Music Theory question - Are all Blues songs in minor keys ?!


Question: and what is the difference between major and minor keys - how would I explain it to my students ?

I've been a bass player for many years, and know basic theory - I'm teaching some young men to play guitar using music theory, but want a "textbook" explanation.


Answers: and what is the difference between major and minor keys - how would I explain it to my students ?

I've been a bass player for many years, and know basic theory - I'm teaching some young men to play guitar using music theory, but want a "textbook" explanation.

There is one set of intervals for all Major scales, regardless of the key. Three different minor scales exist, each slightly different with regard to ascending and descending intervals:
The Harmonic minor, Melodic minor, and Natural Minor.
In addition, and though far less employed, there are a number of modes.......Ionian, Dorian, Phrygian, Lydian, etc - each with their own particular intervallic structure as well.

Having said this, and in answering your question, I would estimate that perhaps 90% of Blues tunes on written in major keys - not the other way around. Perhaps your hearing some modal-based soloing that implies a minor sound to your ear. I don't know what you're hearing......but.....trust me, Major keys abound in the Blues genre.

A minor chord flats the third of the the major triad.

Very few blues songs are in minor keys.

You'd better get a teacher yourself!

nope. when a song is "in a key", that just means that some notes are more common than others. Also, there's one note that sounds more important than all the others, which he calls the "home note".

The difference between major and minor has to do with which other notes are common, besides the home note.In a minor key, you can expect the note that's three semitones higher than the home note to be really common. In a major key, the note that's four semitones above the home note will be really common.



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