Major and minor
In
music, the adjectives
major and
minor can describe a
scale,
key,
chord, or
interval. For intervals, the terms refer to a difference in their relative width, major referring to notes somewhat further apart; the other terms are classifications based on the use of certain intervals, especially the major or minor third.
Major and minor are frequently referred to in the titles of compositions in their foreign language form, especially in reference to the key of a piece.
| Language | Major | Minor |
| German | Dur | Moll |
| French | Majeur | Mineur |
| Italian | Maggiore | Minore |
| Spanish | Mayor | Menor |
| Chinese | 大調 | 小調 |
With regard to intervals, the words essentially just mean
large and
small, so a major third is a relatively wider interval, and a minor third a relatively narrow one. The intervals of the second, third, sixth, and seventh (and compound intervals based on them) may be major or minor. See
Interval (music).
The other uses of
major and
minor, in general, refer to musical structures containing major thirds or minor thirds. A
major scale is one whose third
degree is a major third above the
tonic, while a
minor scale has a minor third degree. A
major chord or
major triad, similarly, contains a major third above the
root, whereas a
minor chord or
minor triad contains a minor third above the root.
The minor scale may be considered as the sixth mode of a major scale or as a variation of the major scale having a lowered or
altered third,
sixth, and
seventh scale degrees.
The
minor third is considered the hallmark of a minor scale, since the sixth and seventh may be variably raised while the third remains unaltered. Contrastingly, changes of mode, which would involve the alteration of the third, and
mode mixture, are often analyzed as relatively minor or trivial changes unless structurally supported as the root and overall key and tonality remains relatively unchanged when compared to, for instance,
modulation or
transposition. These latter operations are done by moving all intervals up or down a certain constant interval, and
does change
key, but does not change
mode, which requires the alteration of intervals. The use of
triads only available in the minor mode, such as the use of A♭-major in C major, is relatively decorative
chromaticism, considered to add color and weaken sense of key without entirely destroying or losing it.
In the German theory by or derived from
Hugo Riemann, the minor mode is considered the inverse of the major mode, an upside down major scale based on (theoretical) undertones rather than (actual) overtones (
harmonics). The "
root" of the minor triad is thus considered the top of the fifth, which, in the United States, is called "the" fifth. So in C minor, the tonic root is actually G, and the leading tone is A♭ (a halfstep), rather than, in major, the root being C and the leading tone B (a halfstep). Also, since all chords are analyzed as having a tonic, subdominant, or dominant function, with, for instance, in C, A-minor being considered the tonic parallel (US relative), Tp, the use of minor mode root chord progressions in major such as A♭-major-B♭-major-C-major is analyzed as sP-dP-T, the minor
subdominant parallel, the minor
dominant parallel, and the major tonic. (Gjerdingen, 1990)
Minor scales are sometimes said to have a more interesting, possibly sadder sound than plain major scales. The minor mode, with its variable sixth and seventh degrees, offers nine notes, in C: C-D-E♭-F-G-A♭-A-B♭-B, over the major mode's seven, in C: C-D-E-F-G-A-B. The
interval strength, or lowest possible location in the
harmonic series, and thus
consonance and "stability", of minor triads is less than that of major, which interprets major as more "stable", a major triad being found in the 4th, 5th, and 6th harmonics of a pitch, while the minor being the 5th, 6th, and 7th. This may explain the
piccardy third, the use of a major tonic chord at the very end of a composition in minor, since it would be more stable and thus conclusive.
*
Relative key*
Parallel key
