What are the signs in B flat minor. About the letter designation of keys

Major keys

Minor keys

Parallel keys

Enharmonically equal tonalities

Enharmonically equal tonalities are tonalities that are the same in sound, but different in name.

Comments:

03/29/2015 at 14:02 Oleg spoke out:

I did not see a table with all the signs in the key in all POSSIBLE keys. There is a table, but what is needed is not there!

04/05/2015 at 23:54 Svetlana spoke out:

Hello. Write specifically what tonality you are interested in, I will answer you.

01/21/2016 at 16:06 Julia spoke out:

Keys missing from the table are G-dur and e-moll

01/21/2016 at 16:17 Svetlana spoke out:

Fixed, thanks!

02/19/2016 at 18:59 Maksim spoke out:

I'm interested in C flat major. And could you make a separate article where different chords are built in different keys?

02/19/2016 at 22:25 Svetlana spoke out:

Hello, Maxim. There are seven flats in C-flat major. I recommend that you replace it with the key of B major, they are enharmonically equal, and there will be fewer signs - 5 sharps.

There are no immediate plans to write such an article.

08/30/2017 at 04:52 I need to build d7 with appeals in 24 keys, but for some reason I find 30 keys everywhere on the Internet. Why? spoke out:

I accidentally wrote my question in my name.

04/25/2018 at 14:25 Peter spoke out:

Guys, in fact, all of the above is very useful, and necessary for application in practice. I just don’t understand those who, due to insufficient understanding of the topic, leave bad reviews.

08.10.2018 at 17:36 Julia spoke out:

Good afternoon,

The child was given a pre-task: signs in keys up to 3 with # and b.

Unfortunately, this is already the 4th solfeggio teacher in 3 years, the material is given in pieces. My daughter doesn’t understand at all what it is and what they want from her.

Please tell me.

01/02/2019 at 21:33 morozalex2018 spoke out:

G-dur and e-moll are in the table, look carefully

02/09/2019 at 09:16 Eve spoke out:

Thank you! Very useful article, saved it👏🏻👍🏻

04/16/2019 at 19:33 Lida spoke out:

What are the signs in F flat minor?

04/21/2019 at 23:48 Oleg spoke out:

Useful advice

04/21/2019 at 23:49 Oleg spoke out:

Helpful information

04/21/2019 at 23:55 Oleg spoke out:

Let's look at the key of F flat minor. So, in the key of F minor there are 4 flats, and in F flat minor there are 7 more flats, that is, 4+7=11b. Some may say that this cannot happen. The answer is - maybe!! In F flat minor there are 4 double flats: these are -bbb, mibb, abb and rebb. And also saltb, dob and fab.

04/22/2019 at 00:05 Oleg spoke out:

Tonality with a large (more than six) number of key characters can be replaced by a tonality with a smaller number of characters. The main thing is that the sum of the original and replaced characters is equal to 12, and also that they are opposite. For example, if you have 8 flats, then we do: 12-8b = 4# (F flat major 8b. A E major - 4#). Such tonalities are called enharmonically equal, that is, equal in sound. But in terms of name and notation of notes (scales), they are different.

Semantic (mode-phonic) unity

Multi-level units of classical harmony.

A.L. Ostrovsky. Methods of music theory and solfeggio. L., 1970. p. 46-49.

N.L. Vashkevich. Expressiveness of tones. Minor. (Manuscript) Tver, 1996.

The choice of tonality by the composer is not accidental. To a large extent it is associated with her expressive capabilities. The individual colorful properties of tonality are a fact. They are not always in unity with the emotional coloring of a musical work, but they are always present in its colorful and expressive subtext, as an emotional background.

Analyzing the figurative content of a large range of major works, the Belgian musicologist and composer François Auguste Gevart (1828-1908) presented his own version of expressiveness major keys, revealing a specific interaction system. “The color characteristic of the major mood,” he writes, “takes on shades that are light and brilliant in tones with sharps, strict and gloomy in tones with flats...”, essentially repeating the conclusion of R. Schumann made half a century earlier. And further. “Do - Sol - Re - A major, etc. - getting lighter and lighter. C – F – B-flat – E-flat major, etc. “It’s getting darker and darker.” “As soon as we reach the tone F sharp major (6 sharps), the ascent stops. The shine of tones with sharps, brought to the point of hardness, is suddenly erased and, through an imperceptible transfusion of shades, is identified with the dark color of the tone G-flat major (6 flats),” which creates a semblance of a vicious circle:

C major

Firm, decisive

F major G major

Courageous Funny

B flat major D major

Proud Brilliant

E-flat major A major

Majestic Glad

A flat major E major

Noble Shining

D flat major B major

Important Powerful

G flat major F sharp major

Gloomy Hard

Gewart's conclusions are not completely indisputable. And this is understandable; It is impossible to reflect in one word the emotional coloring of a tonality, its inherent palette of shades, its distinctive nuance.

