In
Western music, the adjectives major and minor may describe a
chord,
scale, or
key
Key or The Key may refer to:
Common meanings
* Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm
* Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock
* Key (map ...
. As such,
composition
Composition or Compositions may refer to:
Arts and literature
*Composition (dance), practice and teaching of choreography
*Composition (language), in literature and rhetoric, producing a work in spoken tradition and written discourse, to include v ...
,
movement
Movement may refer to:
Common uses
* Movement (clockwork), the internal mechanism of a timepiece
* Motion, commonly referred to as movement
Arts, entertainment, and media
Literature
* "Movement" (short story), a short story by Nancy Fu ...
,
section
Section, Sectioning or Sectioned may refer to:
Arts, entertainment and media
* Section (music), a complete, but not independent, musical idea
* Section (typography), a subdivision, especially of a chapter, in books and documents
** Section sign ...
, or
phrase
In syntax and grammar, a phrase is a group of words or singular word acting as a grammatical unit. For instance, the English expression "the very happy squirrel" is a noun phrase which contains the adjective phrase "very happy". Phrases can consi ...
may be referred to by its key, including whether that key is major or minor.
Intervals
Some
intervals may be referred to as ''major'' and ''minor''. A major interval is one
semitone
A semitone, also called a half step or a half tone, is the smallest musical interval commonly used in Western tonal music, and it is considered the most dissonant when sounded harmonically.
It is defined as the interval between two adjacent no ...
larger than a minor interval. The words ''perfect'', ''diminished'', and ''augmented'' are also used to describe the
quality of an interval. Only the intervals of a second, third, sixth, and seventh (and the
compound intervals
In music theory, an interval is a difference in pitch between two sounds.
An interval may be described as horizontal, linear, or melodic if it refers to successively sounding tones, such as two adjacent pitches in a melody, and vertical or h ...
based on them) may be major or minor (or, rarely, diminished or augmented).
Unisons, fourths, fifths, and octaves and their compound interval must be perfect (or, rarely, diminished or augmented). In Western music, a
minor chord
In music theory, a minor chord is a chord that has a root, a minor third, and a perfect fifth. When a chord comprises only these three notes, it is called a minor triad. For example, the minor triad built on C, called a C minor triad, has pit ...
"sounds darker than a
major chord
In music theory, a major chord is a chord that has a root, a major third, and a perfect fifth. When a chord comprises only these three notes, it is called a major triad. For example, the major triad built on C, called a C major triad, has pitch ...
".
[ Kamien, Roger (2008). ''Music: An Appreciation'', 6th Brief Edition, p. 46. .]
Scales and chords
The other uses of ''major'' and ''minor'' generally refer to scales and chords that contain a
major third
In classical music, a third is a musical interval encompassing three staff positions (see Interval number for more details), and the major third () is a third spanning four semitones. Forte, Allen (1979). ''Tonal Harmony in Concept and P ...
or a
minor third
In music theory, a minor third is a musical interval that encompasses three half steps, or semitones. Staff notation represents the minor third as encompassing three staff positions (see: interval number). The minor third is one of two com ...
, respectively.
* A
major scale
The major scale (or Ionian mode) is one of the most commonly used musical scales, especially in Western music. It is one of the diatonic scales. Like many musical scales, it is made up of seven notes: the eighth duplicates the first at double i ...
is a scale in which the third
scale degree
In music theory, the scale degree is the position of a particular note on a scale relative to the tonic, the first and main note of the scale from which each octave is assumed to begin. Degrees are useful for indicating the size of intervals and ...
(the
mediant In music, the mediant (''Latin'': to be in the middle) is the third scale degree () of a diatonic scale, being the note halfway between the tonic and the dominant.Benward & Saker (2003), p.32. In the movable do solfège system, the mediant note i ...
) is a major third above the
tonic note. In a
minor scale
In music theory, the minor scale is three scale patterns – the natural minor scale (or Aeolian mode), the harmonic minor scale, and the melodic minor scale (ascending or descending) – rather than just two as with the major scale, which also ...
, the third degree is a minor third above the tonic.
