Ok folkses,
Let me enter the fray on this one.
[First a note from our sponser: I use Arabic numerals [1 2 3 4 5 6 7] to indicate scale-steps as they relate to the Major Scale and Chord members [1 2 3 4 5 6 7 9 11 13] as they relate to the major scale of the chord root (or 1).
I use Roman numerals [I II III IV V VI VII] when I am referring chords and the movement from root to root.
a scale step, chord member, or chord root preceded by "b" (flat) indicates that that step is lowered by a half-step from that note as it
Naturally Occurs in the major scale. Thus, in the key of D major [D E F# G A B C# D], a b3 or bIII indicates that the
naturally occuring 3 (F#) is lowered a half-step to F natural. A "#" (sharp) indicates that it is raised one half step from that note as it
Naturally Occurs in the major scale. Thus in the key of Bb, a "#1" or "#I" indicates that Bb is raised one half step to B natural.]
First, there are minor progressions, otherwise there would be no tonal music in minor (No, Beethoven's 5th, or the Chopin Funeral March, or Bach's Toccata and Fugue in Dm.) The establishment of tonality (the key) and modality (Major or Minor) is built on the premise of harmonic progression.
The question was "Is there a minor progression 7-3-6-2-5-1?" We know that there is a succession of chords with these roots (using the minor scale which at least alters "3" to b3 (bIII). The question is whether or not this combination of chords form a progression that establishes I as tonic and minor as mode.
Minor is a tricky devil. Besides the three types of minor: Natural (Aeolian), Harmonic, and Melodic (which is traditionally the Melodic minor ascending and the Natural minor descending), there is also Dorian and Phrygian minor. It is further complicated by the fact that the Major chords on bIII and bVI (particularly with bVII) try to establish themselves as I and IV or the relative major.
The goal of a tonal progression is the
cadence, a kind of musical punctuation. In tonal harmony, the cadence is marked by the root movement II V I (in C: D G C) or IV V I (in C: F G C) [at this moment, I am talking strictly about the roots of the chords, not the upper members that distinguish between major, minor, dominant, diminished or augmented]
Strictly modal music, that in Aeolian (or Natural), Dorian, or Phrygian modes, do not generally use tonal methods (harmonic progressions) to establish their key center (I) and mode and usually have cadence formulas that avoid the V chord since Vm (its 3rd is the b7 scale step) does not lead as definitively to I as it does in the tonal Major/minor system.
Therefore, in the tonal system, minor generally refers to either Melodic Minor (which in traditional harmony has an ascending form that uses the natural 6 and 7 of major and in the descending for the b6 and b7, since the leading tone effect is not necessary: the descending form is the same as the Natural or Aeolian minor) or harmonic minor, which maintains the leading tone 7 of major and retains the b3 and b6 of natural minor.
The Harmonic Minor is the beginning point for harmonic progressions and cadences in minor (hence its name) while the Melodic Minor is the beginning point for melodies in minor (hence its name). It is also possible that these two modes of minor may be in operation at the same time. Also, minor harmony is more fluid than major, thus each harmonic root (and in some cases the roots themselves) have more than one option, depending on context, and can be derived from any of the forms of minor.
For now, we will explore the question strictly through the Harmonic Minor and go from there.
In Harmonic Minor, the chords and their qualities are:
In triads: Im, II*, bIII+, IVm, VM or Vx7, bVIM, VII* ["*" indicates "diminished", "x" indicates "dominant", "+" indicates "augmented"]. Note that triadic harmonies admit the use of the Vx7.
