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Music vocabulary · Music Theory and Harmony

Minor

Meaning in music, with examples

/ˈmaɪnər/adjectiveCore term

In music, minor means: Describing a scale, key, chord or interval built with a minor third. Music in a minor key is often described as dark, serious or sad.

In Turkish: minör, küçük

How it is used

Comes after the note name: 'A minor', 'an E minor chord'. Chord charts write it with a small m (Am, F#m). There are three common forms of the minor scale: natural, harmonic and melodic minor.

Example sentences

  1. Most of the film score is in minor keys, which gives it a tense feeling.

  2. The verse uses A minor and F, then the chorus opens up to C major.

Common collocations

  • minor key
  • minor chord
  • harmonic minor
  • relative minor
  • minor third
  • majorDescribing a scale, key, chord or interval built with a major third. Music in a major key is often described as bright or happy.
  • scaleA set of notes played in order of pitch, going up or down, that follows a fixed pattern of steps. Scales are the building blocks of melodies and chords.
  • keyThe group of notes and chords that a piece is mainly built on, centred on one home note. A song in the key of G major keeps returning to G as its point of rest.
  • chordThree or more different notes played or sung at the same time. Chords give a piece its harmony and are named after their root note and type, such as C major or A minor.
  • intervalThe distance in pitch between two notes, named by counting letter names and checking the number of semitones, such as a major third or a perfect fifth.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

More terms: Music Theory and Harmony

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