Difference between major scale and minor scale | Mechanisms that are not just bright and dark

Major is often described as bright and minor as dark, but the essence of the difference is the spacing between notes. The way you hear the sound changes depending on where the sounds are placed in relation to the center sound.

Major scale arrangement

From the tonic, the order is whole tone, whole tone, semitone, whole tone, whole tone, whole tone, semitone. C major is C, D, E, F, G, A, B.

Natural minor scale arrangement

The order is whole tone, semitone, whole tone, whole tone, semitone, whole tone, whole tone. A minor is A, B, C, D, E, F, G.

C major and A minor

These two use the same sound, only the white keys of the piano. However, if you center on C, it will feel like C major, and if you center on A, it will feel like A minor. This is called a relative tone relationship.

The central tone changes the impression

Even with the same set of notes, the center changes depending on where the melody lands, the bass note, and where the chord progression returns. It is important not only the type of sound, but also which sound is the stable point.

There are also types of miners

In addition to natural minor, there is also harmonic minor, which raises the seventh note, and melodic minor, which raises the sixth and seventh notes when ascending. At first, we will use natural minor as the standard.

Practical method

Create 4 measures in C major, and use the same white keys to create 4 measures that settle down to A. You can see that changing the ending point of the bass changes the impression of the same sound.

Emotions are not determined just by whether it is major or minor. Create the atmosphere of a song by combining tempo, range, rhythm, playing strength, and tone.