Nathaniel School of Music

Advanced Piano Chords Over Minor Progressions: Suspended and Quartal (Part 3 of 6)

In a D minor progression, you can colour the pre-dominant by keeping A in the bass and playing suspended chords (Asus4, A7sus4), slash chords (Bb/A, Gm/A), quartal voicings from the D minor scale, or G# diminished seventh before resolving to A major and then D minor.

Video lesson by Jason Zac · Intermediate · 8 min

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Key points

What this lesson teaches

This is Part 3 of Jason Zac's six-part series on minor chord progressions. It shows how to colour the pre-dominant chord, the chord just before the dominant, with richer options. The example key is D minor, so the dominant is A major (A C# E) and the tonic is D minor (D F A). It suits pianists who already know basic triads and want more colourful harmony.

The central idea: because the next chord is A major, keep A in the bass. Whatever you play above it suspends the arrival of A major, so the resolution feels stronger.

Step 1: Start with the plain Asus4

A sus4 is built from the root, perfect fourth and perfect fifth: A D E. Play Asus4, then A major (A C# E), then resolve to D minor. The D in the sus chord falls to C#, creating a satisfying pull. Try this simple version first before moving on.

Step 2: Other suspended flavours

Step 3: Slash chords over A

A slash chord puts a triad in the right hand that does not belong to the bass note's own chord. With A held in the left hand:

Each one goes to A major and then back to D minor.

Step 4: Quartal voicings from the D minor scale

A quartal chord is built from stacked fourths instead of the usual major and minor thirds. Over the A bass, think of the D minor scale and stack fourths from it:

Take a starting note, skip the third and go to the fourth, then another fourth above that. You can also start the quartal shape on E or on F from the D minor scale, still with A in the bass. Quartal sounds are something of an acquired taste, but they work well here.

Step 5: The diminished seventh chord

To finish the pre-dominant options, use G# diminished seventh: G# B D F. Build it from the root with a minor third (B), another minor third (D, a tritone above the root), and one more minor third (F, the diminished seventh, which sounds like a sixth). It holds plenty of tension, and G# sits just a semitone below A, so it leads naturally into the dominant.

Diminished seventh chords are symmetrical, so their inversions all work well. You can move through inversions or play arpeggio runs on the chord before resolving.

How to practise

  1. Loop the cadence: pre-dominant over A, then A major, then D minor.
  2. Swap in one option at a time: Asus4, A B D, A D E G, Bb/A, Gm/A, the quartal shapes, then G# diminished seventh.
  3. Listen to how each choice changes the mood before the resolution.
  4. Add short runs on the sus and diminished chords once the shapes feel comfortable.

The next part of the series moves on to colouring the dominant chord itself.

Questions about this lesson

Why keep A in the bass for the pre-dominant in D minor?

The dominant in D minor is A major, so holding A in the bass lets every chord above it act as a suspension of that A major. The resolution to A major and then D minor feels stronger.

How do you build a sus4 chord?

Use the root, perfect fourth and perfect fifth. For A, that is A D E.

What is a quartal chord?

A quartal chord is built from stacked fourths instead of thirds. Over an A bass in D minor, shapes like A D G or D G C work well.

Why does G# diminished seventh work before A major?

G# is a semitone below A, so it pulls strongly into the dominant. The chord G# B D F is symmetrical, so any inversion works the same way.

Practise it

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