CHAPTER 5:
  How Keys and Modes REALLY Work
  _______________________________
  
  5.3 Keys, Major and Minor

 
PAGE INDEX
  

5.3.1 The Two Surviving Modes

5.3.2 Keys and Scales

5.3.3 Music’s “Theory of Relativity” (Not to be Confused with Cultural Relativism)

5.3.4 All 12 Major Scales In One Convenient Table

5.3.5 All 12 Descending Melodic Minor Scales In One Convenient Table

5.3.6 All 12 Ascending Melodic Minor Scales In One Convenient Table

5.3.7 All 12 Harmonic Minor Scales In One Convenient Table

5.3.8 How Digger’s 10-Note “Grand Minor Scale” Simplifies Matters

5.3.9 Relative Numbers of Popular Songs In Major Keys, Minor Keys, and Modes

5.3.10 Emotional Effects of Modes

~ • ~ • ~ • ~

5.3.1

THE TWO SURVIVING MODES

Of the seven Church modes, only two are commonly used today, the two now called the major mode and the minor mode.

     Recall that if you start your scale with the note C, then you get the major scale. The interval order of the major scale is:

● tone ● tone ● semitone ● tone ● tone ● tone ● semitone ●

     Recall also that if you start your scale with the note A, then you get the natural minor scale. The interval order of the minor scale is:

● tone ● semitone ● tone ● tone ● semitone ● tone ● tone ●

     The seemingly trivial difference in the order of the five tones and two semitones makes a profound emotional difference when you hear the resulting music.

     Both the C major scale and the A minor scale use exactly the same set of notes, but the minor scale starts at scale degree 6 of the major scale, and the major scale starts at scale degree 3 of the minor scale.

     Figure 32 clarifies the matter, showing how these two scales relate to each other when you overlap their interval patterns:

Figure 32  How the C-major and A-minor Scales Relate to Each Other (7 Intervals, 8 Notes)

5.3.2

KEYS AND SCALES

Sometimes you find yourself playing or singing a tune that, for one reason or another, is “too high” or “too low.” So what do you do? Change keys, of course.

     But what does “change keys” mean?

     First, the word “key” in the following discussion has nothing to do with the 88 black and white mechanical devices on a piano called “piano keys.” So, from now on, to avoid confusion, the term “note” or "notes" will refer to the tones associated with the 88 black and white mechanical devices on the piano.

     The term key refers to a given tonic note (key note) and the rest of the notes of its associated major or minor scale. (As you'll see in a bit, “key” encompasses the tonic note, the related scale, and the related chords.)

     For example, if you're playing or singing in the key of C major, the tonic note is C, and the scale you use is the C major scale (corresponding to the white notes on the piano beginning and ending with C).

     Suppose you want to “change keys.” Maybe you want to switch to the key of G major. To do this, you have to do two things:

     1.  Use the note G as the tonic note of the scale, and

     2.  Preserve the same order of intervals as when you were playing in the key of C major, namely:

● tone ● tone ● semitone ● tone ● tone ● tone ● semitone ●

     So, to play in the key of G major, here's the scale you need to use (Figure 33):

FIGURE 33  G Major Scale

     Notice what happens at scale degree 7. Instead of F (a note in the key of C major), you have to use F♯ when you're in the key of G major. If you don't, you will violate the major scale interval order:

● tone ● tone ● semitone ● tone ● tone ● tone ● semitone ●

     That's because, in the key of C major, the note F is in a completely different location in the scale—it's at scale degree 4, not 7.

     On the piano, to play in the key of G major, you start the scale on the note G and continue through all the white notes except F. Instead of F, you play the black note, F♯.

     G major and C major are both called major keys and you use major scales to play in these keys. The term mode is still used to refer collectively to keys and scales of the same type.

     •   Major keys and scales are referred to as keys and scales of the major mode.

     •   Minor keys and scales are referred to as keys and scales of the minor mode.

5.3.3

MUSIC’S “THEORY OF RELATIVITY” (NOT TO BE CONFUSED WITH CULTURAL RELATIVISM)

As you saw in Figure 32, the key of C major and the key of A minor use the same set of notes. All the white notes on the piano. No sharps or flats. To play a scale in the key of C major on the piano, you start on the note C and play the white notes only, up to the next C. To play a scale in the key of A minor, you start on the note A and play the white notes only, up to the next A.

     Every major key, such as the key of C major, has a “related” minor key, such as the of A minor. Both keys always use exactly the same set of notes.

     The key of A minor is called the relative minor of the key of C major. By the same token, the key of C major is called the relative major of the key of A minor.

