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Play the given note, then a
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The lesson ‘Key Signatures III’ presented the concept of the tonic as the ‘home base’ for key, also reflected in the scale’s starting and ending note. For any key signature, if the tonic is DO, then the piece is in the major key. If the tonic is LA then the piece is in the minor key. |
Major: DO
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C major has no accidentals in the key signature. The scale for C major goes from C to C and using no accidentals. Notice that the scale for A minor uses the same notes, it just starts and ends on A instead of C. |
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The lesson ‘Key Signatures III’ focused on how to find DO from a key signature, and thereby identify the major key. To identify the minor key, find DO as shown in that lesson, and then go down three notes: DO TI LA. LA names the minor key. |
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SHARPSthe last sharp is TI. One note higher is DO. One note lower is LA.
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FLATSSecond to last flat is DO. Go down DO TI LA to find the minor key.
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Notice that the accidentals of the key signature apply to notes the same in major and in minor. F major and D minor both place a flat on B.
TI DO in Major
In a major key, TI tends to move to DO. The lesson on tendency tones explained how TI feels a pull towards DO and tends to resolve to DO. This note is called the ‘leading tone’ as it leads to tonic. One factor of this pull is the half step distance between TI and DO.
SI LA in minor
In a minor key, SOL is just below the tonic, but the distance between SOL and LA is a whole step and
as such does not have as strong of a pull towards tonic LA. To create the leading tone inflection in minor,
musicians often raise SOL by a half of a step. The solfege for SOL raised half of a step is SI.
The accidental that turns SOL to SI is always written on the note, not in the key signature. Seeing an accidental on the note alerts you to change the solfege.
MI FI SI LA
Changing SOL to SI creates the half step between it and tonic, but it also creates a gap of a step and a half between FA and SI. When notes ascend the scale from MI up to LA, they often raise FA to FI to smooth out the steps. This will be further explored in the keyboard lesson on the melodic minor scale.
Strongest Tendencies: SI LA and FA MI
The leading tone resolving to tonic is the strongest tendency tone in minor. This is SI → LA.
FA → MI is also very strong, in part because of the sense of pull associated with half-step motion.
RE → DO is most common, but there are instances in which RE might move to MI in minor.
TI LA
In major, RE is one step above tonic (DO). In minor, TI is one step above tonic (LA) and it functions in a similar way.
The strongest resolution of TI is to go do LA, because LA is the final tonal center of the key.
TI can resolve to DO as well, but this does not sound as conclusive and final as going to DO.
In musicianship training, your goal is to hear both tendencies. TI → LA, and TI → DO.
FA → MI is also very strong, in part because of the sense of pull associated with half-step motion.
RE → DO is most common, but there are instances in which RE might move to MI in minor.
Context for FI and SOL
While FA inflects down to MI, FI inflects up, and specifically is almost always in the path of MI→FI→SI→LA, described above.
SOL is often used when moving away from tonic (LA) and is often part of the path LA→SOL→FA→MI.
Practice Patterns
Training to hear minor scale degrees takes practice. In addition to the exercises, practice singing the
tendency tone patterns above, the melodic patterns below, and improvising different strings of these patterns.
Further Exercises
Practice hearing each note’s place in the minor scale beginning with these exercises:
The steps between the notes of the major scale are shown below and were presented in the lesson ‘ Key Signatures III’.
The minor scale uses these same notes and arrangment of steps between them, but starts and ends on LA instead of DO.