* Similarly, in a
major triad
In music theory, a major chord is a chord that has a root, a major third, and a perfect fifth. When a chord comprises only these three notes, it is called a major triad. For example, the major triad built on C, called a C major triad, has pitch ...
or
major seventh chord
In music, a major seventh chord is a seventh chord in which the third is a major third above the root and the seventh is a major seventh above the root. The major seventh chord, sometimes also called a ''Delta chord'', can be written as maj7, M7, , ...
, the third is a major third above the chord's
root
In vascular plants, the roots are the organs of a plant that are modified to provide anchorage for the plant and take in water and nutrients into the plant body, which allows plants to grow taller and faster. They are most often below the sur ...
. In a
minor triad
In music theory, a minor chord is a chord that has a root, a minor third, and a perfect fifth. When a chord comprises only these three notes, it is called a minor triad. For example, the minor triad built on C, called a C minor triad, has pitc ...
or
minor seventh chord
In music, a minor seventh chord is a seventh chord composed of a root note, together with a minor third, a perfect fifth, and a minor seventh (1, 3, 5, 7).
For example, the minor seventh chord built on C, commonly written as C–7, h ...
, the third is a minor third above the root.
Keys
The hallmark that distinguishes major keys from minor is whether the third
scale degree
In music theory, the scale degree is the position of a particular note on a scale relative to the tonic, the first and main note of the scale from which each octave is assumed to begin. Degrees are useful for indicating the size of intervals and ...
is major or minor. As
musicologist
Musicology (from Greek μουσική ''mousikē'' 'music' and -λογια ''-logia'', 'domain of study') is the scholarly analysis and research-based study of music. Musicology departments traditionally belong to the humanities, although some mu ...
Roger Kamien Roger Kamien (born 1934) is a retired professor emeritus of musicology in the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel. He was born in Paris, and was raised in America. He is the author of the book ''Music: An Appreciation'', which is intended to show ...
explains, "the crucial difference is that in the minor scale there is only a
half step
A semitone, also called a half step or a half tone, is the smallest musical interval commonly used in Western tonal music, and it is considered the most dissonant when sounded harmonically.
It is defined as the interval between two adjacent no ...
between '2nd and 3rd note' and between '5th and 6th note' as compared to the major scales where the difference between '3rd and 4th note' and between '7th and 8th note' is [a
half step
A semitone, also called a half step or a half tone, is the smallest musical interval commonly used in Western tonal music, and it is considered the most dissonant when sounded harmonically.
It is defined as the interval between two adjacent no ...
]."
This alteration in the third degree "greatly changes" the mood of the music, and "music based on minor scales tends to" be considered to "sound serious or melancholic".
Minor keys are sometimes said to have a more interesting, possibly darker sound than plain major scales.
Harry Partch
Harry Partch (June 24, 1901 – September 3, 1974) was an American composer, music theorist, and creator of unique musical instruments. He composed using scales of unequal intervals in just intonation, and was one of the first 20th-century com ...
considers minor as, "the immutable faculty of ratios, which in turn represent an immutable faculty of the human ear."
[ Partch, Harry (2009). '']Genesis of a Music
''Genesis of a Music'' is a book first published in 1949 by microtonal composer Harry Partch (1901–1974).
Partch first presents a polemic against both equal temperament and the long history of stagnation in the teaching of music; according t ...
: An Account of a Creative Work, Its Roots, and Its Fulfillments'', pp. 89–90. . The minor key and scale are also considered less justifiable than the major, with
Paul Hindemith
Paul Hindemith (; 16 November 189528 December 1963) was a German composer, music theorist, teacher, violist and conductor. He founded the Amar Quartet in 1921, touring extensively in Europe. As a composer, he became a major advocate of the ''Ne ...
calling it a "clouding" of major, and
Moritz Hauptmann
Moritz Hauptmann (13 October 1792, Dresden – 3 January 1868, Leipzig), was a German music theorist, teacher and composer. His principal theoretical work is the 1853 ''Die Natur der Harmonie und der Metrik'' explores numerous topics, particular ...
calling it a "falsehood of the major".
