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The hallmark that distinguishes major keys from minor is whether the third scale degree is major or minor. Major and minor keys are based on the corresponding scales, and the tonic triad of those keys consist of the corresponding chords; however, a major key can encompass minor chords based on other roots, and vice versa.
Major and minor keys that share the same key signature are relative to each other. For instance, F major is the relative major of D minor since both have key signatures with one flat. Since the natural minor scale is built on the 6th degree of the major scale, the tonic of the relative minor is a major sixth above the tonic of the major scale ...
A pair of major and minor scales sharing the same key signature are said to be in a relative relationship. [1] [2] The relative minor of a particular major key, or the relative major of a minor key, is the key which has the same key signature but a different tonic. (This is as opposed to parallel minor or major, which shares the same tonic.)
In the key of C major, these would be: D minor, E minor, F major, G major, A minor, and C minor. Despite being three sharps or flats away from the original key in the circle of fifths, parallel keys are also considered as closely related keys as the tonal center is the same, and this makes this key have an affinity with the original key.
The key may be in the major or minor mode, though musicians assume major when this is not specified; for example "This piece is in C" implies that the key of the piece is C major. Popular songs and classical music from the common practice period are usually in one key. Longer pieces in the classical repertoire may have sections in contrasting keys.
The scale degree chords of A minor are: Tonic – A minor; Supertonic – B diminished; Mediant – C major; Subdominant – D minor; Dominant – E minor; Submediant – F major; Subtonic – G major
Robbins Landon wrote that "Tonic minor Adagio introductions, especially in the key of D minor, were very popular with English composers of the year 1794", and Joseph Haydn copied this procedure for the D major symphonies he wrote in London. [4] Film composer Hans Zimmer is one of the most prominent users of the key of D minor in modern times.
The 'major' alteration is usually superfluous, as a key description missing an alteration is invariably assumed to be major. In the German notation scheme, a hyphen is added between the pitch and the alteration (D-Dur). In German, Dutch, and Lithuanian, the minor key signatures are written with a lower case letter (d-Moll, d klein, d kleine terts).