EKS Lesson Seven Introducing minor triads
EKS Lesson Seven Introducing minor triads
How would you describe the sound of A minor?
How would you describe the sound of A major?
How would you describe the difference between them?
Looking closely at the notes on the keyboard illustrates the difference between A major and A minor. Look at Figure 2, below.
Figure 2. Major and minor (Enlarge)
A major has the notes of A, C# and E.
A minor has the notes of A, C and E.
Only one note has changed but the effect is dramatic. In Lesson 3, we established that a major triad was made up of the first (the root), third and fifth notes in a scale. The same applies to minor, save for the fact that the third is flattened by a semitone, creating the sound and feel of what makes minor more melancholy and perhaps darker than the sound of major chords. In minor scales we refer to the third as flattened third.
