Minor scale
The title of this article is ambiguous. For other meanings, see Minor (disambiguation).
Minor (from Latin mollis 'soft'; French mode mineur, English minor, Italian modo minore, Spanish modo menor) denotes a tonal gender in music. This can refer to a key, a scale or a chord. Minor forms a pair of terms with major and shares its history of naming and meaning.
Major
Minor
The totality of all major and minor keys is also called the major-minor system. This replaced the system of church keys in the 17th and 18th centuries.
Characteristic of the minor gender is the interval of a minor third between the fundamental and the third of the tonal material. The minor third above the root is therefore also called minor third.
The effort to distinguish the names of major and minor also in the writing has produced numerous spelling variants. The preferred spelling today is C major and C minor, but various alternative spellings are also in use. See the Spellings section in the Key signature article.
For etymology see major: etymology.
Pictorial representations
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Schematic representation of the pure minor scale
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Schematic representation of the harmonic minor scale
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Schematic representation of the melodic minor scale
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Pictorial representation of the gypsy minor scale
Major relations
Major version
The variant key of a minor key has the same root (for example, A minor and A major), but has different accidentals or a different accidental because of the different sequence of steps in the major. The major variant is always three steps further in the circle of fifths in the cross direction than the underlying minor key, i.e. it always differs from the latter by three accidentals. Thus, for example, E minor is accidentalized with one cross, while E major is accidentalized with four crosses.
Durparallel
For every minor key there is a parallel key in major, also called major parallel, which contains the same notes and is therefore also notated with the same accidental, but starts a minor third higher (for example A minor - C major).
Counter Sound
The opposite sound of a minor chord is also a major chord, see also Mediante.
Questions and Answers
Q: What is a minor scale in music theory?
A: A minor scale in music theory is any scale that has at least three scale degrees: the tonic, the minor third above the tonic, and the perfect fifth above the tonic. Together they make the minor triad.
Q: What is the pattern of half steps and whole steps used to build a natural minor scale?
A: The pattern of half steps and whole steps used to build a natural minor scale is i_whole_ii°_half_III_whole_iv_whole_v_half_VI_whole_VII_whole _i (next octave) (e -------- f#° ------ G ---------- a --------- b ------- C ---------- D ---------- e).
Q: From which note does a natural minor scale begin?
A: A natural minor scale begins on the sixth note of its relative major scale.
Q: What are some examples of scales and modes that include the minor triad?
A: Some examples of scales and modes that include the minor triad are Dorian mode and the Phrygian mode.
Q: How would you describe the character of a series of notes in a minor scale?
A: A series of notes in a minor scale has a sad, somber character.
Q: Which minor scales are the most common in Western music?
A: The most common minor scales in Western music are natural minor, harmonic minor, and melodic minor scales.
Q: How does a minor scale sound when compared to a major scale?
A: A minor scale sounds sad and somber when heard back-to-back with a major scale.
