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Let's look at this table in more detail.
Columns 1-6 show the six most important chords in songwriting. We're not concerned here with whether they are
played in extended form as sevenths, sixths, suspensions, ninths, etc. All we need to think about is the root position
major or minor form. As you look down the columns, notice that I, IV and V are always major chords, and II, III and
VI are always minor.
Columns 7-9 are grouped. These are all major chords, and they are grouped because they are built on flattened notes
of the scale: the bVII, the bIII and the bVI. Chord VII is given in its flattened form as a major, because VII is a
diminished chord and therefore rarely used (as we discussed at the end of the previous chapter). The chord on the
bVII is very common in popular music because of the influence of blues harmony and the resulting use of the
Mixolydian mode (C D E F G A Bb) in many songs.
The bVII can be used to approach chord I instead of V. Compare these two sequences:


I III VI IV V I
CEmAmF G C

I III VI IV bVII I
C Em Am F Bb C
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