Major vs. Minor - explained very simply
Major and minor. These two timbres strongly influence your piano playing and the emotions associated with it.
In this article, I’ll explain the difference between minor and major. You’ll also learn how to construct your own major and minor scales on the piano keyboard from any starting key.
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Gordon November
Gordon November
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Understanding the difference between minor and major: What are half steps and whole steps?
To understand the difference between major and minor, you should know what a half step and what a whole step are.
With a half step, no key is skipped on the keyboard – so you use the closest key on the piano.
This is the case, for example, when you play an ‘E’ and then an ‘F’ on the piano. Or a ‘D’ and then a ‘D sharp’.
We speak of a whole step, however, when a key is skipped. For example, when you play a D after a C.
Do you hear the difference between major and minor?
Major Scales and Major Triads
Play the major scale C – D – E – F – G – A – B – C on your piano. What do you notice with regard to our knowledge of half steps and whole steps? Very clear. We have two half steps in a major scale.
The first half step is between the 3rd and 4th and the second half step is between the 7th and 8th notes.
“In major, the half steps are always between the 3rd and 4th as well as between the 7th and 8th notes.”
The triad consists of the keys C – G – C – E – G – C.
Minor Scales and Minor Triads
In a minor scale, on the other hand, the half steps are between the 2nd and 3rd as well as between the 5th and 6th notes. So, starting again with C, you play the notes C – D – D sharp / E flat – F – G – G sharp / A flat – B flat – C.
“In minor, the half steps are always between the 2nd and 3rd as well as between the 5th and 6th notes.”
The triad consists of the keys C – G – C – E flat – G – C.
Assemble the scale independently
Now you know how a minor and major scale differ from each other. With this knowledge, you can now construct a major or minor scale from any arbitrary key on your piano.
Exercise: A minor scale
Exercise: We will now construct a minor scale from ‘A’.
A – B – C – D – E – F – G – A
The beauty of the A minor scale is that it is a natural minor scale. This means that you don’t have to play a black key to maintain the distances.
A minor scale with fingering
Let’s make it a little more difficult and build a major scale from ‘A’. In this case we play
A – B – C sharp – D – E – F sharp – G sharp – A
Recognizing major and minor by ear
You now know how to recognize major and minor on your piano based on the keys or distances. Great! But there is also the possibility to recognize major and minor only by ear.
Recognizing the difference between major and minor in music
Major and minor sound very different. Even if you are a beginner in learning piano, you will quickly be able to identify the typical major and minor sound.
By the way: If you learn to distinguish major keys from minor keys only by ear, you will be able to better understand and interpret individual songs and pieces in the future.
Beginner exercise: Recognizing major and minor by ear
Play Piano by Intuition
To train your ear, you should first listen to simple melodies in major or minor keys and try to distinguish which key they belong to. The basic rule is: Minor sounds melancholic and sad. Major sounds positive and excited .
Do you have doubts as to whether it is a major or a minor key? Then pay attention to the rhythmic elements of the piece: If the rhythm is fast and optimistic, this indicates major; if the tempo is rather slow, this indicates minor.
Why is this important?
The ability to recognize major and minor by ear is an important part of musical training – especially for beginners. With regular training, you can improve your skills as a pianist and incidentally increase your musical sensitivity.
Over time, it will become easier for you to understand why certain pieces of music sound touching, cheerful or sad – all because of the differences in the sound of the major and minor key.
Applying the difference between minor and major in practice
If you really want to become confident in a key, you have to develop a feel for it. After all, you can’t count the distances between the keys for every key and start calculating. That would be far too time-consuming and is simply not feasible in the middle of playing the piano.
Developing a feel for the key – is that possible? Yes, definitely! The more you play, the more aware you become of the connections between the keys. For example, that A major also includes D major and E major.
Major and minor in intuitive piano playing
When you play the piano intuitively, the feeling for keys comes naturally over time.
You will learn free piano playing from scratch in my online course pianio.university.
Your advantage: The feeling for the key gives you a “bite inhibition” against wrong notes. And that’s exactly what takes your piano playing to the next level.
Now you know how major and minor work in depth. You have learned how to construct a major or minor scale from any key. How major and minor sound. And you were introduced to intuitive piano playing.
Wow, what a success for today! Stay tuned and check out the upcoming posts on my blog.
Master Keys Without Sheet Music
With the new turbo training, you'll be proficient in every musical key within a few weeks.
(no sheet music knowledge required)
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Play Piano by Intuition
Master Keys Without Sheet Music
With the new turbo training, you'll be proficient in every key signature within just a few weeks.
(no knowledge of sheet music required)