     Both keys use the same notes, but in a different order:

Key of C major: C   D   E   F   G   A   B   C

Key of A minor: A   B   C   D   E   F   G   A

     Now consider the key of G major and its relative minor. Since the relative minor scale always starts at scale degree 6 of the major scale, it's clear from Figure 33 above that the relative minor of G major must be E minor.

     And, since a major key and its relative minor always use exactly same set of notes, it would stand to reason that the F♯ note that appears in the key of G major must also appear in its relative minor key, which is E minor.

     And sure enough, here's the stunning evidence, the E minor scale (Figure 34):

FIGURE 34  E Minor Scale

     There's the F♯ note, exactly as predicted by modern science. It's uncanny. Like predicting the return of Halley's Comet, except of greater practical value for musicians.

     Here's how the two keys relate to each other (Figure 35):

FIGURE 35  How G Major and E Minor Relate to Each Other

     It's important to note here that F♯ in the above pair of scales is not a chromatic note, even though it has the “sharp” sign (♯) after it.

     A chromatic note is a note that does not belong to the prevailing diatonic scale. Since a given diatonic scale has seven notes, there must be five notes that are chromatic with respect to that scale. In the above case, the five chromatic notes are: G♯, A♯, C♯, D♯, and F. They are the notes in between G, A, B, C, D, E, and F♯.

     The same applies in harmony. In Chapter 6, you'll learn about chromatic chords. These are chords that do not belong to the prevailing harmonic scale.

     One final example. Suppose you want to switch to the key of F major. Now you need to make F serve as the tonic note. And you have to preserve the major mode order of intervals:

● tone ● tone ● semitone ● tone ● tone ● tone ● semitone ●

     To do this, you have to flatten scale degree 4. Now you have B♭ instead of B, which preserves the major mode order of intervals.

     And here's the scale you get (Figure 36):

FIGURE 36  F Major Scale

     The relative minor of F, as noted earlier, starts at scale degree 6 of the major. So, as unassailable logic would have it, the relative minor of the key of F major has to be D minor. Not only that, it must also contain the note B♭ (Figure 37):

FIGURE 37  D Minor Scale

     Here's how the two keys relate to each other (Figure 38):

FIGURE 38  How F Major and D Minor Relate to Each Other

     You can start any major scale on any of the 12 different notes of the chromatic scale (the 13^th note of the chromatic scale repeats the first note to complete the octave).

     That means you can play in 12 different major keys.

     The only rule is, whichever note you start on, you have to maintain the major scale interval order, which is (yet again):

● tone ● tone ● semitone ● tone ● tone ● tone ● semitone ●

even if that means you sometimes have to use a whole bunch of sharp or flat notes. Which is the case for some keys.

     And, not surprisingly, all of this applies equally to the minor keys. You can start any minor scale on any of the 12 different notes of the chromatic scale.

     That means you can play in 12 different minor keys.

Again, the only rule is, whichever note you start on, you then have to maintain the minor scale interval order, which is (yet again):

● tone ● semitone ● tone ● tone ● semitone ● tone ● tone ●

even if that means you sometimes have to use a whole bunch of sharp and flat notes. Which is the case for some keys.

5.3.4

ALL 12 MAJOR SCALES IN ONE CONVENIENT TABLE

Table 24 below shows all the notes and scale degrees for all 12 keys of the major mode. (The shaded bars are only a visual aid; they have no musical significance.)

     •   The row above the first shaded row names the scale degrees: 1, 2., 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 1 (8).

     •   The first shaded row is the scale of the key of C major.

     •   The next, slightly darker shaded row is the scale of the key of C sharp major.

     •    The next row is the scale and key of D major.

And so on.

TABLE 24  Major Scales, All 12 Keys

     About that E♯ and that B♯ in the second row of the above table ... everybody knows there are no such notes as E♯ and B♯—those notes are actually F and C, respectively. The only reason they're called “E♯” and “B♯” in Table 24 is to ensure that all the notes of the C♯ scale have different letter-names. So you don't get confused.

     Whenever you see two identical notes, intervals, scales, or keys with different names (or “spellings”)—and it happens quite a bit in music—the two are called enharmonic equivalents. So, for instance, the key of C♯ is the enharmonic equivalent of the key of D♭. And the note E♯ is the enharmonic equivalent of the note F. Two different names for exactly the same thing.

     Sometimes you even see double ... double sharps or double flats (after downing eight shots of tequila). For example, F♯♯, which normally looks like this: Fr , is the enharmonic equivalent of G. (See Table 26 below.)

     (Tuning purists will note that enharmonic equivalency only applies in equal temperament tuning, and that in other tuning systems, C♯ and D♭ are actually slightly different pitches. Fine. But in popular music, equal temperament rules. So in this book, C♯ and D♭ are always exactly the same note.)

