saioarz023, 18:45, How fo Tell ifthe Musics Major or Minor | School of Composition How To Tell If The Music Is Major Or Minor Music Theory / By Matt E Recognizing between major and minor is an important basic skill for any musician. It’s one of the first steps that allow you to really dig into the music and understand how it’s made. | get this question quite often so let's dive right in. How do you tell if a song or a piece is major or minor? There are two ways to tell whether a song is major or minor: by earand by sight. When doingit by ear, listen to the major vs. minor qualities in the music. When reading the sheet music, the answer isin the key signature and in how notes and chords are used. hitps:uwn-schoolofcompositon convhow-to-ellf-musics-major-or-minar! an,‘41022023, 18:46 How to Teli the Music is Major or Minor | Shoo! of Composition That sounds simple enough but it does take some practice so let’s look at the details. We'll discuss first how to recognize major and minor by reading the notation and then recognizing major and minor by ear. In this article we're going to examine where keys come from as well. | suggest you read it once even if you're familiar with key signatures and scales, Understanding where they come from makes this whole process much easier! How to tell ifthe musicis major or minor What's in this Lesson How to Tell ifit is Major or Minor in Sheet Music The Key Signature: Is it Major or Minor? Where do Key Signatures come from? So is it Major or Minor? Examples and Exercises How to Tell ifit is Major or Minor by Ear Recognizing Major and Minor Triads Recognizing Major and Minor Scales hitps:uwn-schoolofcompositon convhow-to-ellf-musics-major-or-minar! anesaioarz023, 18:45, How fo Tell ifthe Musics Major or Minor | School of Composition How to Tell if it is Major or Minor in Sheet Music We'll begin with recognizinga major or minor key in sheet music. But what's a keyin the first place? We use the term ‘key’ simply to refer to the major or minor scale we are in. As you'll see in the chart below, we have 12 major keys and 12 minor keys. Why12? Because every note of the musical alphabet (all 12 of them!) gets its turn being the first note of a major scale and the first note of a minor scale. Each one of them is a key. For example, here is the scale of A major (meaning that it’s the major scale pattern starting on the note A). The scale of A major Now if we had some music that uses this scale, we say that this musi the key of A major: Allegro vivace St Mendelssohn: Symphony No. 4—1st movement theme in A major hitps:uwn-schoolofcompositon convhow-to-ellf-musics-major-or-minar! anesaioarz023, 18:45, How fo Tell ifthe Musics Major or Minor | School of Composition And here is the scale of A minor (meaning that it’s the minor scale pattern beginning on the note A) The scale of A minor Ifwe look at some music that uses this scale, then the musicis in the key of A minor: Presto Mendelssohn: Symphony No. 4—4th movement theme in A minor So with the term ‘key’ we're simply talking about which scale is in use at any one moment. If the music changes key, then the scale has changed. If two songs are in the same key, it simply means that they're using the same scale. The Key Signature: Is it Major or Minor? So how do we know what is the key of a piece of music? For this, we look at the musical notation and see how the notes are organized. If there are any, we must take note of t hitps:uwn-schoolofcompositon convhow-to-ellf-musics-major-or-minar! anesaioarz023, 18:45, How fo Tell ifthe Musics Major or Minor | School of Composition sharps and flats too because these provide essential hints. Luckily, it’s really easy to find out what sharps or flats a piece is using because they're normally written at the beginning of every stave (just after the clef). This is known as the key signature. Key Signature \ Allegro vivace St The Key Signature is written on every stave just after the clef. Here's a table of all key signatures. Notice that: + There are 2 sets of keys: one with sharps and the other with flats; * Every key signature caters for 2 keys: one major and one minor; + There's a neat pattern to how they key signatures progress. We start with C major that has no sharps, move on toa key with 1 sharp, then a key with 2 sharps and so on until we get to sharp major which