Minor Progressions in Worship with Spooky Scott of Red Rocks Worship

Watch on YouTube

"Spooky" Scott is back just in time for Halloween week! In this episode, he breaks down how minor chord progressions can bring emotion and depth to worship—way beyond the usual “spooky” vibe. He also shares how these chords can help shape moments of prayer, reflection, and deliverance in worship. He gives real examples from Kory Miller’s album and other worship settings, showing how these sounds can add power and purpose to your music. Plus, he opens up about his own experiences in ministry and tour life, giving honest insight and practical advice for keys players. Tune in to catch this fun and inspiring convo about faith, sound, and creativity. Don’t miss out!

Spooky Scott

Red Rocks Church

Transcript

Speaker: 0:08

Guys, welcome back to the Worship Keys and it's Halloween week, which this is a Christian worship keys channel, and. We do not support the typical Halloween stereotype that you hear about, but it is Halloween week with Spooky Scott. Hey, how's it going? Spooky Scott in the house. Uh, we do have some dramatic lighting today. Yep. Um, and I love it. I'm here for it anyway. I just, you know, dramatic welcome. But welcome back to the podcast. Spooky. We're excited to have you featured on Halloween week. This week's episode is all about minor progressions. Yep. And that's one of your favorites, is it not? I do. I love minor progressions, man. That's like my love language. There you go. So we're about to just hand it over to you. Spooky to teach us your ways. You can actually use minor progressions in a lot of ways in church and it doesn't have to be actually in a spooky way. Yeah. Um, it doesn't have to be very dramatic. It doesn't have to be super, shall I say demonic sounding? It doesn't have to be that way. Uh, you can use it in a very, uh, the powerful moments for prayer time, deliverance, , intense moments, soft moments, down moments, reflective moments. There's just a lot of ways you can use minor chords and a lot of tension. A lot of minor two chords, nine chords. Using six, sixth intervals. , A lot of crunchy chords with minors as well. Yeah. So I want you just to kind of intro us a little bit into the minor world. Tell us a little bit of why you like these minor progressions. Spooky. Yeah. Well, I love minor progressions, mainly just because I like moody things personally. So just like, not even on a spiritual level, it's just like, it's something I really enjoy. , It just kind of, yeah. It makes it like, ooh, mysterious. It feels a little bit more mysterious. You know, most worship is pretty, pretty, like not spooky sounding. There's not a lot of minor progressions. But it can actually be done pretty well if, you know, well, I guess it depends on the song. So like, there's one really good example, that I can think of where we used. A minor progression. In fact, even before we started this song, it was super, super, like minor and mysterious. But it's actually from my friend kory Miller, who I actually got to. I I actually gotta record on his, debut album. Amazing Love kory's voice, and even more than that, love how he leads a room. Yeah. In worship, man. Yeah. So crazy, so powerful. Yeah. So he is, he's incredible. But, uh, he has a song, oh, what's it called? Let there be light. I'm gonna light you back up. Sounds good. The darkness was just for the dramatic intro. Sounds good. But now we can see you again. Hello? Yeah. Okay. So that's much saying, so there's like, there's actually three songs, three tracks on his album, uh, that all kind of sit in a minor feel. Um, and it starts at the cloud spontaneous, which kind of sets up the song called very soon. And then at the end of very soon we actually flow even more, which is into Intuit track called The Earth Belongs to the Lord. This is such a beautiful example of using. A minor progression and a minor feel in a song it's like the, of course, it's like our king is coming home soon and very soon. And like there's a lot of imagery in the song also, he talks about like, he's coming with like fire in his eyes, like so. Yeah, Jesus is coming back soon and like, that's really awesome, but it's also like terrifying. He's coming back with like, he's a god of justice. So like Right, right, right. It's kind of terrifying too, in a way, but it's great because it just builds anticipation in our soul. So before we even start the song, in the, the track, the cloud, we literally vamp on a six minor chord for like five minutes. Love it. Love it. Probably unheard of in, uh, in like, you know, a worship setting, but it's cool because it sets up the track really well. One thing that I loved about the cloud was that, I actually wasn't emptying for it. Uh, my