5.3.5

ALL 12 DESCENDING MELODIC MINOR SCALES IN ONE CONVENIENT TABLE

Table 25 below shows all the notes and scale degrees for all 12 scales of the natural minor mode. Notice the difference in the pattern of tones and semitones, compared with the major mode (Table 24). Again, the shaded bars are only a visual aid; they have no musical significance.

     The scales in Table 25 are the relative minors of those in Table 24.

     And, of course, it's equally correct to say the scales in Table 24 are the relative majors of the scales in Table 25.

     Another name for the natural minor scale is the melodic minor. And, to make matters even less straightforward (if that's possible), the melodic minor comes in two, count ‘em, two flavors: descending and ascending. More about this in a minute.

     First, the descending version (Table 25). NOTE: Read the scales in this table from right to left.

TABLE 25  Descending Melodic Minor Scales (Right to Left), All 12 Keys

     So ... what's with this “descending melodic minor” business?

     The natural minor mode sounds pretty natural when you're going down the scale. However, when you're going up the scale, you don't feel “propelled” up to 1 (8). Why? Because the interval between scale degrees 7 and 1 (8) is a whole tone, instead of a semitone.

     Going up the scale, there's no strong leading tone.

     As noted earlier with the major scale, a semitone interval formed by scale degrees 7 and 1 (8) has considerable inherent tension, because a semitone is derived from a more complex frequency ratio (16:15), compared with a whole tone (9:8). That's why the note occupying scale degree 7, if it forms a semitone interval with 1 (8), is called the leading tone.

     NOTE: The leading tone is vitally important in understanding how chord progressions work! Chapter 6 discusses leading tones in detail.

     Here's one tiny little tip about the descending melodic minor scales in Table 25 above. Have a look at the D minor scale. It's identical to the Dorian mode except that scale degree 6 is flatted. So, any time you want to play the Dorian mode in any key, all you need to do is play the descending melodic minor for that key, except sharpen scale degree 6 by a semitone.

5.3.6

ALL 12 ASCENDING MELODIC MINOR SCALES IN ONE CONVENIENT TABLE

To solve the problem about the lack of a leading tone in the minor keys, somebody decided a long time ago to keep the natural minor scale (the Aeolian mode) exactly as it is for purposes of descending (Table 25 above), but sharpen scale degrees 6 and 7 for purposes of ascending.

     Together, the two scales became known as the melodic minor scale.

     Here are the 12 ascending melodic minor scales (Table 26).

TABLE 26  Ascending Melodic Minor Scales (Left to Right), All 12 Keys

     Notice something familiar about the upper half of the ascending melodic minor scale, from 5 to 1 (8)? It's identical to the upper half of the good ol' do-re-mi major scale.

     And that means, if you want to play an ascending minor scale in any key, all you need to do is make like you're playing the major scale for that key, but lower scale degree 3 by a semitone.

     See, for example, the C minor scale in Table 26. It's identical to the C major scale, except that scale degree 3 is flat (E♭) instead of natural (E).

     While you're at it, have a look at the D minor scale in Table 26. Again, it's identical to the Dorian mode except for one scale degree. This time, to get the Dorian mode, just lower scale degree 7 of the ascending melodic minor scale by one semitone.

     Aaah, but it ain't over yet. No no no no no.

5.3.7

ALL 12 HARMONIC MINOR SCALES IN ONE CONVENIENT TABLE

There's yet another “official” version of the minor scale.

     This final annoying version of the minor scale is the same as the descending natural minor up to scale degree 6, but sharpens scale degree 7. The idea is to give the natural minor scale a leading tone. Doing this, however, creates an awkward gap of three semitones (an interval of an augmented second) between scale degrees 6 and 7.

     Some songwriters and composers think this version of the minor scale, called the harmonic minor scale, is just hunky dory. Not only do you have a nice leading tone, but you don't have to concern yourself with separate ascending and descending versions of the minor scale. Still, there's that ungainly three-semitone interval . . .

     So, here are all the harmonic minor scales (Table 27).

TABLE 27  Harmonic Minor Scales, All 12 Keys

     How to remember the harmonic minor? It's the same as the Aeolian mode, also known as the descending melodic minor (white keys on the piano, starting and ending with A), except that you raise the seventh note by a semitone.

     So, those are all the scale variants of the diatonic order still in use today. Four of them: one type of major scale and three types of minor scales. That's it. No more!

     Well, okay. One more.