In addition, it is necessary to take into account the individual “hearing” of tonality. For example, Tchaikovsky’s D-flat major can be confidently called the tonality of love. This is the tone of the romance “No, only the one who knew”, the scenes of Tatyana’s letter, P.P. (love themes) in Romeo and Juliet, etc.

And yet, “despite some naivety” (as Ostrovsky noted), for us the characteristics of Gewart’s tonalities are valuable. We have no other sources.

In this regard, the list of names of “tonal characteristic theorists” “whose works were in Beethoven” is surprising: Matteson, L. Mitzler, Klineberger, J.G. Sulzer, A.Hr.Koch, J.J. von Heinze, Chr. F. D. Schubart (Romain Rolland reports this in the book “Beethoven’s Last Quartets.” M., 1976, p. 225). “The problem of characterizing tonalities occupied Beethoven until the end of his life.”

Gevart's work “Guide to Instrumentation,” which contains material on tonality, was translated into Russian by P. Tchaikovsky. The great composer's interest in this speaks volumes.

"Expressiveness minor keys“,” wrote Gevart, “is less varied, dark and not so defined.” Are Gevart's conclusions correct? What makes me doubtful is the fact that among the tonalities that have undeniably specific and vivid emotional characteristics, minor ones are no less than major ones (it’s enough to name B minor, C minor, C sharp minor). Answering this question was the task of the joint course work of first-year students T.O. Tver Music School (1977-78 academic year) Inna Bynkova (Kalyazin), Marina Dobrynskaya (Staraya Toropa), Tatyana Zaitseva (Konakovo), Elena Zubryakova (Klin), Svetlana Shcherbakova and Natalya Yakovleva (Vyshny Volochek). The work analyzed pieces of instrumental cycles involving all 24 keys of the circle of fifths, where the randomness of the choice of key is minimal:

Bach. Preludes and Fugues of HTC, Volume I,

Chopin. Preludes. Op.28,

Chopin. Sketches. Op.10, 25,

Prokofiev. Fleetingness. Op.22,

Shostakovich. 24 preludes and fugues. Op.87,

Shchedrin.24 preludes and fugues.

In our course work, the analysis was limited only to the first exposed topic according to a pre-agreed plan. All conclusions about the emotional and figurative content had to be confirmed by an analysis of the means of expressiveness, intonation features of the melody, and the presence of figurative elements in the musical language. Seeking help from musicological literature was mandatory.

The final stage of our analytical work was a statistical method of multi-stage generalization of all the results of the analysis of plays of a specific tonality, a method of elementary arithmetic counting of repeated words-epithets and thereby identifying the dominant emotional characteristic of the tonality. We understand that it is not at all easy to describe in words the complex, colorful flavor of tonality, especially in one word, and therefore there were many difficulties. The expressive qualities of certain keys (A minor, E, C, F, B, F-sharp) were revealed confidently, in others - with less clarity (D minor, cm-flat, G-sharp).

Uncertainty arose with D sharp minor. Its characterization is conditional. Of the 8 analyzed works in a key with 6 signs, in 7 the composers preferred E-flat minor. D-sharp minor, “very rare and inconvenient to perform” (as Y. Milstein noted), was represented by only one work (Bach HTC, Fugue XIII), which made it impossible to characterize it. As an exception to our methods, we proposed to use the characteristic of D sharp minor by Ya. Milshtein as high pitch . This ambiguous definition contains both inconvenience for performance, psychological and physiological tension of intonation for string players and vocalists, and something sublime, and something harsh.

Our conclusion: there is no doubt that minor keys, like major keys, have specific individual expressive qualities.

Following the example of Gevart, we offer the following, in our opinion, acceptable version of the monosyllabic characteristics of the minor:

A minor - easy

E minor - light

B minor - mournful

F sharp minor - excited

C sharp minor - elegiac

G sharp minor - tense

D-sharp - “high key”

E-flat minor - severe

B-flat minor - gloomy

F minor - sad

C minor - pathetic

G minor - poetic

D minor - courageous

Having received an affirmative answer to the first question (do minor keys have individual expressive qualities), we began to solve the second: is there (like major keys) a system of interaction of expressive characteristics in minor keys?, and if so, what is it?

Let us recall that such a system in Gevart’s major keys was their arrangement on the circle of fifths, which reveals a natural brightening of their color when moving towards sharps and darkening towards flats. Denying the minor key individual emotional and colorful properties, Gevart, naturally, could not see any system of interconnections in minor keys, considering as such only the gradualness of emotional transitions: “their expressive character does not represent, as in major tones, such a correct gradualism” (5 , p.48).