has all notes sharpened (07 sharps). * The same occurs with the flat keys: every new key gets one more flat until we get to C flat major with7 flats. « There are several other patterns that you might notice but at this level, this should be enough for now. hitps:uwn-schoolofcompositon convhow-to-ellf-musics-major-or-minar! sre.saioarz023, 18:45, How fo Tell ifthe Musics Major or Minor | School of Composition Key Signatures Legend: Major / minor é Cmajocvamines | Ge Dib A/f sharp E/csharp Cla Fid Balat/g Efiat/¢ e bs, F IP Pb 1 : Afiat/f D flat /b flat G flat /e flat C flat/ a flat ‘www SchoolofComposition.com Table of Key Signatures That second bullet point is VERY important before we move on to the next steps. Every key signature belongs to one major key and one minor key. This means that the key signature we find in sheet music narrows down our options to 2 possible keys: one major and one minor. Our next step will be to figure out which one of the twoitis. Where do Key Signatures come from? Key signatures exist because major and minor scales must maintain the pattern of whole steps (also known as ‘tones’) and half steps (also known as ‘semitones’) no matter the note they begin on. The pattern of the major scale, for example, is: Tone, Tone, Semitone, Tone, Tone, Tone, Semitone. hitps:uwn-schoolofcompositon convhow-to-ellf-musics-major-or-minar! ane.saioarz023, 18:45, How fo Tell ifthe Musics Major or Minor | School of Composition Itjust so happens that following this pattern when starting on the note C gives us all the clDE|F G|A BIC white keys on the piano: oO Oo The scale of € major uses only the white keys of the piano But if we start on any other note, we'll have to make use of one or more sharps or flats. For example starting from the note D, the notes F sharp and C sharp (rather than F natural and C natural) are necessary to keep the proper pattern of tones and semitones. In other words, the key signature of D majoris 2 sharps: F sharp and C sharp. zo The scale of D major Here's another example. If we started from the note B flat and wanted a major scale, we'd find out that to maintain the correct pattern of tones and semitones, we'd need to flatten 2 notes: the B itself (becoming B flat) and E (becoming E flat). In other words, the key signature of B flat major is 2 flats: B flat and E flat. hitps:uwn-schoolofcompositon convhow-to-ellf-musics-major-or-minar! 78saioarz023, 18:45, How fo Tell ifthe Musics Major or Minor | School of Composition Dp — The scale of B flat major The same goes for minor scales. The sharps or flats are there to keep the correct pattern of tones and semitones. That pattern is where the scale gets its distinct sound —its particular quality. If we changed the pattern, we'd be changing the scale itself. So is it Major or Minor? OK so now that we can recognize the key signature of a piece, we're left with deciding whether it’s representing the major scale or the minor scale. For this we have to look at clues within the music itself. In general, the most important notes and chords of major and minor keys are 1. The tonic: that’s the first note of the scale and the chord built on it; 2. The dominant: that’s the fifth note of the scale and the chord built on it: | Tonic] Dominant Tonic Eg g g 1 2 a 4 7 1 Scale of C major with tonic and dominant We learn why these chords are so important in this detailed lesson about ‘tonality’ but in general, it’s because together they establish the tonic in place as tonic, With practice, , hitps:uwn-schoolofcompositon convhow-to-ellf-musics-major-or-minar! anesaioarz023, 18:45, How fo Tell ifthe Musics Major or Minor | School of Composition learn to see these notes and chords instantly in any key. Seeing the tonicand dominant within the music will help you recognize between major and minor really quickly but here are 5 tips to begin with: Usually, the first note of the melody is either the first note of the scale (known as the tonic) or the fifth note of the scale (known as the dominant) + The first chord in the music is very often the first chord of the scale (the tonic). If not, it's the fifth chord of the scale (the dominant). * The last chord is also usually the first chord of the scale. * Look in particular to the bass. The first and/or the last notes of a piece are normally the tonic. + When you suspect that