Success Music Studio

Why Do Minor Keys Sound Sad to Me - Sad Emoji

Why Do Minor Keys Sound Sad to Me?

Facebook
Twitter

Estimated reading time 3 minutes

Table of Contents

Introduction

Have you ever wondered, “Why do minor keys sound sad and major keys sound happy?” Has this phenomenon been hardwired into us, or does culture impact how we perceive scales? In fact, it’s a little bit of both. Read more to learn how this works.

This post uses some technical words. For descriptive links, see the Glossary below.

Why Do Minor Keys Sound Sad to Me- Ways Around the Difficulty of Playing the Piano Due to Short Fingers and Small Hands - piano fingers - How Can Legato Notes Be Played Staccato - Do My Hands' Sizes Affect Learning Performance on the Piano - Piano Major Scales (Basic Fingering Concepts)

Melody Impacts Why Minor Keys Sound Sad

Why do minor keys sound sad? Because of the melodic relationships. If you play the white keys on the keyboard from C to C, it’ll have a bright or happy sound. Conversely, if you play from A to A, it’ll have a dark or sad sound.

This happens because the pattern of whole (w) and half (h) steps changes between the minor and major scales. The C major scale has a pattern of w, w, h, w, w, w, h. You can see this on the keyboard diagram below.

The white keys all have black keys in between them – except for E & F and B & C. E & F and B & C are the half steps from the previous pattern.

In contrast, the A minor scale has a pattern of w, h, w, w, h, w, w. Because our ears hear in relative rather than absolute terms, the pattern shift completely changes the sound. Listen to the soundtracks to hear the difference.

Minor Key:

Relative Major Key:

Mobile users: for best results reading the examples, tilt your screen 90o to the right.

Do I Really Have to Learn Music Theory to Learn How to Play Piano - Why Do Minor Keys Sound Sad to Me - Color Code Key Signatures - Keyboard Accidentals - What is a Parallel Mode and How Does it Work - What Purpose Do Accidentals Serve in Reading Sheet Music - Reading Music (A Quick Guide to How to Read Music) - How Can I Learn the Basics of Music Theory - What Exactly Do I Do with the Circle of Fifths - An Easy How to Guide to Understanding Triads - 50 Essential Music Symbols Explained in Less Than 5 Minutes - What Exactly Do I Do with The Circle of Fifths - Circle of Fifths - How to Learn Music Theory with a Learning Disability - How to Effectively Use Music Theory to Transpose Music

Harmony Impacts Why Minor Keys Sound Sad

When you play notes together their harmonics interact. What are harmonics? Each note has a collection of pitches called harmonics that fuse together into one huge note called a complex tone. (See the chart below.)

When the critical bands between the harmonics in a chord overlap, it creates roughness. Suffice it to say that this creates the sense that some intervals and chords will be bright and others dark. You can hear this on the soundtracks below.

This partially explains why minor keys sound sad. For the rest of the explanation see the conclusion. For details on harmonics, fusion, critical bands, and the chart, read Harmony Is Tone Color.

I’ve provided the soundtracks to help illustrate the difference between minor and major sounds. However, the soundtracks have also been specially designed to help you sing in tune. If you’d like to see more Singing in Tune posts, click here for The Intonation Flight Simulator.

Minor Harmonies:

Relative Major Harmonies:

Why Do Minor Keys Sound Sad to Me -How Do Guitar Harmonics Work - Harmony is Tone Color - C Major Chord Chart - Learn the Secret Relationship of Timbre and Harmony - What's the Meaning of Resonate in the Context of Music - Can Somebody Explain Why Power Chords Sound Powerful?

Concluding Thoughts on Why Minor Keys Sound Sad

We’ve talked about why minor and major keys sound dark and bright, but why do minor keys sound sad and major keys sound happy? Your culture attaches meaning to the keys.

Not all cultures hear minor and major keys as sad and happy. In India, they have major scales that they consider to be sad, while they think some of the minor scales sound happy.

Because you grew up in (or were influenced by) Western society, you’ve learned to interpret the bright sounding major scale as happy. Likewise, you’ve absorbed through movies, MP3s, and the internet that the dark sounding minor scale should be sad.

However, when listening to non-western music, it’ll be better to think of the scales in terms of bright and dark.

Therefore, the fact that minor keys sound dark to us has been hardwired into our bodies. However, the emotional interpretation of the dark sounding key as being sad comes from Western culture.

Related Content:

© 2023 Geoffrey Keith

Newsletter Signup

Join me for in-person or online lessons today!

Back to the All-Purpose Music Tips and Topics category blogs page

Back to the Successful Music Student Blogs page

Glossary

How does your brain learn to play the piano with two hands - Changing Keys in Your Songwriting - Young Woman Playing the Piano

How Does Your Brain Learn to Play the Piano with Two Hands?

How does your brain learn to play the piano with two hands? Daniel Coyle, in "The Talent Code," tells us generally how the brain acquires skill, and I’ll give you specific tips for two-handed playing. Read more to find out how it works. Estimated reading time 4 minutes

Read More
Where Do I Start if I Want to Be Able to Sing A Cappella - Women Singing

Where Do I Start if I Want to Be Able to Sing A Cappella?

Do you want to be able to sing with an a cappella group while having both great tone and tuning? An a cappella group is an ensemble that performs without instrumental accompaniment. This allows your group to lock in the harmonies, which helps achieve the distinctive vocal blend you find in this style. How do you do this? Through ear training and physical skills instruction. Keep reading “Where Do I Start if I Want to Be Able to Sing A Cappella?” to learn the essential skills you’ll need. Estimated reading time 4 minutes.

Read More
Can Somebody Explain Why Power Chords Sound Powerful - Les Paul Guitar

Can Somebody Explain Why Power Chords Sound Powerful?

Power chords are an integral part of rock music’s electric guitar sound. However, you only get that exact sound when you use power chords with distortion. Why? Because a distorted electric guitar doesn’t sound quite as good with full major and minor harmonies. Why? Keep reading “Can Somebody Explain Why Power Chords Sound Powerful?” to learn why these powerful little two and three note harmonies work. Estimated reading time 2 minutes.

Read More