Tonality
, Tonal music is in a key, either major or minor...
Major = ‘Happy’ sounding
Minor = ‘Sad’ sounding
A tonal piece of music in a major key is focussed around a
major scale.
A tonal piece of music in a minor key is focussed around a
minor scale
, Major
A scale is a series of 8 notes that begin at a particular note (the
tonic), and progresses up or down to end at the same note name,
just an octave higher or lower.
e.g. C major scale:
C D E F G A B C
What defines a scale as major is the distance between each of
the notes in the scale. The major scale is made up of tones and
semitones, and has a general pattern, independent of the tonic:
tone tone semitone tone tone tone semitone
, Tonal music is in a key, either major or minor...
Major = ‘Happy’ sounding
Minor = ‘Sad’ sounding
A tonal piece of music in a major key is focussed around a
major scale.
A tonal piece of music in a minor key is focussed around a
minor scale
, Major
A scale is a series of 8 notes that begin at a particular note (the
tonic), and progresses up or down to end at the same note name,
just an octave higher or lower.
e.g. C major scale:
C D E F G A B C
What defines a scale as major is the distance between each of
the notes in the scale. The major scale is made up of tones and
semitones, and has a general pattern, independent of the tonic:
tone tone semitone tone tone tone semitone