the key is minor, look for the raised 7th in the music. ‘Raised 7th’ means that the 7th note of the scale is raised by one semitone. For example, in E minor look for D sharp in the music (that’s 7 notes up from E). Examples and Exercises Now let's put these tips to the test! Here we have 4 short pieces for piano. We'll begin with 2 simple bars from a Minuet by Bach. Is this a major ora minor key? Bach: Minuet The key signature shows only one sharp. According to our table of key signatures that s that this can either be G major or E minor. Looking closely at the notes, there should be no hitps:uwn-schoolofcompositon convhow-to-ellf-musics-major-or-minar! onesaioarz023, 18:45, How fo Tell ifthe Musics Major or Minor | School of Composition doubt that this is G major: 1. The first two beats outline the notes of G major: G—B—D. 2. The notes in the 3rd beat of the first bar are D—F sharp—A. That's the chord of D major (and it’s the dominant chord of G). 3. The second bar consists of only notes from the G major chord. Allinall, every note points towards the key of G major. The orange numbers in the notation below correspond to the points above: ® ® ®@ Indicators of G major Even in such a small amount of music, the tips we learned about the tonic and dominant chords are in effect. Next we have 8 bars from a short piano piece by Haydn. What's the key? hitps:uwn-schoolofcompositon convhow-to-ellf-musics-major-or-minar! 1018saioarz023, 18:45, How fo Tell ifthe Musics Major or Minor | School of Composition oS gs, Haydn: No. 6 from 12 Easy Pieces for Piano There are no sharps and no flats in the key signature. According to our table of key signatures that means either C major or A minor. There are no hints of A minor but many for C major: 1. The first chord is C major with the note C itself in the bass. 2. The last notes are two C’s — one in the bass and one in the treble, 3. The bass note before that last Cis its own fifth: G (note that the clef has changed to bass here). Ending with the fifth going to the first is a strong indicator of any key. 4. The first phrase, finishing in bar 4, also ends on the chord C. hitps:uwn-schoolofcompositon convhow-to-ellf-musics-major-or-minar! m8saioarz023, 18:45, How fo Tell ifthe Musics Major or Minor | School of Composition Allegro po Indicators of C major Here's another extract. This one is from Schumann's Album for the Young. Is it major or minor? Frisch und fréhlich ft Schumann: No.7 from Album for the Young’ The key signature shows 1 flat. According to our table of key signatures, that means that this piece is either in F major or D minor. There are no indications of D minor but a good few for F major: 1. The upbeat is the note C which goes to F. That's the five-to-one relationship once ar That's because when Fis the first note, C is the 5th. As we've seen, that alone already hitps:uwn-schoolofcompositon convhow-to-ellf-musics-major-or-minar! rane‘41022023, 18:46 How to Teli the Music is Major or Minor | Shoo! of Composition confirms F major. Even more so the melody goes from C to F another two times after that. 2. In the 3rd bar we get the notes of F major spread out in arpeggio. 3. The tonic, F major, leads to the dominant chord of F (that’s C major) in the 4th bar. Frisch und fréhlich Indicators of F major Next we have the first 2 phrases from a short piece by Tchaikovsky. Is it major or minor? Slowly Tchaikovsky: The Doll's Funeral from ‘Album for the Youth, Op. 39° The key signature consists of 3 flats. According to our table of key signatures that means that this musics either in E flat major or in C minor. It should be clear that everything in the music points to C minor: 1. The first chord is C minor (the notes C—E flat—G) with the note C itself as the lowest note in the bass. 2, The first phrase ends in bar 4 on C minor again and it’s preceded by the chord G (its dominant) hitps:uwn-schoolofcompositon convhow-to-ellf-musics-major-or-minar! 1318‘41022023, 18:46 How fo Tlf he Musics Major er Minor | Schoo ef Composition 3. The note B flat is raised by a semitone to become a B natural. This is exactly what we'd expect if we were in C minor—the 7th note raised. 