In 2013 Rolling Stone magazine polled its readers to pick the saddest songs of all time. A note, a chord or a scale can have drastically different effects depending on how it is used. There are just too many variables to reduce music to a simple toggle between ‘happy’ and ‘sad’. So we keep running into the issue of context. Our impressions and reactions to those sounds are subjective.
A series of minor chords played quickly can sound rather uplifting. As we’ve seen, a major chord played really low can be quite intense.
A major scale can be played fast, slow, loud, soft, high, low, on a piano or a trombone, in a big hall or a tiny room – it is always a major scale.
As we’ll see, it always depends on how they are used. It’s just a group of notes played up and down. Millions of pieces and songs have been composed using them.īut are major scales ‘happier’ than minor ones? The major and minor scales have been, and still are, the basis of a lot of music we hear.
Learn why and how to use them in this lesson: “ Why are there 3 minor scales?“ If you’re wondering just how many of these scales there are, check them out them in this lesson: “How many major scales are there and why?” Also, there are 3 variants of the minor scale. The major scale starting on G The major scale starting on D The natural minor scale starting on A The natural minor scale starting on G This is also why we need sharps and flats as they allow us to maintain the right pattern no matter which note a scale starts on. No matter which note we start on, the major scale pattern and the minor scale pattern are always the same. There are many types but the most common ones are these two 7-note scales known as major and minor.īy ‘major’ and ‘minor’ musicians understand how the scales are built – we know what the specific pattern between the notes are. As you know from music theory, a scale is a group of notes laid out from lowest to highest or highest to lowest. To understand the major-minor labels, let’s start with the scales. As we talk about in this lesson called “How to tell if the music is major and minor”, major and minor chords, scales and keys are very much related. The terms ‘major’ and ‘minor’ describe the sound-quality (or sound-character) of intervals, chords, scales and keys. So What is ‘Major’ and ‘Minor’ in Music, Anyway? Examples of ‘Happy’ Songs in Minor Keys.
Sinead O’Connor: Nothing Compares to You.
So What is ‘Major’ and ‘Minor’ in Music, Anyway?.