Challenging Gevart in the first, we will try to find a different answer in the other.

In search of a system, various options for the arrangement of minor keys were tried, comparing them with major keys, options for connections with other elements of the musical system, namely, the location

on the circle of fifths (similar to major ones),

at other intervals,

according to the chromatic scale;

arrangement according to emotional characteristics (identity, contrast, gradualness of emotional transitions);

comparisons with parallel major keys,

with the same name,

analysis of the coloring of keys based on their pitch position on the steps of the scale relative to the sound C.

Six term papers – six opinions. Of all those proposed, two patterns found in the works of Dobrynskaya Marina and Bynkova Inna turned out to be promising.

The first pattern.

The expressiveness of minor keys is directly dependent on the major keys of the same name. The minor is a softened, darkened (like light and shadow) version of the major of the same name.

Minor is the same as major, “but only paler and vaguer, like any “minor” in general in relation to the “major” of the same name. N. Rimsky Korsakov (see p. 31).

C major firm, decisive

minor pathetic,

B major mighty

mournful minor,

B flat major proud

gloomy minor,

A major joyful

minor minor,

G major cheerful

poetic minor,

F sharp major hard

minor excited,

F major courageous

sad minor,

E major radiant

minor light,

E-flat major majestic

severe minor,

D major brilliant (victory)

minor is courageous.

In most major-minor comparisons the relationship is obvious, but in some pairs it is not so clear. For example, D major and minor (brilliant and courageous), F major and minor (courageous and sad). The reason may be the inaccuracy of the verbal characteristics of tonalities. Assuming that ours are approximate, we cannot fully rely on the characteristics given by Gevart. For example, Tchaikovsky characterized the key of D major as solemn (5. p. 50). Such amendments almost eliminate contradictions.

We do not compare A-flat major and G-sharp minor, D-flat major and C-sharp minor, since these pairs of keys are opposite. The contradictions in their emotional characteristics are natural.

Second pattern.

The search for brief verbal characteristics of tonality could not help but remind us of something akin to the “mental effects” of Sarah Glover and John Curwen.

Let us remember that this is the name of the method (England, 19th century) of personifying the degrees of the mode, i.e. verbal, gestural (and at the same time both muscular and spatial) characteristics of them, which is intended to provide a high effect (“mental effect”!) of modal ear training in the system of relative solmization.

MU students are introduced to relative solmization from the first year both in music theory (mental effects are an indispensable opportunity to explain the topic “Modal and phonic functions of mode degrees”), and in solfeggio from the first lessons. (Relative solmization is mentioned on page 8)

Let's compare the characteristics of Sarah Glover's steps with our pairs of keys of the same name, placing them on the white key C major:

major mode in

MINOR "mental effects" MAJOR

B minor - VII, B - piercing, B major -

Mournful sensitive - powerful

A minor - VI, A – sad, A major –

Lightly plaintive - joyful

G minor - V, G - majestic - G major -

Poetic, bright - cheerful

F minor V, F – sad, F major -

Sad Awesome - Courageous

E minor - III, E – even, E major -

Light calm - shining

D minor - II, D – motivating, D major –

Courageous, full of hope - brilliant (victorious)

C minor - I, C – strong, C major –-

Pathetic decisive - firm, decisive

In most horizontals, the similarity of emotional characteristics (with some exceptions) is obvious.

The comparison of the IV degree and F major, VI art is not convincing. and A major. But, let us note, it is precisely these steps (IV and VI) in the quality as “Kerwen heard” them, according to P. Weiss (2, p. 94), that are less convincing. (However, the authors of the system themselves “do not consider the characteristics they give to be the only possible ones” (p. 94)).

But a problem arises. In relative solmization the syllables Do, Re, Mi, etc. - these are not specific sounds with a fixed frequency, as in absolute solmization, but the name of the degrees of the mode: Do (strong, decisive) is the 1st degree in F-dur, Des-dur, and C-dur. Do we have the right to correlate the tonalities of the circle of fifths with the degrees of C major only? Can C major, and not any other keys, determine their expressive qualities? We would like to express our opinion on this matter in the words of Y. Milstein. Bearing in mind the significance of C major in Bach's CTC, he writes that this “tonality is like an organizing center, like an unshakable and solid stronghold, extremely clear in its simplicity. Just as all the colors of the spectrum, collected together, give a colorless white color, so the C-dur tonality, combining elements of other tonalities, to a certain extent has a neutral, colorless-light character” (4, p. 33-34) . Rimsky-Korsakov is even more specific: C major is the tonality of white (see below, p. 30).

The expressiveness of tonalities is in direct connection with the colorful and phonic qualities of the degrees of C major.

C major is the center of tonal organization in classical music, where scale and tonality form an inextricable, mutually defining mode-phonic unity.

