Borrowed chords are chords taken from the parallel minor or major key and used in the home key: in C major, the borrowed chords are Cm, Fm, Ab and Bb, taken from C minor. They add darkness and surprise, because they contain notes from outside the home scale.
What are borrowed chords?
Borrowed chords are chords taken from the parallel minor or major key and used in the home key. In C major, the borrowed chords are Cm, Fm, Ab and Bb, taken from C minor, the parallel minor of C major. They contain notes from outside the C major scale, Eb, Ab and Bb, which are the notes that make them sound dark and surprising, and they are used to add colour and drama to a progression that would otherwise stay inside the key. Borrowed chords matter because they let a composer step outside the key without leaving it. A song in C major that uses a borrowed iv chord, Fm, sounds suddenly darker, but it does not sound wrong, because the Fm chord shares the root, F, with the diatonic IV chord, F major, and only the 3rd changes, from A to Ab. That single changed note is enough to shift the mood, and the listener hears the darkness without understanding why. The most common borrowed chords are the iv, the bVI and the bVII, which appear in rock, pop and classical music alike. The Fm guitar chord is the borrowed iv chord of C major, and the key of C minor is the key the chords are borrowed from.
How borrowed chords work
To find the borrowed chords of a major key, look at the parallel minor key and take its chords. C major's parallel minor is C minor, whose diatonic chords are Cm, Ddim, Eb, Fm, Gm, Ab and Bb. The chords that are not already in C major are the borrowed chords: Cm, the borrowed i chord, Eb, the borrowed bIII chord, Fm, the borrowed iv chord, Gm, the borrowed v chord, Ab, the borrowed bVI chord, and Bb, the borrowed bVII chord. The most useful of these are the iv, Fm, the bVI, Ab, and the bVII, Bb, because they are the ones that appear most often in real music. Borrowed chords are written with a flat sign before the Roman numeral, because they sit a semitone below the diatonic chord on the same degree. In C major the diatonic VI chord is Am, so the borrowed bVI chord is Ab major, a semitone below A. The diatonic VII chord is Bdim, so the borrowed bVII chord is Bb major, a semitone below B. The borrowed iv chord, Fm, is not flattened, because it sits on the same root as the diatonic IV chord, F major, and only the 3rd changes, from major to minor. The Ab guitar chord is the borrowed bVI chord of C major, and the Bb guitar chord is the borrowed bVII chord.
Worked example — borrowed chords in C major. Play the I–V–vi–IV progression in C major, C, G, Am, F, and then replace the IV chord, F major, with the borrowed iv chord, F minor, F, Ab, C, and listen for the sudden darkness. Now replace the V chord, G major, with the borrowed bVII chord, Bb major, Bb, D, F, and listen for the progression sounding more relaxed, because the Bb chord does not pull home the way the G chord does. Finally, play the borrowed bVI chord, Ab major, Ab, C, Eb, before the tonic, and listen for the dramatic lift it gives to the return home. The key of C major shows the diatonic chords, and the borrowed chords are the visitors that add colour.
How to practise borrowed chords
Practise borrowed chords by adding one to a progression you already know, so your ear learns the colour it brings without losing the home key.
- Play the I–V–vi–IV progression in C major with the IV chord replaced by the borrowed iv chord, Fm, and listen for the darkness.
- Play the same progression with the V chord replaced by the borrowed bVII chord, Bb major, and listen for the relaxed feeling.
- Find the borrowed chords of the key of G major by looking at the parallel minor, G minor, and naming the chords that are not in G major.
- On piano, play a C major chord, then a borrowed Ab major chord, then a C major chord, and listen for the dramatic lift of the bVI chord.
- Use the chord finder to build the borrowed chords of any major key, and check that they come from the parallel minor.
Common mistakes
- Using too many borrowed chords — One borrowed chord adds colour, but three or four in a row will make the listener lose the home key, and the music will sound as if it has modulated rather than borrowed. Use borrowed chords sparingly, one at a time, and return to the diatonic chords.
- Confusing borrowed chords with secondary dominants — A borrowed chord comes from the parallel key, while a secondary dominant comes from the dominant of a diatonic chord. Fm in C major is a borrowed chord, while D7 in C major is a secondary dominant, V/V, and the two have different functions.
- Forgetting to resolve the borrowed chord — A borrowed chord creates tension that expects a resolution, usually back to the tonic or to a diatonic chord. Leaving it hanging will sound unfinished, so resolve it or move on quickly.
Quick reference
This table lists the borrowed chords of C major, with their notes and the parallel minor key they come from, so you can see that every borrowed chord contains at least one note from outside the C major scale. The iv chord, Fm, contains Ab, the bVI chord, Ab, contains Ab and Eb, and the bVII chord, Bb, contains Bb and D.
| Borrowed chord | Notes | Borrowed from |
|---|---|---|
| Cm (borrowed i) | C – D# – G | C minor |
| Eb (borrowed bIII) | D# – G – A# | C minor |
| Fm (borrowed iv) | F – G# – C | C minor |
| Gm (borrowed v) | G – A# – D | C minor |
| Ab (borrowed bVI) | G# – C – D# | C minor |
| Bb (borrowed bVII) | A# – D – F | C minor |
Work through the table by playing each borrowed chord on your instrument, followed by the tonic chord, C major, and listening for the colour it adds. When you can hear the difference between the diatonic chords and the borrowed chords, try adding one borrowed chord to a progression you already know, and notice how it changes the mood.
Frequently asked questions
What is a borrowed chord?
A borrowed chord is a chord taken from the parallel minor or major key and used in the home key. In C major, the borrowed chords are Cm, Fm, Ab and Bb, taken from C minor, and they add darkness and surprise because they contain notes from outside the home scale.
What are the most common borrowed chords?
The iv chord, the bVI chord and the bVII chord. In C major they are Fm, Ab major and Bb major, and they appear in rock, pop and classical music alike, because they add colour without leaving the key.
How do I find the borrowed chords of a key?
Look at the parallel minor key and take its chords. The borrowed chords are the ones that are not already in the home key, and they are written with a flat sign before the Roman numeral, such as bVI and bVII.
Can a minor key borrow chords too?
Yes. A minor key can borrow chords from its parallel major, such as the major IV chord in a minor key, which is a common colour in rock and folk music. The principle is the same: the borrowed chord comes from the parallel key.
Do borrowed chords change the key?
No. A borrowed chord is a visitor, not a new home: it adds colour to the home key, but the music returns to the diatonic chords, and the tonic stays the same. If the music stays in the new key, it has modulated, not borrowed.