Major Minor Major Minor.

Hallo,

so

lately

cant,, understand, whats all the Minor and Major differences are..

aspecially the chords,for example whats the difference between Major Triad C and Minor Triad C? :angry:

any pefect explonation for that?

I didn't want to be the one to say this, but the C minor triad is played with an Eb.

I hope that clears things up.

ahh , i see...

then whats the difference with the,,,Major key and the Minor? ;P

OK, let's see.

Two keys that have the same markings have the same scale and chords affiliated with them. F.ex. a minor and C major have the same scale, only different start point.

Both of these key signatures have the following chords:

C major

d minor

e minor

F major

G major

a minor

b diminished

The major difference between those two, though, is that you can 'sharpen' the sixth and seventh note in the minor scale which gives you new chords. In a minor that means you could change f to f# and g to g#.

This would give you these additional chords in a minor:

C augmented

D major

E major

f# diminished

g# diminished

This adds to that key signature and brings the leading tone (#seventh tone) which is missing in the natural minor, bringing out the subdominant fifth major chord (in a minor G major).

Composing in natural minor (without the two sharp tones) can be tricky because without the leading tone (minor 2nd below the main tone) the harmony will often naturally point towards the same mark Major (in this case C major).

If you're thinking about the difference between a major and minor from the same note (such as C major and c minor) the main difference is the scale. In C major it goes:

C - D - E - F - G - A - B - C

and minor:

C - D - Eb - F - G - Ab - Bb - C

C minor is related to Eb major the same way a minor and C major are described above.

Hope this helps a bit. If it is confusing (which is would surely be if you've never learned harmony) try sitting in front of the piano and simply changing those two notes in the scale to hear the difference.

And feel free to ask.

[EDIT:]

Wikipedia also has a great article on chords.

It should also be mentioned that in a major scale, there are half steps between the 3rd and 4th scale degrees, and the 7th and 8th degrees, while in a minor scale, the half steps are in between the 2nd and 3rd, and 5th and 6th scale degrees.

Hallo helgarr

hmmm...

i think i get the difference now..

so if i make music in C minor,,,,i mainly can only change f to f# (6th)or g to g#(7th) ,,,right?

so ,,is it the same with every minor key?

and Chief...

may i ask whats a "half step" atleast what do they do?

thanks much ;)

so if i make music in C minor,,,,i mainly can only change f to f# (6th)or g to g#(7th) ,,,right?

so ,,is it the same with every minor key?

thanks much ;)

What helgarr said about the chords is a good lesson.

For just notes...

There are different types of major and minor keys. For instance you can make a C minor key with C D Eb F G A B C, or you can make a different key in A minor with A B C D E F G A

You can make C major with C D E F G A Bb C, or a different C major with C D E Gb G A B C.

each key has a different name

essentially, you don't have to worry about which notes are in the minor key or major key. in musical pieces, key signatures change all the time.

one simple key by itself is nothing to overlook

you can use your own key and you don't have to worry about "copying" it from someone else.

for instance, you can use the key C Db Eb F Gb Ab Bb C, and make many chords from these notes.

all you do is key sign at the front of the staff. for beginners I definitely wouldnt stress learning the names of all the keys. just plug in notes. they all sound different.

you can easily look up key names on an online reference if you want to discuss your key generally.

There is no such thing as "I can only change this and that." You can change whatever you want to whenever you want to. You can add/subtract notes.

hmmm what are the "plug in notes"?

Take a theory class, this board isn't going to help you

Just notes you plug in. Could be anything.

Take a theory class, this board isn't going to help you

He certainly should take a theory class, but this board certainly will help as well.

It's absurd that you think a forum full of many experienced musicians would not be able to help someone looking for answers to harmony questions.

and Chief...

may i ask whats a "half step" atleast what do they do?

thanks much ;)

Going from a C to a C# is a half step, while going from a C to a D is a whole step. If you have a piano at hand, it's easier to explain.

If you look at the C major scale on the piano, it is all white keys. Starting on a C, it's a whole step to a D, whole step to E, half step to F, whole step to G, whole step to A, whole step to B, and a half step to C. Notice that between the E and the F, and the B and the C(the half steps), there is no black key between those notes. Hopefully it makes some more sense now.

Going from a C to a C# is a half step, while going from a C to a D is a whole step. If you have a piano at hand, it's easier to explain.

If you look at the C major scale on the piano, it is all white keys. Starting on a C, it's a whole step to a D, whole step to E, half step to F, whole step to G, whole step to A, whole step to B, and a half step to C. Notice that between the E and the F, and the B and the C(the half steps), there is no black key between those notes. Hopefully it makes some more sense now.

ah yes,,

thanks.

Alright, now that you understand half-steps and whole-steps, I think it will be much easier to expain the difference between The Major and The Minor scales. Written in half-steps the scales look like this:

Major scale: 2 2 1 2 2 2 1

Minor scale: 2 1 2 2 1 2 2

Using these formulae, it is possible to derive the Major or Minor scale built on any note.

For instance, Let's say we want to build these scales starting on D.

The Major scale would look like this: Starting on D, (up 2 half-steps to) E, (up 2 half-steps to) F#, (up 1 half-step to) G, (up 2 half-steps to) A, (up 2 half-steps to) B, (up 2 half steps to) C#, and finally up one more to D again.

The Natural Minor scale would look like this: Starting on D, (up 2 half-steps to) E, (up 1 half-step to) F, (up 2 half-steps to) G, (up 2 half-steps to) A, (up 1 half-steps to) Bb, (up 2 half steps to) C, and then up two to D.

These are your basic Major and Minor scales that are used in music nowadays. I won't go into the variations of the Minor scale or modal theory for now.

wasn't a major someone in the military?

..and a minor, well, not, because he was too young.

there you go.

kinda get it now.