The Tone of Re Minor

What is Re 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 lower re the tonic is Re and the scale is smaller, that is, with a third minor (Re-Fa) that gives it a darker color than that of the larger tonalities.

Share armor with Fa major, its relative tonality: the same notes, but with another center. And he shares tonic with Major, its homonymous tonality, which carries 2 supports.

The armor

The armor has only one bemol, Yeah.♭, which is written at the beginning of each pentagram.

The three smaller scales

Like any minor tone, Re minor can be played in three ways. The difference is in notes 6 and 7:

• Natural: Re - Mi - Fa - Sol - La - Si♭ - Do - Re. It's exactly the notes of the armor.
• Harmonic: Re - Mi - Fa - Sol - La - Si♭ - Do♯ - Re. The seventh is raised to create the «sensitive», the note that pulls towards the tonic. Come in.♭ and Do♯ there is a second-increased jump, with a very characteristic taste.
• Melodic: As you go up, Re - Mi - Fa - Sol - La - Yeah.♮ – Do♯ - Re; when you go down, you return to the natural scale. This is how you avoid that jump and the melody flows better.

On the score, the Do♯ (and sometimes the Yes♮) 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 re minor with many Do♯, most likely the work is in Re minor and not in Fa major.

The main chords

• I · Tonic, Re minor: Re-Fa-La. The point of rest.
• IV · Subdominant, minor Sun: Sun - Yes♭ - Re. Get away from the tonic gently.
• V · Dominant, Major: The - Do♯ - Me. Thanks to the Do♯ of the harmonic scale is a greater chord, with strength to return to the tonic.
• V7 · Seventh dominant: The - Do♯ - My - Sol. The maximum voltage before solving.
• VI · If bemol major: Yeah.♭ - Re-Fa. It brings light into the darkness and stars the «broken cadence».
• III · Fa major: Fa-la-do. 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): Rem → Solm → La7 → Rem. It is the formula that confirms the tonality; you will hear it at the end of almost any work in the minor Re.
• Broken (V-VI): La7 → Yes♭. The ear awaits Rem and receives a major unexpected chord: a very romantic surprise resource.
• Low of regret: Re - Do - Yes♭ - The bass, down by degrees. It is the classic gesture of duel and sadness, from the Baroque to today.
• Modulation to the relative: Rem → Do7 → Fa. It is enough with the Fa dominant to go into the light in the greater way without changing the armor.

Character

A single bemol and a serious and solemn character. It is the tone of Mozart's Réquiem and many serious or religious works, although it may also sound passionate and dramatic. 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.

Works to listen to her

• Bach: Touch and escape, BWV 565, attributed to Bach.
• Mozart: Concert for piano No. 20, K. 466 (1785).
• Mozart: Réquiem, K. 626 (1791).
• Beethoven: Symphony No. 9, op. 125 (1824), which travels from the initial minor re to the greater re of the «Ode to joy».
• Schubert: Quartet «Death and the maid», D. 810 (1824).
• Sibelius: Concert for violin, op. 47 (1904, revised 1905).