guitarchords

Scale degree map

Every chord in a key has a job: it feels like home, it moves away, or it builds tension that wants to resolve. Tap a chord to hear it and see where it wants to go.

C Dorian, minor with a major 6th. Sad, but with a lift: that 6th adds warmth. Same notes as B♭ major.

The seven chords of C Dorian

tap to hear
CDorian
occasional
strongest
strongest
where i goes · thicker = stronger pullchords that lead into i

Tonic

C minor

Cool darkness — feels dark, grounded, cool

All Cm voicings

Home in Dorian — minor but never bleak. The raised 6th gives everything that orbits it a warmth natural minor lacks.

Where it wants to go

Heard in

  • Santana — "Oye Como Va"
  • Gorillaz — "Clint Eastwood"

Play C minor on guitar

Start with the plain chord, then colour it.
EADGBe321412345
  • CRoot
  • E♭♭3
  • G5

Colour it

dashed = needs a note from outside C Dorian
Base
Colour
Richness
Suspension
CmDark, grounded, directIn C Dorian

Go further in C Dorian

How phrases end: the moves that create (or deny) resolution.

  • ♭VIIB♭iCm
    Dorian Cadence♭VII–i. The modal resolution. No leading tone — resolution happens through a whole step drop. Feels inevitable without being mechanical.
  • IVFiCm
    IV–i (Bright Plagal)IV–i. The Dorian fingerprint as a cadence. Major IV resolving to minor i — bittersweet and characteristically modal.
  • ♭VIIB♭IVFvGmiCm
    Modal Turnaround♭VII–IV–v–i. A full modal loop through Dorian's color chords. Circular and hypnotic.
  • VGiCm
    Authentic (Borrowed)V–i borrowed from harmonic minor. Snaps home with a leading tone — the hard cadence Dorian otherwise avoids.