-------1---4---6-----------1-------|
D|1-------1---5---6-------------------1-------1---5---6-----------|1---5-----------------------1---5-----------------------1---5---|
G|1---5-------------------------------1---5-----------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------|

All mandolin lessons · The Guitar Scales