Today is lesson nine of the series on components of healing music and I want to start, as always, with a disclaimer: my thoughts and ideas about components and definitions of healing music are not absolute. They are my own subjective ideas based on a lifetime of being a musician, a teacher, a performer and a clinician. Other writers could choose other components or choose the same ones with different definitions or explanations. These are mine, as I understand them.
You’ve probably heard people say “this is in the key of C major, or d minor; or G major or f minor. Each of the first 7 letter names of the alphabet has a major and a minor key that goes with it. Then there are the sharp and flat keys, but we won’t even go there!
The important thing, really, is to understand the difference between major and minor. When I taught piano to children, years ago, we used to say that major keys were the “happy” keys and minor keys were “sad” or sometimes “scary” keys. Of course these are great oversimplifications, but the idea is right!
A simple melody, with or without harmony, in a major key, at a slow or moderate tempo, is likely to be pleasant for someone who is resting or trying to relax. A simple melody, with or without harmony, in a minor key could well feel sad to wistful to the casual listener. To put these two things into songs you jay already know, think of these:
Major: Happy Birthday to You, You Are My Sunshine, Yankee Doodle
Minor: Greensleeves, When Johnny Comes Marching Home, God Rest Ye Merry Gentleman.
Of interest, I think, is the fact that a major triad and a minor triad have just one 1/2 step difference. For those who read music, it’s just the difference of C-E-G vs. C-E-flat-G. But what a difference that little 1/2 step makes!!
Tomorrow is the final lesson in this little series and I’m going to talk about other scales that are often used in more “New Age” healing music… the whole tone scale, the pentatonic scale, and the ancient Greek modes. See you back here tomorrow!
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