Changes of mode, which involve the alteration of the third, and
mode mixture
A borrowed chord (also called mode mixture,Romeo, Sheila (1999). ''Complete Rock Keyboard Method: Mastering Rock Keyboard'', p. 42. . Bouchard, Joe and Romeo, Sheila (2007). ''The Total Rock Keyboardist'', p. 120. Alfred Music. . modal mixture, ...
are often analyzed as minor changes unless structurally supported because the root and overall key and tonality remain unchanged. This is in contrast with, for instance,
transposition. Transposition is done by moving all intervals up or down a certain constant interval, and ''does'' change the
key
Key or The Key may refer to:
Common meanings
* Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm
* Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock
* Key (map ...
but not the
mode
Mode ( la, modus meaning "manner, tune, measure, due measure, rhythm, melody") may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* '' MO''D''E (magazine)'', a defunct U.S. women's fashion magazine
* ''Mode'' magazine, a fictional fashion magazine which is ...
, which requires the alteration of intervals. The use of
triads only available in the minor mode, such as the use of A-major in C major, is relatively decorative
chromaticism
Chromaticism is a compositional technique interspersing the primary diatonic scale, diatonic pitch (music), pitches and chord (music), chords with other pitches of the chromatic scale. In simple terms, within each octave, diatonic music uses o ...
, considered to add color and weaken the sense of key without entirely destroying or losing it.
Intonation and tuning
Musical tuning of intervals is expressed by the ratio between the pitches' frequencies. Simple fractions can sound more harmonious than complex fractions; for instance, an
octave
In music, an octave ( la, octavus: eighth) or perfect octave (sometimes called the diapason) is the interval between one musical pitch and another with double its frequency. The octave relationship is a natural phenomenon that has been refer ...
is a simple 2:1 ratio and a
fifth is the relatively simple 3:2 ratio. The table below gives approximations of a scale to ratios that are rounded to be as simple as possible.
:
In
just intonation
In music, just intonation or pure intonation is the tuning of musical intervals
Interval may refer to:
Mathematics and physics
* Interval (mathematics), a range of numbers
** Partially ordered set#Intervals, its generalization from numbers to ...
, a minor chord is often (but not exclusively) tuned in the frequency ratio 10:12:15 (). In
12-tone equal temperament
Twelve-tone equal temperament (12-TET) is the musical system that divides the octave into 12 parts, all of which are equally tempered (equally spaced) on a logarithmic scale, with a ratio equal to the 12th root of 2 ( ≈ 1.05946). That resultin ...
(12-TET), which is now the most common tuning system in the West, a minor chord has 3
semitone
A semitone, also called a half step or a half tone, is the smallest musical interval commonly used in Western tonal music, and it is considered the most dissonant when sounded harmonically.
It is defined as the interval between two adjacent no ...
s between the root and third, 4 between the third and fifth, and 7 between the root and fifth.
In 12-TET, the perfect fifth (700
cents) is only about two cents narrower than the just-tuned perfect fifth (3:2, 702.0 cents), but the minor third (300 cents) is noticeably (about 16 cents) narrower than the just minor third (6:5, 315.6 cents). Moreover, the minor third (300 cents) more closely approximates the
19-limit
In music theory, a minor third is a musical interval that encompasses three half steps, or semitones. Staff notation represents the minor third as encompassing three staff positions (see: interval number). The minor third is one of two common ...
(
Limit (music)
In music theory, limit or harmonic limit is a way of characterizing the harmony found in a piece or genre of music, or the harmonies that can be made using a particular scale. The term ''limit'' was introduced by Harry Partch, who used it to give ...
) minor third (19:16 , 297.5 cents, the nineteenth
harmonic
A harmonic is a wave with a frequency that is a positive integer multiple of the ''fundamental frequency'', the frequency of the original periodic signal, such as a sinusoidal wave. The original signal is also called the ''1st harmonic'', the ...
) with about two cents error.
Alexander J. Ellis proposes that the conflict between mathematicians and physicists on one hand and practicing musicians on the other regarding the supposed inferiority of the minor chord and scale to the major may be explained due to physicists' comparison of just minor and major triads, in which case minor comes out the loser, versus the musicians' comparison of the equal tempered triads, in which case minor comes out the winner since the ET major third is about 14 cents sharp from the just major third (5:4, 386.3 cents), but just about four cents narrower than the 19-limit major third (24:19, 404.4 cents); while the ET minor third closely approximates the 19:16 minor third which many find pleasing.
