Musical language · Tons
No alterations
Related: Do Major · Homonymous: The greatest
What is The Minor
A tone is the «centre of gravity» of a work: a main note, the tonic, and a scale that is organized around it. In the minor the tonic is The and the scale is smaller, that is, with a third minor (La-Do) that gives it a darker color than that of the larger tonalities.
Share armor with Do major, its relative tonality: the same notes, but with another center. And he shares tonic with The greatest, its homonymous tonality, which has three supports.
The armor
The minor does not have any changes in the armor: it is played only with the white keys of the piano. The changes appear only as accidents, especially in the sensitive of the harmonic scale.
The three smaller scales
Like any minor tone, the minor can be touched in three ways. The difference is in notes 6 and 7:
- Natural: La - Si - Do - Re - Mi - Fa - Sol - La. It's exactly the notes of the armor.
- Harmonic: The - Yes - Do - Re - Mi - Fa - Sun♯ - La. The seventh is raised to create the «sensitive», the note that pulls towards the tonic. Between Fa and Sol♯ there is a second-increased jump, with a very characteristic taste.
- Melodic: On the way up, La - Yes - Do - Re - Mi - Fa♯ – Sun♯ - The; when it goes down, it returns to the natural scale. This is how you avoid that jump and the melody flows better.
On the score, the Sun♯ (and sometimes the Fa♯) does not appear in the armor: it is written as an accidental alteration in front of the note. So, if you see the armor of the minor with many Sun♯, most likely the play is in The Minor and not in Do Major.
The main chords
- I · Tónica, The minor: La-do-mi. The point of rest.
- IV · Sub-dominant, R minor: Re-Fa-La. Get away from the tonic gently.
- V · Dominant, My Major: My - Sun♯ - Yeah. Thanks to the Sun♯ of the harmonic scale is a greater chord, with strength to return to the tonic.
- V7 · Seventh dominant: My - Sun♯ - Yes. The maximum voltage before solving.
- VI · Fa major: Fa-la-do. It brings light into the darkness and stars the «broken cadence».
- III · Do major: Do - Mi - Sol. It is the tonic of the relative major, the usual destination when a minor work wants «open».
Examples of progress
- Perfect chain (I - IV - V7 - I): Lam → Rem → Mi7 → Lam. It is the formula that confirms the tonality; you will hear it at the end of almost any work in The Minor.
- Broken (V-VI): Mi7 → Fa. The ear awaits Lam and receives a major unexpected chord: a very romantic surprise resource.
- Low of regret: The - Sun - Fa - Me in the bass, down by degrees. It is the classic gesture of duel and sadness, from the Baroque to today.
- Modulation to the relative: Lam → Sol7 → Do. It is enough with Do's dominant to go into the light in the greater way without changing the armor.
Character
Without changes in the armor, The minor is the relative of Do major and the smallest tone to read. That is why he appears in many didactic works, but also in great romantic concerts of passionate character. Today we know that with the temperate tuning all the tonalities sound equal to «tuned»but these associations continue to be part of the tradition and the way the composers choose them.