4. If we're in C minor, the extract finishes on the dominant chord (G major). As we've seen already, that's a perfectly normal chord fora musical phrase to finish on Slowly Pa Indicators of C minor Now what about that F sharp in the bass in bar 7? That note is not in the key of C minor so does it mean that we are wrong in our conclusion? No, we're not wrong. Despite the F sharp, we're still in C minor. This is a matter of harmony. Without getting into too much detail, the job of that F sharp there is to strengthen the push towards the destination chord of G major. The G major chord itself still belongs to our home key of C minor. So as you can see, the clues for whether a piece is major or minor are always in the notes. Look for the tonic and its dominant and you'll know the key. How to Tell if it is Major or Minor by Ear Once again this is mostly a matter of practice. Now that doesn't mean it’s going to take you years! It just means that you'll need to go through some ear exercises for 15 to 30 minutes a day fora while hitps:uwn-schoolofcompositon convhow-to-ellf-musics-major-or-minar! sane.‘41022023, 18:46 How fo Tlf he Musics Major er Minor | Schoo ef Composition You might have heard that major is happy and minor is sad but this is an oversimplification. lunderstand this is not a popular opinion but describing intervals and scales with moods and feelings is misleading. It adds an unnecessary superficial layer to listening to music. Instead of getting distracted figuring out whether a scale is ‘happy’ or ‘sad’, we should listen to whether itis actually major or minor. Sounds are like colors, We know the color red simply as ‘red’ (without describing it as bright or dangerous or anything else) and the color blue simply as blue (without resorting to adjectives such as calm or wavy or whatever else). In the same way, there isa certain sound-quality (kind of likea sound-colour) to major anda certain sound-quality to minor and this is what we should practice to recognize by ear. Recognizing Major and Minor Triads The first step is to recognize the difference between major and minor triads. As you might know from music theory, the difference is in the third. Look at this example: the triad of C major consists of the notes C— E—G while the triad of C minor consists of the notes C—E flat —G. Only the third changes: CMajor Cminor Comparing the C major triad with the minor triad To practice listening and comparing major and minor triads by ear you can play them ona keyboard if you have one or use an online app such as teoria.com hitps:uwn-schoolofcompositon convhow-to-ellf-musics-major-or-minar! 1518saioarz023, 18:45, How fo Tell ifthe Musics Major or Minor | School of Composition Recognizing Major and Minor Scales Once you can do this fairly well, practice listening to the scales themselves. Play and sing major and minor scales on a keyboard and simply get used to their sounds. (The singing is important as it helps internalize the sounds and helps the ear greatly) Once again go to an online app such as teoria.com and quiz yourself on the scales, The goal isnot to gett all rightand leave the app as soon as possible. The aim is to immerse your ear in the sounds and become more and more familiar with them It might take a few weeks or months but you'll have the skill of telling between major and minor scales for life. Do you have any questions or comments? Let me know below or join our Facebook community over here. 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The Travel Breeze Portugueses com mais de 50 anos podem ter direito a este aparelho auditivo quase invisivell Especialistas de Aparethos Aucitvos hitpsslwww.schoolofcomposition convhoweto-ellf-musics-major-or- minor ane.saioarz023, 18:45, How fo Tell ifthe Musics Major or Minor | School of Composition 1 Comment G Join the discussion. Loc i wir or sign up wir oisqus @) Name 1 Share Best | Bender © 2years ago edited GD Thanks for the article. | thought my teachers in school told me to look at the last note in a st. probably not reliable. There is a simple solution, but the music world is not going to adopt it put a star on the root note in the key signature. Problem solved. | don't know why they won't [Actually, a root note indicator would show if the song was in any other mode as well, not jus or minor mode] o 0 * Reply + Share> Subscribe Privacy Do Not Sell My Data Copyright © 2023 School of Composition Update Privacy Settings hitpsslwww.schoolofcomposition convhoweto-ellf-musics-major-or- minor 1818