Why Are Major Keys Happy, Minor Keys Sad?

[The Green Troll]

Why Do Major Keys evoke happiness and Minor Keys sadness or pensiveness?
This has been connected to speech intonation but then why the intonation?

You may be generalizing too much. Bach composed numerous minor-key
fuges and concerti that are lively, vigorous, driving, and satisfying.
The same is true of works by Handel, Vivaldi, and more recent
composers. It is obvious that neither these composers nor the
audiences that continue to relish their music after three centuries
relegate the minor key to a single emotion.

The distinguishing characteristic of the minor key is that it sounds
serious, rather than weak or frivolous.

The Ancient Greek recognition of the mood of music still has some
validity. (See the chart at <http://www.rev.net/~aloe/music/
diatonic.html>.)

Beco dos Gatinhos

[Peter T. Daniels]

Post by The Green Troll

Why Do Major Keys evoke happiness and Minor Keys sadness or pensiveness?
This has been connected to speech intonation but then why the intonation?

Well, this has just been crossposted out of nowhere, but who says they
do?

And who has made such a "connection"?

Post by The Green Troll
You may be generalizing too much. Bach composed numerous minor-key
fuges and concerti that are lively, vigorous, driving, and satisfying.
The same is true of works by Handel, Vivaldi, and more recent
composers. It is obvious that neither these composers nor the
audiences that continue to relish their music after three centuries
relegate the minor key to a single emotion.
The distinguishing characteristic of the minor key is that it sounds
serious, rather than weak or frivolous.

That's almost as absurd as the original assertion.

Post by The Green Troll
The Ancient Greek recognition of the mood of music still has some
validity. (See the chart at <http://www.rev.net/~aloe/music/
diatonic.html>.)

[Bret Cahill]

Post by The Green Troll

Why Do Major Keys evoke happiness and Minor Keys sadness or pensiveness?
This has been connected to speech intonation but then why the intonation?

You may be generalizing too much. Bach composed numerous minor-key
fuges and concerti that are lively, vigorous, driving, and satisfying.

That doesn't necessarily mean "happy."

Post by The Green Troll
The same is true of works by Handel, Vivaldi, and more recent
composers. It is obvious that neither these composers nor the
audiences that continue to relish their music after three centuries
relegate the minor key to a single emotion.
The distinguishing characteristic of the minor key is that it sounds
serious, rather than weak or frivolous.

What about fun? Is fun serious?


Bret Cahill

[Jonathan Ellis]

Post by Bret Cahill

Post by The Green Troll

Why Do Major Keys evoke happiness and Minor Keys sadness or
pensiveness?
This has been connected to speech intonation but then why the intonation?

You may be generalizing too much. Bach composed numerous minor-key
fuges and concerti that are lively, vigorous, driving, and
satisfying.

That doesn't necessarily mean "happy."

Post by The Green Troll
The same is true of works by Handel, Vivaldi, and more recent
composers. It is obvious that neither these composers nor the
audiences that continue to relish their music after three centuries
relegate the minor key to a single emotion.
The distinguishing characteristic of the minor key is that it sounds
serious, rather than weak or frivolous.

What about fun? Is fun serious?

I wonder how much of our perception of "happy" versus "sad" is down to
the fact that, in the harmonic series, the major third is a much closer
harmonic to a given "tonic" than the minor third, and thus much more of
a "concord" (to which things tend to resolve) than a "discord" (an less
stable compound sound that wants to resolve elsewhere)?

-- Jonathan.

[Alain Naigeon]

They aren't.

[Terry]

Post by Alain Naigeon
They aren't.

Bingo!

[Joe Roberts]

Why Do Major Keys evoke happiness and
Minor Keys sadness or pensiveness?

Easy. Minor keys haven't grown to achieve their majority yet. Music in a minor key needs to evolve to resolve its adolescent growing pains.

Young adulthood hits Eb major, so natural for every SATB voice to soar into its springtime. Sopranos love it because they carry the leading tone above all that might be going on in the world below. Altos love it for the high tonic that rings of the victory that they don't get all that often. Tenors love it because they can range pretty much all over the place and no one bothers them for it. Basses love it, well, for what else -- the low Eb.

Good old Eb major!

Then come mature affairs between Bb major and G minor -- Boy and Girl, modern issues get resolved by downloading a new MP3 to the shared tablet space. Major, minor, whatever, resolve it. Click.

Finally comes C.

Joe

[Lutemann]

Major and minor have always been interchangeable. In any complex tonal piece, tonalities are constantly changing

[Lutemann]

Major and minor have always been interchangeable. In any complex tonal piece, tonalities are constantly changing