One effective method for changing keys in a song is playing the dominant chord of its relative minor chord, particularly if you need to create dramatic cadences in an abrupt manner.
Finding the relative minor key for any major key is simple – go up a fifth from its root note and add sharps or flats as necessary! Give it a try now!
Major and Minor Scales
As a ukulele player, it’s crucial that you understand how scales relate to chords in order to construct melodies that can easily transition between key changes. Relative minor can help identify which chords best suit individual scale tones – an invaluable concept when learning different keys.
Are you curious as to the differences between major and minor scales? Well, they come down to pattern of whole and half steps used, along with whether a flat or sharp note is used in each interval.
Each major tonality has its own relative minor, which can be found by counting back three half steps from its tonic (C major has A minor as its relative minor). Conversely, minor tonalities also have relative majors located three semitones up from themselves; this relationship is known as key signature; each major key also has an accompanying relative minor that shares its order of sharps and flats with that major key.
Major and Minor Chords
As noted above, one way that we differentiate major from minor scales or chords is by looking at their thirds – typically four half steps higher in major scales; three in minor ones. This rule holds for all keys.
Minor scales feature lower, or “flattened,” third notes which creates a different sound than their major counterpart. Other intervals found within these scales and chords may still contain major and minor notes for added complexity.
As such, it is possible to play a dominant chord in a major key with equal feeling when played relative minor of that key – this knowledge should be considered when creating melodies over progressions like these.
Major and Minor Scale Alterations
You may already be familiar with major scales and their accompanying minor keys, which each contain a relative minor key three semitones below – for instance C major has its relative minor key in B flat. To locate any major scale’s relative minor tone simply count up until its sixth scale degree to arrive at its relative minor tone.
Any major chord can be altered into a dominant 7th chord by replacing its major third with a lower minor third and increasing major fourth of Maj7(b9) accordingly. Furthermore, any major chord can also be converted to its relative minor by replacing major seventh with increased major fourth making Maj7(b13).
This is one of the easiest and most common tricks used in music to shift a song’s harmonic center without making a major key change. Give it a try yourself and you’ll quickly find that its function remains unchanged while its sound differs slightly – this works especially well when cadences change as well!
Major and Minor Cadences
Key changes are an integral component of music theory, yet many players struggle with creating effective key changes in songs. One effective technique for transitioning between keys is replacing major cadences with their respective minor ones to give your tune an entirely new sound without sounding abrupt or abrupt.
Numerous classic songs utilize this technique. Some examples include John Lennon’s This Boy from the Beatles’ Instant Karma album; Tom Petty’s I Won’t Back Down and Neil Young’s Rockin’ in the Free World among many others.
Minor chords evoke feelings of melancholy or sadness, making them popular choices for classical music composition to create tension or drama. However, adding a major 9 to the voicing can give the chord a brighter quality that gives some modern styles of jazz music what some musicians refer to as “noir.” By juxtaposing the soft notes of a minor 7 with its brightness derived from adding this extra chord 9 tone you can make your songs even more dramatic and interesting!