5.3.8

HOW DIGGER’S 10-NOTE “GRAND MINOR SCALE” SIMPLIFIES MATTERS

When you're writing a song or composing a piece of music in a minor key, it doesn't much matter which version of the three minor scales you use—natural minor, melodic minor, or harmonic minor. All of these minor scales differ only in the upper half of the scale. The lower half is identical in all of them.

     Your brain hears the critical difference between the sound of the major mode and the sound of the minor mode, not in the upper half of the scale, but in the lower half.

     Only one note makes all the difference, and that note is scale degree 3.

     •   In the major mode, the interval from the tonic note to scale degree 3 is a major third—a pitch span of four semitones.

     •   In the minor mode, whether ascending or descending, the interval is always a minor third—a pitch span of three semitones.

     The “character” of the moody-sounding “minor” mode comes exclusively from scale degree 3, the minor third interval common to all versions of the minor scale.

     So . . . go ahead and use any minor scale you please. All of them have that distinctive “minor” sound.

     In fact, you can merge all the minor scales together, like this:

     •   For the lower half of the scale, just use the five notes that all three minor scales have in common. For example, in the key of A minor:

A   B   C   D   E

     •   For the upper half of the scale, use all of the tones and semitones, like this (key of A minor):

F   F♯   G   G♯   A

     Slap the lower and upper halves together, and what do you get? An all-purpose handy-dandy 10-note minor scale. It slices! it dices!

A   B   C   D   E   F   F♯   G   G♯   A

     This scale contains all of the notes of all three minor scale types. (Tables 25, 26, and 27). What's it called? Why, the Grand Minor Scale, of course.

     Go ahead, play it on your guitar or piano. Play it ascending, play it descending. You may think it sounds more “minor” than any of the other three minor scales.

     You'll find the Grand Minor Scale most useful in the discussion of melody in Chapter 9.

     We owe the 10-note Grand Minor Scale to Stephen “Digger” Souza. (No, not the guy who fronted the heavy metal bands Testament and Exodus.) Digger Souza is a musician from Massachusetts who, in his rush to get a ride home from a concert one time, crashed over some chairs and dug his face into the rug, picking up some burn marks and a nickname at the same time.

5.3.9

RELATIVE NUMBERS OF POPULAR SONGS IN MAJOR KEYS, MINOR KEYS, AND MODES

So far, Chapter 5 has focussed on major keys, minor keys, and Church modes. In popular music, by far most songs are written in major keys, followed by minor keys, followed by modes. Figure 39 gives you a rough idea of the proportions.

FIGURE 39  Relative Numbers of Popular Songs In Major Keys, Minor Keys, and Church Modes

     Suppose you're a performing songwriter, and you want to distinguish your songs from everyone else's. Most songwriters write pretty much all of their songs in major keys. So ... why not specialize in writing your songs in minor keys? Even some songs in Church modes?

     Minor-key songs can be wickedly effective. Here are half a dozen classic examples:

     •   “London Calling” (The Clash)

     •   “Summertime” (words by Du Bose Heyward, music by George Gershwin)

     •   “I Heard It Through the Grapevine” (words and music by Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong)

     •   “House of the Rising Sun” (traditional)

     •   “Ghost Riders in the Sky” (words and music by Stan Jones)

     •   “All Along the Watchtower” (words and music by Bob Dylan)

     All of these songs are on the GSSL. A couple of them, “Grapevine” and “Watchtower,” are discussed in detail in Chapter 6.

5.3.10

EMOTIONAL EFFECTS OF MODES

Research strongly supports the “happy” vs “sad” distinction most people (both adults and children) associate with major vs minor modes. Mode and tempo are two of the most important musical variables with respect to emotion-elicitation. Both could easily be exploited by songwriters to great effect, but usually aren't, because most songwriters have no idea how powerful they are. More on these variables in Chapters 7 and 9.

     (Bob Dylan's “Who Killed Davey Moore?” and Vaughn Monroe's original recording of Stan Jones' “Riders In The Sky,” aka “Ghost Riders In The Sky” are examples of songs that maximize the emotional power of fast tempo combined with the minor mode.)

     It may be that the unsettled feeling people have when hearing a minor interval or chord arises from the fact that the intervals that make up minor chords and scales are derived from less simple frequency ratios than those for major chords and scales, which stand out prominently in the first overtones of the harmonic series (see Table 23) and enable easy identification of the origin of the sound as a single soundmaker. If you can't be sure the source is a single soundmaker, you find it unsettling. Fear of the unknown.

     Whatever the reason for the sharp emotional distinction between major and minor, it's a fact of human nature, not a cultural construction. Table 28 spells it out in more detail.

TABLE 28  Emotional Effects of Modes