Point of View

We asked NZ jazz & blues pianist, Wil Sargisson to answer the following question...

December 2009 The Question: Is a minor key sad or are we taught that it is sad?

Response by Wil Sargisson

Major key, minor key. Almost any experienced musician can easily aurally distinguish the difference between these two, but what really is the difference? And is it true that a major key sounds “happy” while a minor key “sad”? It's something I've often wondered over the course of my life as a pianist. People at times have suggested that the notion of a minor key sounding sad has to do with the idea having been drummed into us by our Western culture, that we got accustomed to hearing slow, minor-key dirges in films where a sad scene is unfolding. That may be true and, so far as I know, nobody has done any significant research into whether people in Asian or African countries who are unfamiliar with Western music and film have the same “reactions” to major and minor key pieces. But I have a feeling the issue is deeper than just cultural brainwashing. I think it has to do with the “power” of the minor-third interval between the root note and the flattened third.
 
Most would agree that the minor-third interval is one of the most recognisable intervals of them all and can pack quite a dramatic punch when used well. I recommend the soundtrack to the excellent film “Requiem For A Dream” as a fine example of how the minor third interval can be used to convey all the drama one could ever want in the depiction of a heroin-addicted group of friends.

I think we would all agree that the root note in any key centre is the most easily identifiable note in the scale. It sounds like home. It is home. Even though the major triad contains a minor-third interval itself (between the 3rd and 5th), it just doesn't seem to have the pulling power of a root-note to flattened third interval. Why? I'm not sure.

Research has suggested that a musician's brain reacts immediately and quite differently when he or she is subjected to a piece of music, depending on whether that piece is in a minor or major key.

It has been noticed that there is a significant difference in brain activity in the temporal and parietal lobes, which would suggest that major vs. minor key centres really do affect our brains and cause involuntary feelings to emerge, however it's far from conclusive as this point in time. What is known is that there's much more activity in these areas of the brain when a minor piece is heard. The researchers suggested that the lack of activity in musician's brains during major pieces may be due to the fact that most popular Western music is played in a major key. Some estimates are at over 90 percent. So the increased brain activity occurs when a somewhat unexpected key is used.

It seems certain that there are intervals which arouse “tensions” in the listener, whether trained musically or not. In my opinion the minor-third, tri-tone and semi-tone intervals are among the most easily identified and “poignant”, if that is the right word. Some have suggested that in babies, a triad with a major third provokes a noticably less “tense” response than a triad containing a minor third. It would certainly seem that composers have known and utilised this idea for centuries. Surely it is no accident that funeral marches, dirges and requiems written for deceased friends in both classical and jazz idioms have almost always been minor pieces. I think there is no sadder piece of music in the jazz field than the tune “Goodbye”, recorded by everyone from Stan Getz to Toots Thielemans. It has the descending bass line, which some have said implies the sound of a sigh, and of course is in a minor key but interestingly the piece finishes in major. Still, the melancholy of the piece cannot be missed.

There is a theory that says tempo may be just as important as key centre in creating a mood, and perhaps this is a valid point. Up-tempo minor pieces such as eastern-European polkas definitely don't sound “sad” per se; on the contrary they are often very energetic pieces and make one want to get up and dance, but in my opinion there is a still an underlying melancholy.
Although this topic has been discussed for centuries (apparently even Pythagoras delved into the matter as early as 500BC) there is much hearsay and opinion on this topic and not much concrete evidence. I look forward to hearing what other musicians have to say on this matter.


Wil Sargisson
 

© 2009 Wil Sargisson