#MUSIC NOTE C MINOR SERIES#

Just like with major keys, it all starts with the scale.īelow we have examples of the C-major and C-minor scales as we see them on the keyboard, with both our methods of naming the scale degrees included: So what is it about minor keys that actually makes them different? As it so happens, for music in minor keys, this means we need to make some unique contributions to the knowledge we’ve already gathered.įantastic. This is important we’re not explaining some unusual theoretical trait or obscure musical formula, we’re illuminating the practices we see in the music itself. Īnd yet, composers, both modern and historical, treat music in minor keys very differently from music in major keys. Furthermore, we use the same methods of identifying their scales and chords (and chord scales ) as we do for major keys, and we can glean the same hints regarding their identity in the music via the key signature. So why are we devoting an entire article to exploring minor keys? After all, they share many of the same traits as major keys, and the general principles we’ve established of applying scales and chords to understanding how each key works are also similar. Bach: Prelude and Fugue in D-Minor, WTC. While there are many good options for your consumption, here are my two suggestions: This might seem a little obvious, but we’ve been spending a lot of time living in the world of major keys, and if you’re generally unfamiliar with classical pieces in minor keys, it can definitely be something of a sonic and mental shift to delve into them.

Much of the information in this article will assume some familiarity with the material from those articles, so now is a good time for some review.Īnother thing you should do about now is listen to some music in minor. Please note: if you haven’t had a chance to check out our previous articles in this series, particularly our article on scales ( What are Keys?: Learning Scales ) and Parts I and II of our Discovering Keys articles, now would be a good time to check them out.

#MUSIC NOTE C MINOR SERIES#

We’ve already covered a lot of ground in this article series on keys, however there is one important area that we’ve largely avoided in our studies thus far: minor keys.

Music note c minor