In Sevenths: ImM7 IIm7b5 bIIIM7#5 IVm7 Vx7 bVIM7 VII**7 ["mM7" is a minor triad with a Major 7, "**7" is the "diminished 7th"]
We first need to recast the progression into a Harmonic Minor context, thus we are building on roots "VII bIII bVI II V I" To discover whether or not this progression is possible in minor, lets work backwards. We can then discover if and where problems may occur in fulfilling our mission of establishing "I" as tonic and Minor as mode. Furthermore, we can try each succession beginning with the initial chord of the set or by adding an initial "I"
First, the cadence. In the set of chords presented, we are offered the "II V I" variant of the tonal cadence. This will establish "I" as tonic, so can it establish the mode? Our cadential progression is "II* Vx7 Im" or "IIm7b5 Vx7 ImM7", Either one contains the two notes that are most characteristic of minor, scale steps b3 (in Im or ImM7), and b6 (the b5 of II* or IIm7b5). This cadence cannot be misconstrued as being in Major. We could further strenghten this by making V a Vx7(b9) [the (b9) being the b6 of the minor scale]. Also try it by adding an initial Im
Now we move back a step and add bVI to our progression. bVI is a major chord: bVIM II* Vx7 Im or bVIM7 IIm7b5 Vx7 ImM7. The bVI chord contains both b6 and b3. Major harmonies tend to be more assertive than minor but, if we look at the progression of chord qualities we have, "Major, diminished (m7b5), dominant, and minor", a combination that would not normally be found in establishing major: VI minor , II minor, V dominant, I Major). Again try it both with and without an initial I.
Now one more step back and we add the bIII, which is I of the relative major. bIII is an augmented triad, which has a bit of a dominant quality, and in 7ths an augmented triad with a major 7 (bIIIM7#5), which I find a bit uncomfortable. The root movement, particularly as the initial root movement of a progression, might be felt as I to IV in the relative Major (in Cminor: Eb), or V to I in the key of the bVI (in Cminor: Ab). The possibility that may ameliorate that sense is the #5 since it is not a normal member of the relative Major. Let's try it and see:
bIII+ bVIM II* Vx7 Im or in sevenths bIIIM7#5 bVIM7 IIm7b5 ImM7
Our progression is now: bIII+ bVI II* Vx7 Im or bIIIM7#5 bVIM7 IIm7b5 Vx7 ImM7.
This to me is a bit tentative. Of course, it may be more strongly felt with a melody in tow. But let's push forward.
Now we add the VII* or VII*7: VII* bIII+ bVI II* Vx7 Im or VII*7 bIIIM7#5 bVIM7 IIm7b5 Vx7 ImM7. The full diminished 7th chord is by its nature ambiguous and does not lead as convincingly to bIII as we might hope. In the realms of Harmonic minor, so far I would have to say that a root movement by 5ths starting with VII is not necessarily available in minor (at least at this point).
If we look further, we might notice that the succession of chords is missing the color that is one of the most characteristic in minor: the IVm. If we add Im and IVm before the progression, we come out a little better: Im IVm VII* bIII+ bVI II* Vx7 Im or ImM7 IVm7 VII*7 bIIIM7#5 bVIM7 IIm7b5 Vx7 ImM7
**** As I said earlier, in actual practice, pieces written in minor frequently employ the qualities from the various modes. Therefore, try interchanging the various possibilities for each root. The are as follows:
I: Im; Im7; ImM7
II: bIIM7; IIm7b5; IIm7
bIII: bIIIM7, bIIIM7#5
IV: IVm7, IVx7
V: Vm7, Vx7
bVI: bVIM7,VIm7b5
VII: bVII,VIIm7b5, VII*7
Thus, we get something like: Im IVm VIIm7b5 bIIIM bVIM IIb5 Vx7 Im or Im IVm VIIm7b5 bIIIM VIm7b5 IIb5 Vx7 Im.
(I hear some traces of Chopin's Prelude in C minor)
In most instances that I can recall of "extended progressions" in the minor, they often sound as two different progressions in juxtaposition, the first leading to a major quality on bIII or bVI and the second leading to the minor I. This is part of the nature, and interest of minor keys: the conflict between the relative major and the intended minor -- a battle of good vs. evil between bIII and I.
In answer to the question I would have to say that, there is a succession of chords possible following the 7-3-6-2-5-1 pattern, but as it stands, without at some point actually leaving the patteren (such as Im in first inversion over the b3 bass) it is not entirely effective. Preceding the requested chords with Im and IVm helps. But in general VII is not an effective beginning harmony to such a progression.
