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One thing that took me awhile to realize, @Cadgirl , about Tony’s titles for the Friday lessons.
B Minor does not mean B minor. It means the key of B, Minor chords. Or, the Minor chords in the key of B. It can be confusing. Ok, I just went back to the lessons and it seems this difficult to understand labeling system has changed. Now it actually says “Major Chords in the Key of B” and “Minor Chords in the Key of B”.
So, this weeks key is not B minor, but B major. They are simply the minor chords from the key of B major. By the way, technically, there’s no such thing as the key of B minor. In fact, technically, there’s no such thing as the key of B major. What’s that mean? It means they never gave a name to the keys, they simply used the major mode as the name of the key. There is only one key, the key of “5 sharps”. B major, C# Dorian, D# Phrygian, E Lydian, F# Mixolydian, G# Aeolian, and A# Locrian, are all in the same key. So if someone says “the key of C major” and “the key of A minor”, those are 2 names for the same key. They are not 2 keys, they are 2 names and one key. The key is “no flats or sharps”.
Now, there is a very good reason they called the key by the Ionian, or Major, mode. And there is a very philosophical reason for calling a key by the minor, or Aeolian, mode, and it’s literally imaginary. The argument is based on something that doesn’t exist in nature, ever. It is only theoretical. But in the end, it doesn’t matter as long as we recognize what the key is and what is a name. The “key of” is a set of 7 notes. The key of “C major” is a name that refers to a set of 7 notes.
This is one of the chief things that causes so much misunderstanding and controversy. Even the music schools will mislead on this topic. But if you push them, then they have to admit the truth. There are only 12 keys. There are 15 key signitures. 3 of the keys have to names, enharmonic names. Every note in the key of Db is exactly the same as every note in the key of C#, and every note name is enharmonic. “Do the math”. That is, write out the key.
Db, Eb, F, Gb, Ab, Bb, C, Db.
C#, D#, E#, F#, G#, A#, B#, C#.
Notice that “E#” is actually F, and “B#” is actually C.
Now, you can do the same for F# and Gb; then do B and C#. It’s instructive to go through these exercises.
Before I quit, let me give one more example. The “key of B” and “the key of B minor”. The 7 notes of B are B, C#, D#, E, F#, G#, A#, B. The 7 notes of B minor are (starting on the 6th degree) B, C#, D, E, F#, G, A, B. So the formula is the same, we simple started on a different degree. Major: (1) whole, (2) whole, (3) half, (4) whole, (5) whole (6) whole, (7) half (1). Minor: (6) whole, (7) half (1) whole, (2) whole, (3) half, (4) whole, (5) whole, (6). Notice that “whole” and “half” are actually spaces between the notes. That’s why I included the numbers representing the notes. There is a space of 2 half steps, or 2 frets between the 1 note and the 2 note. Etc.
MG 😀