really good friend Zach Hargraves was emptying for it and he did such a beautiful job. We went into this moment knowing we wanted to kind of have a little bit of a build before the song, but we didn't really plan parts or anything. And we started with just a pad on the six. Yeah, that's, uh, we're in the key of F Sharp and so we're just playing, that D Sharp minor and there's some guitars that come in that kind of create a bed. And then it is really cool because, in that moment. Zach was actually leading the band through that spontaneous moment, and he is like, Micah, our drummer. He's like, I hear like distant thunder or something like that coming from like your drums. And so like, he kind of resembled something that ResSem, he played something that resembled like distant thunder, kinda like deep Toms like, like it was so cool. And then he kind of just kept stacking instruments on top of each other. He was like, Scott, I hear like falling water coming from your keys and so I'm like, oh, interesting. So I play this really inter, I can't even play it right now if I even tried. I'll try to do something similar, but something like, uh, I can't even, hold on. No, hold on. I can't even, I can't even, because just in the moment. Yeah, I can. It was, but we were holding the six and he was holding the six on the base, but it was just kind of playing all these like, and it kind of just like fell down the piano. I played this string of notes and like I said, I can't even play it for you right now. But that's like the best example I can give. But anyways, it was really cool. So it's. These things, cards started building and we're just vamping on the six. And, Cory's kind of singing in the background, kind of setting up like imagery for the next song, and then eventually, Zach, who is our bass player, he, uh, he was playing that six and he kind of started playing a progression. It was 6, 5, 4 2, which is also kinda like a, you think land, like you would land on the one, but like, you know, because we're in that minor just cloud, he goes that two. And so it just keeps with that minor progression and it's kind of in time, but like guitars and what I'm playing is just kind of out of time and it's just like this very ethereal, ambient, just. Big six minor chord. And then eventually we start the top of the song, which is, interesting because it actually doesn't start on the six minor. It actually is a 4, 5, 6, 3 progression. Now this is very common in worship settings. Like bridge of what a beautiful name. But instead of like. If we're playing that in the Kiev Sharp, so it kind of sounds, you know, uplifting and major, but like instead of playing a lot of one in five in the right hand and what the guitars are playing, also, we kind of play around on that six minor chords. So we're vamping. We're coming out of the cloud and the bass is playing that 5, 4, 2, and then we start the top of the song. It's like intro to three, four, and then it starts with just piano. It's basically this. So basically, um, that's a 4, 5, 6, 3 progression, but it sounds more mysterious and eerie because we're, we're like, we're playing around those like notes in the six minor chord almost the entire time. So yeah, that's the progression for most, of the song until we get to the bridge, which is actually such a really great minor progression. It's a two and then five, and then six, and then back to five and then back to the two. Such a good bridge. One of my favorite bridges of all time actually. That's awesome. Um, yeah, and I love when you're talking about minor, so to, backtrack a little bit for basic Yeah. Knowledge. You have your major scale, right? Yes. And then you have your natural minor and your harmonic minor. Yeah, right. So with the natural minor guys, you're flatting the third, sixth and the seventh scale degree. So the easiest way to remember that is if you're just, if you go start on a, it's all the white notes in a right. So one being your C major chord, a minor being your sixth minor chord. In the national number system, you can do your scale on A as if you were playing it in C, all white notes, and that's your natural minor scale. Now, if you were to raise the seventh degree. That's the harmonic minor. And that's when it sounds really odd and a lot of, a lot of interesting songs, whether that be in theatrical things or Disney or not really worship, but other genres will use that harmonic minor, to their advantage. I mean, the end choruses of, gratitude when you throw in that five miner, the four, the four miner, yeah. Not necessarily, you're not in a minor key, but you are utilizing. Borrowed cords and you're flatting and you're doing some fun things, which people love. So that's a great example because everyone