Simple fractions can sound more harmonious than complex fractions for instance, an octave is a simple 2:1 ratio and a fifth is the relatively simple 3:2 ratio. Musical tuning of intervals is expressed by the ratio between the pitches' frequencies. The use of triads only available in the minor mode, such as the use of A ♭-major in C major, is relatively decorative chromaticism, considered to add color and weaken the sense of key without entirely destroying or losing it. Transposition is done by moving all intervals up or down a certain constant interval, and does change the key but not the mode, which requires the alteration of intervals. This is in contrast with, for instance, transposition.

Ĭhanges of mode, which involve the alteration of the third, and mode mixture are often analyzed as minor changes unless structurally supported because the root and overall key and tonality remain unchanged. Harry Partch considers minor as, 'the immutable faculty of ratios, which in turn represent an immutable faculty of the human ear.' The minor key and scale are also considered less justifiable than the major, with Paul Hindemith calling it a 'clouding' of major, and Moritz Hauptmann calling it a 'falsehood of the major'. Minor keys are sometimes said to have a more interesting, possibly darker sound than plain major scales. ' This alteration in the third degree 'greatly changes' the mood of the music, and 'music based on minor scales tends to' be considered to 'sound serious or melancholic'.

As musicologist Roger Kamien explains, 'the crucial difference is that in the minor scale there is only a half step between '2nd and 3rd note' and between '5th and 6th note' as compared to the major scales where the difference between '3rd and 4th note' and between '7th and 8th note' is. The hallmark that distinguishes major keys from minor is whether the third scale degree is major or minor. In a minor triad or minor seventh chord, the third is a minor third above the root. Similarly, in a major triad or major seventh chord, the third is a major third above the chord's root.In a minor scale, the third degree is a minor third above the tonic. A major scale is a scale in which the third scale degree (the mediant) is a major third above the tonic note.The other uses of major and minor generally refer to scales and chords that contain a major third or a minor third, respectively. Major and minor third in a major chord: major third 'M' on bottom, minor third 'm' on top

Minor meaning