C dorian chordson the Irish bouzouki, GDAD tuning

Common progressions

• i – ♭VII – i: Cm – B♭ – Cm
• i – ♭VII – IV – i: Cm – B♭ – F – Cm (the major IV is the dorian colour)
• i – ♭III – ♭VII – i: Cm – E♭ – B♭ – Cm (up to ♭III and home through ♭VII)

Basis: A count of 686 session tunes found A and E dorian 19%, against 3% for E and B minor (Brendan Power forum), so minor-sounding tunes are mostly dorian; the IV is major, and ♭VII leads home.

The seven chords in C dorian

1. i Cm0 1 3 1
2. ii Dmx 0 0 3
3. ♭III E♭0 1 1 1
4. IV F2 3 3 3
5. v Gm0 0 1 0
6. vi° Adim2 1 3 1
7. ♭VII B♭3 3 1 0

Other modes on C

Other dorian keys

C dorian in other tunings

All Irish bouzouki GDAD chords · Printable chart (PDF) · The app