[Ellis (1954), p.298. In the 16th through 18th centuries, prior to 12-TET, the minor third in ]meantone temperament
Meantone temperament is a musical temperament, that is a tuning system, obtained by narrowing the fifths so that their ratio is slightly less than 3:2 (making them ''narrower'' than a perfect fifth), in order to push the thirds closer to pure. Me ...
was 310 cents and much rougher than the 300 cent ET minor third.
Advanced theory
In the
Neo-Riemannian theory Neo-Riemannian theory is a loose collection of ideas present in the writings of music theorists such as David Lewin, Brian Hyer, Richard Cohn, and Henry Klumpenhouwer. What binds these ideas is a central commitment to relating harmonies directly t ...
, the minor mode is considered the
inverse of the major mode, an upside down major scale based on (theoretical)
undertones rather than (actual)
overtones
An overtone is any resonant frequency above the fundamental frequency of a sound. (An overtone may or may not be a harmonic) In other words, overtones are all pitches higher than the lowest pitch within an individual sound; the fundamental i ...
(
harmonic
A harmonic is a wave with a frequency that is a positive integer multiple of the ''fundamental frequency'', the frequency of the original periodic signal, such as a sinusoidal wave. The original signal is also called the ''1st harmonic'', the ...
s) (See also:
Utonality
''Otonality'' and ''utonality'' are terms introduced by Harry Partch to describe chords whose pitch classes are the harmonics or subharmonics of a given fixed tone (identity), respectively. For example: , , ,... or , , ,....
Definition ...
).
The
root
In vascular plants, the roots are the organs of a plant that are modified to provide anchorage for the plant and take in water and nutrients into the plant body, which allows plants to grow taller and faster. They are most often below the sur ...
of the minor triad is thus considered the top of the fifth, which, in the United States, is called the fifth. So in C minor, the tonic is actually G and the
leading tone
In music theory, a leading-tone (also called a subsemitone, and a leading-note in the UK) is a note or pitch which resolves or "leads" to a note one semitone higher or lower, being a lower and upper leading-tone, respectively. Typically, ''the' ...
is A (a half step), rather than, in major, the root being C and the leading tone B (a half step). Also, since all chords are analyzed as having a
tonic,
subdominant
In music, the subdominant is the fourth tonal degree () of the diatonic scale. It is so called because it is the same distance ''below'' the tonic as the dominant is ''above'' the tonicin other words, the tonic is the dominant of the subdomina ...
, or
dominant function
Function or functionality may refer to:
Computing
* Function key, a type of key on computer keyboards
* Function model, a structured representation of processes in a system
* Function object or functor or functionoid, a concept of object-oriente ...
, with, for instance, in C, A minor being considered the tonic parallel (US relative), Tp, the use of minor mode root chord progressions in major such as A-major–B-major–C-major is analyzed as sP–dP–T, the minor subdominant parallel (see:
parallel chord
In music theory, a major scale and a minor scale that have the same tonic note are called parallel keys and are said to be in a parallel relationship. Forte, Allen (1979). ''Tonal Harmony'', p.9. 3rd edition. Holt, Rinehart, and Wilson. . "When ...
), the minor dominant parallel, and the major tonic.
See also
*
Gypsy scale The term ''Gypsy scale'' refers to one of several musical scales named after their support of and association with Romani or "Gypsy" music:
* Double harmonic scale (major), the fifth mode of Hungarian minor, or Double Harmonic minor, scale, also kn ...
*
List of major/minor compositions
Major/minor compositions are musical compositions that begin in a major key and end in a minor key (generally the parallel minor), specifying the keynote (as C major/minor). This is a very unusual form in tonal music, although examples became mo ...
*
Music written in all major and/or minor keys
There is a long tradition in classical music of writing music in sets of pieces that cover all the major and minor keys of the chromatic scale. These sets typically consist of 24 pieces, one for each of the major and minor keys (sets that comp ...
*
Otonality and Utonality
''Otonality'' and ''utonality'' are terms introduced by Harry Partch to describe chords whose pitch classes are the harmonics or subharmonics of a given fixed tone (identity), respectively. For example: , , ,... or , , ,....
Definition ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Major And Minor
Intervals (music)
Harmony
Musical scales