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MINOR

MUSIC CHORD
TERMS DICTIONARY

 

 
   

MINOR

A Minor chord is a group of harmonic notes that some of us feel has more of a sad or thoughtful sound than perhaps the more common Major chord.  Minor chords are similar to Major chords except that we "flat" the 3rd by lowering that note of the chord one half step.  To determine which notes are to be used for this chord, let us look at a scale.  We will use a scale in the key of C to show how this chord is put together:

Scale in Key of C

Notes C D E F G A B C D E F G A B C    
Number 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15    

A scale in the key of C shown above are the normal notes that one might expect in a song.  Instead of calling the notes C, D, E, etc.  or 1, 2, 3 , we also could think of the sequence as the singing notes: do, re, me fa, so, la ti do.

Chromatic Scale starting with C

Notes C C# D Eb E F F# G G# A Bb B C C# D    
Number 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15    

A chromatic scale is all of the possible musical notes - and not just the notes in the C scale.  Note that between two "whole steps" such as C to D, that there is a "half step" in between, that we could call C# (C sharp) or we could also call Db (D flat).  Note that C# and Db are the same note, and could be called by either name.  Basically, one half step down from D is the same as one half step up from C.

In this case, a Minor chord is made up of the 1st, flatted 3rd and normal 5th notes of the scale.  For a C Minor chord then (key of C), the notes of this chord would be:  C, Eb and G.  (note that Eb is the same note as D#).  This chord would be abbreviated:  Cm


 
   

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One person band techniques book   Book: Becoming a One Person Band (click for info)
eBook Available from Google Play, Amazon Kindle, Barnes and Noble Nook

If you have some instrument skills, particularly with a keyboard instrument such as piano, organ, accordion, or keyboard itself or similar, you can do multiple track recording and create you own band recording of perhaps 4 or 8 or 16 or more pieces. This book focuses on music theory on help for determining what some of those other band parts might play, such as strings, bass or other instruments.