loves that when he goes to that five miner, going into different modes and getting into different things, but basically guys learning your natural minor skills. Harmonic minor scales, and that's what we're talking about. So instead of it landing on C in the key of C on the one you're landing on a minor. So it's basically the same notes as the C major. It's just now your, your home place is a minor. That's the home places in the minor key. And every now and then, if it's not, you might go to that harmonic minor, but you know, not to get too down the rabbit hole of music theory, but just to. Pinpoint that you have your major scales, then learn all your natural minor, learn all your harmonic minor, even though you might not play it a lot in worship. Um, and really it's just the third, sixth, and seventh scale degrees that will be flatted on the, the minor. So obviously CCD E-flat F. Uh, GA flat B, flat C. Yeah, I think that's right. Yeah. But anyway, spooky. Take it away. Also, I want, I would love for you to play. The Beauty and the Beast song that you've learned, or at least the intro of it, that, a lot of us, especially if you're Disney fans, you're gonna love this, but, spooky the, the king of the minor progressions. Take it away man. I'm just gonna be off camera now, starting from the top of the song, very soon we play that 4, 5, 6, 3 progression if you're playing in F Sharp major. But it feels like it's kind of a minor. It has that minor field because we're playing a lot of those, we're playing a lot of those notes that are in that six minor chord. I think I already said this, but the song has imagery of Jesus coming back, but he's like a God of justice and he, like, there's fire in his eyes and stuff. So, the whole song like builds in a beautiful way that it's just like the minor progression serves that song so well because it it builds anticipation in our soul. Um, and then. At the end, we bring it down and we're still playing here. I'll switch some dynamics on, we're still playing that progression and then we're just flowing. Um, I can't remember exactly what happened, but um, kory was basically just kind of singing and then our drummer, Micah felt something powerful come through and he just started like. And like the band just started, like, actually before that, it started with like a. Progression that I had played. 'Cause we were still low and there was some like, I'm gonna see if I can try to replicate what I did. But it was in the moment it was so hard because we were just so, gosh. And that moment was just crazy. But it was like a play of four. Something like then, something like that. I don't know it, that's not even close, but if you listen in. On that track. It was a really cool moment and then it kind of ends with this part that I played. I do remember how to play this part. Except, I think I actually played it down here. That sounds bright. Yeah. So again, that kind of still holds that like moodier more minor. Feeling, vibe and that kind of is when the drummer brought in some more drums and then we just built on that, built it up again. And so I think that's the only song I actually, I could be wrong, but it, that song very soon, we had flow before and after and they were both so good that we put all three of those tracks as three separate tracks into that album. And kory honestly just did such a good job of, just instilling a very tender spirit in all of us when we were going into that, album. He did such a good job and our md zac Hargraves. I couldn't have asked for a better MD in that moment. It just pulled something out of us that none of us thought were there. That was one of my favorite examples of using kinda like a minor feeling and worship progression, but there's a lot more to that. Like we actually played a song Sound Mind, which is from our new album, but that's also a kory Miller song that on his album, let's play it in B flat. So it's a 3, 4, 5, 6. It's a very happy song. But, at a prayer night recently, we actually totally changed the song. We wanted to feel more down. We didn't really build it with drums or anything. And I'm not a singer, so I can't sing it for you, but you'll have to go listen to the song, and try to sing it maybe yourself. But, we did. 4, 2, 6, 5. That was most of the progression for most of the song. And then we also did 2, 4, 6, 5 for the choruses. And, it just changed the song so much and I'm just playing it on piano, but it was actually heavily acoustic driven and it was so beautiful. That was a really cool example of also just kinda like switching something else into a minor. It just kind of changes the feel of the song a little bit. And yeah, I think one of my favorite things, that I love doing is actually throwing in a minor two, wherever