minor in music meaning | TheMusicDictionary

Minor in music refers to the key in which a composition or piece is written. This is in contrast to major keys.

Music in a minor key tends to sound more melancholy, sad or darker compared to music in a major key, which tends to sound more bright and cheerful. This is due to the intervals between the notes in a minor scale being different from those in a major scale.

In a minor scale, the third note is flattened by a half-step compared to the corresponding major scale. This produces a minor third interval, giving the scale a distinctive sound. Minor keys also use different chord progressions compared to major keys, and they typically resolve or end on the tonic minor chord rather than the tonic major chord.

So in short, "minor" in music refers to a type of key or tonality that uses intervals, chords and progressions characteristic of the minor scale, producing a darker or sadder sound compared to the brighter, happier sound of the major scale.

A series of tones that defines a minor tonality.

The natural minor scale has the same tones as the major scale, but uses the sixth tone of the major scale as its tonic. Thus, the semitones (half steps) are between the second and third tones and the fifth and sixth tones, e.g.:

          C, D, E flat, F, G, A flat, B flat, C (ascending)

          C, B flat, A flat, G, F, E flat, D, C (descending)

SCALE STEPS (IN SEMITONES OR HALF STEPS)

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

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c

d

eb

f

g

ab

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c'

The melodic minor scale is the same as the natural minor scale with the exception that the sixth and seventh tones are raised by a semitone (half step) when the scale is ascending. When the scale is descending, the melodic minor scale is the same as the natural minor, e.g.:

          C, D, E flat, F, G, A, B, C (ascending)

          C, B flat, A flat, G, F, E flat, D, C (descending)

SCALE STEPS (IN SEMITONES OR HALF STEPS)

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

c

d

eb

f

g

a

b

c'

Ascending

c'

bb

ab

g

f

eb

d

c

Descending

The harmonic minor scale is the same as the natural minor, except that the seventh tone is raised by a semitone (half step) both ascending and descending, e.g.:

C, D, E flat, F, G, A flat, B, C (ascending)

C, B, A flat, G, F, E flat,D, C (descending)

SCALE STEPS (IN SEMITONES OR HALF STEPS)

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

c

d

eb

f

g

ab

b

c'

See modern scale construction in the Appendix.

See minor-scales in the Appendix .