there's a four in a progression, and you can substitute a two for a four quite a bit. If we're playing 4, 5, 6, 3, let's go there. Again, key of F sharp, 4, 5, 6, 3. We're playing that over and over again. It's kind of fun to throw in a two where the four is so right here, four instead of instead of four, where we play 2, 5, 6, 3. So it kind of just gives a little, little bit of like a, you know. Gives you a little bit of a stank face, you know? But I just love it so much. Two minor is probably one of my favorite chords , in any progression because you can really throw it in quite a bit and it's fantastic. Um, a lot of times when we're flowing, like specifically at prayer nights, we will play for roughly an hour and most of the time we'll just prepare like a cor and bridge of one song and that's all. So the rest of the night we're kind of just like. We're just going to flow. We still have click in our ears, but we're just gonna play any random progression and see what comes up. And a lot of my favorite progressions to play are actually the ones that we use for Sound Mind, which is that 2, 4, 6, 5 progression. So it's just kind of a. Gives a little bit more moodiness, you know? Yeah. And you'd be surprised how many worship songs you can sing over that, even though it feels a little different. You can sing quite a few songs, you know, when it comes to, you know. Worship and CCM music, a lot the choruses and bridges can actually be sang over multiple different chord progressions. Give it a shot play 2 4 6 5 4 2 6 5. Honestly play. 6 4, 1 3. That three minor gives it a little bit of like more minor feeling too. That's a really fun one. Um, in fact, we actually do that. I actually throw that in when we're singing. Praise and it Praise is still a very uplifting song. But, uh, so we actually throw that in when that, when it kind of breaks down and you, there's just like a Keys is playing that part. , I'll throw that three minor in just for fun. Um, kind of ends up sounding like a cold play song, if I'm being totally honest, but. That's the fun of it. So anyways, try, you know, different chord progressions. Try adding a two minor in here and there. You'd be surprised what works in a lot of these situations. Another great example I can think of is, uh, worthy of it all. We'll sing Worthy of it all. Worthy of it all one worthy of it all. Five, four from you are all four. Two. You are five. Like I said, I'm not a singer, you deserve the glory. Uh, one thing that will I actually came up with is, uh, when we're building right before we open it up into a big course on that one, the very last time while we're building, I'll actually switch the chords a little bit. You're worthy of it. And then you're worthy of it all three far from you're a four, you deserve glory. And then we open it up big on the one. So there's so many different things you can do with adding in a minor chord here and there. Um, yeah, give it a shot. I just love minor progressions. I love minor feeling things. It was actually a goal of mine to learn the prelude by Beauty and the Beast. In fact, it was actually, a New Year's resolution of mine, which I failed to complete, by the end of last year. But that's all right. We're all human. Don't be too hard on yourself. But I still have a little bit of it still in my brain. Let's see if I can remember it. SG minor. I'll play what I can. I'll stop when I. Forget how to do it. It's gonna be rough because I haven't played it in a while, but here we are. There it's, and it's, uh, let's. Yeah, that's where I stopped learning, but that's what I have. So, uh, I don't know if you want me to finish learning that song, maybe leave a comment in the comment section, let me know that I should just finish it and stop dragging my feet on that. So, yeah. Um, but I loved, I loved learning something that challenges me. It's, first off, it's such a beautiful piece. It's so minor and just like eerie, it's one of the most beautiful openings to a Disney movie ever. Period. 'Cause that part is just, oh, it's beautiful. So if you are listening to something and you think you can't play it, I don't know, give it a try. That's how we challenge ourself. That's how we grow, is, you know, otherwise if you're just playing basic worship stuff your entire life, uh, you're gonna get pretty bored pretty fast. So try challenging yourself with something that's fun to play and that you like. Okay. Thanks for sharing all the minor progressions. Happy Halloween week. Happy Halloween. Maybe instead of going trick or treating, you're at home watching this episode no, I'm just kidding. Um, spooky. This is, this is your time to shine. You love Halloween. Tell us a little bit why you love Halloween. Gosh. Oh man, I don't know. Well, I think for me it was just so fun in the twenties just to come up with like a different spooky outfit every year, the 1920s. Oh yeah, for sure. In my twenties. I should have clarified it. No, no, no. I understand. That was funny. Um, yeah, it was just, and it was a good time to hang out with friends, you know? I think part of it is also just, I don't know. I've never actually been really scared of scary movies and stuff. I used to have some. I'll just get deep for a second. Yeah, go for it. But it was basically like, I had a little bit of like, uh, spiritual warfare, like kind of in my early twenties, but then like eventually got to a point where I'm like, okay, like you're slamming cabinets in my kitchen. Cool. Like I. Like a 2-year-old could do that. And I was just like, I'm not scared of this anymore. And then like, they kinda just left me alone and, you know, you're talking about demonic activity? Yeah. Yeah. Wow. So, um, they kind of just like left me alone after that. Once you, once they realized that you're not really scared of them, they can't really. Touch you. They can't, or at least they've stopped doing weird stuff like that. Weird, spooky stuff. So, a lot of scary movies don't really scare me like they would other people, or at least Christians. I know in the Christian world, that's a little like taboo should we be watching this stuff. But I love it. I love the spooky vibes. I love a good jump scare every once in a while. Yeah, especially love like eighties spooky stuff. Yeah. Yeah. It's being Which, like Stranger Things. Stranger things, dude. Season five about to come out. Yeah. It's about to, yeah. I can tell Play that little, play that little line. Oh, I have the pass right here for you, man. Do you? It's a, yeah. Yeah. It's actually just a C major seven chord, which is weird. It's a major, it's a, it's a major chord, but it sounds. Sounds cool. No, I do like Stranger Things. I typically don't like those type of shows. Yeah. But it's pretty interesting. So I'm excited for season five coming out in November. Thanksgiving week. Yeah. Yep. Which, sorry, it's, it's the end of, it's the end of spooky season in Thanksgiving. Is it not? Or do you wait till Christmas? Yeah, unfortunately. Uh, no, November 1st is officially like Thanksgiving slash Christmas season, but you still need to give Thanksgiving. It's time. It's time, and then it's Christmas. Absolutely. Um, and then it's just kinda winter time and then spring and summer kind of have its thing, but as soon as. Uh, July 4th is over July 5th. It's spooky season. It's spooky season. It's, yeah, it's, you're there. 'cause there's no other holiday between July 4th and Halloween, so. Right. I mean, I mean, besides like Labor Day and, yeah. Wait, is it Labor Day, Memorial Day? It's one of those I really should know that. I'm so sorry, but hey, this is a worship keys platform. We don't have to know about other things. Anything else? Doesn't matter. Yeah. Yeah. Now, and I know you, uh, not too long ago, went to Salem. It was a good trip, man. I know you really enjoyed it. We enjoyed it too. We went in October, so it was actually close to Halloween time. Yeah. So I went in the spring. Yeah. Okay. Okay. Well guys, I hope y'all had a great Halloween week. Maybe you're watching this like months after and it doesn't even matter about what time of season it is, but yeah. Stranger Things Season five coming out excited about that Also. Wicked part two coming out. Yeah. Yep. Literally, I think the same week. Is it really? I think it is. Oof, man. I think it's the same week, so it's gonna be a wild, exciting time this winter. Yeah. But hope you guys are having a great fall or whatever season it is when you find this video on YouTube or hear it on podcast. Thanks for making it to the end. And spooky Scott of Red Rock's Church. Red Rock's Worship plays, keys. He's an md. He's been on two past episodes. This is your third. Congratulations. Thank you, sir. Thank you. Thanks for being so kind. Hopefully this minor go-to progression episode was helpful for you guys, maybe inspired you guys to learn some Disney songs. Who knows? Yeah, I love Disney Love music, movie scores. It's really super cool to learn that and even break down, dissect the theory of that, just to get nerdy, you know, but spooky. Scott Spooky Scott. Spooky. Scott Miller, we need your full name. What's your middle? No, I'm just kidding. But thanks so much for being on the podcast again this October. If you wanna see him again next year in 2026, let us know. 'cause listen, we'd love to have you back spooky. Thank so you, any last words to, worship keys, community, spooky community. Anything else? Nothing. Just stay spooky. Stay spooky. All right guys. We'll see y'all next week. Thank you.