“The fact that C-dur is felt as the center and basis seems to confirm our conclusions Ernst. Kurt in “Romantic Harmony” (3, p. 280) is a consequence of two reasons. Firstly, the sphere of C-dur is, in a historical sense, the birthplace and the beginning of further harmonic development into sharp and flat tonalities. (...) C major has always meant - and this is much more significant than historical development - the basis and central starting point of the earliest musical studies. This position is strengthened and determines not only the character of C-dur itself, but at the same time the character of all other tonalities. E-dur, for example, is perceived depending on how it initially stands out against C-dur. Therefore, the absolute character of tonality, determined by the attitude towards C major, is determined not by the nature of the music, but by historical and pedagogical origins.”

The seven steps of C major are just seven pairs of the same keys closest to C major. What about the rest of the “black” sharp and flat keys? What is their expressive nature?

There is already a path. Again to C major, to its steps, but now to the altered ones. Alteration has a wide range of expressive possibilities. With the overall intensity of the sound, alteration forms two intonationally contrasting spheres: increasing alteration (ascending introductory tone) - this is the area of ​​​​emotionally expressive intonations, bright hard colors; descending (descending tone) – the area of ​​emotional-shadow intonations, darkened colors. Expression of the color of keys on altered degrees and the reason for the emotional polarity of sharp and flat keys in the same pitch position

tonic on the steps of C major, but not natural, but altered.

MINOR altered MAJOR

B-flat minor – SI B-flat major -

Gloomy - proud

A A-flat major –

Noble

G sharp minor – SALT

Tense

sol G-flat major –

Gloomy

F sharp minor – FA F sharp major -

Excited - hard

E-flat minor MI E-flat major –

Severe - majestic

D sharp minor - D

High tone.

C sharp minor - C

Elegiac

In these comparisons, at first glance, only C-sharp minor does not justify. In its coloring (in relation to the pathetic C minor), in accordance with the increasing alteration, one would expect emotional clarification. However, let us inform you that in our preliminary analytical conclusions, C sharp minor was characterized as sublimely elegiac. The coloring of C-sharp minor is the sound of the 1st movement of Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata, Borodin’s romance “For the Shores of the Fatherland...”. These amendments restore balance.

Let's add our conclusions.

The coloring of tonalities on chromatic degrees C major is directly dependent on the type of alteration - increasing (increasing expression, brightness, harshness) or decreasing (darkening, thickening of colors).

This completed the course work of our students. But her final material on the expressiveness of tonalities quite unexpectedly provided an opportunity to consider semantics of triad(major and minor) and tones(essentially, individual tones in the chromatic scale).

PONALITY, TONE, TONE –

SEMANTIC (MOD-PHONIC) UNITY

Our conclusion (about direct connection between the expressiveness of keys and the colorful and phonic qualities of the degrees C major) discovered the unity of two units, - tonality, tone, having essentially united two independent systems: C major (its natural and altered degrees) and the tonal system of the circle of fifths. Our unification is quite obviously missing one more link - chord.

A related phenomenon (but not the same thing) was noted by S.S. Grigoriev in his study “Theoretical Course of Harmony” (M., 1981). Tone, chord, tonality presented by Grigoriev as three multi-level units of classical harmony, which are carriers of modal and phonic functions (pp. 164-168). In Grigoriev's triad, these “units of classical harmony” are functionally independent of each other; but our triad is a qualitatively different phenomenon, it is elementary, our units of harmony are the constituent elements of mode-tonality: tone is the 1st degree of the mode, the chord is the tonic triad.

We will try to find, if possible, objective mode-phonic characteristics chords(major and minor triads as tonic ones).

One of the few sources where there is the information we need, bright and accurate modal-phonic characteristics of chords (an acute problem in teaching harmony and solfeggio at school) is the above-mentioned work by S. Grigoriev. Let's use the research material. Will our characteristics of consonances fit into the modal-phonic triad of tone-consonance-tonality?

Diatonic C major:

Tonic (tonic triad)– center of gravity, peace, balance (2, pp. 131-132); “logical conclusion from the previous mode-functional movement development, the ultimate goal and the resolution of its contradictions” (p. 142). Support, stability, strength, hardness are the general characteristics of both the tonic triad and the tonality of Gewart's C major, and the 1st degree of Kerven's major.

Dominant– a chord of affirmation of the tonic as a support, the center of modal gravity. “The dominant is a centripetal force within the modal-functional system” (p. 138), “the concentration of modal-functional dynamics.” “Bright, majestic” (Kerven)VThe -th degree is a direct characteristic of the D chord with its major sound, with an active quart move in the bass when resolved in T and an ascending semitone intonation of the introductory tone, the intonation of affirmation, generalization, creation.

Gevart's epithet “cheerful” (G major) clearly does not live up to the coloring of D5/3. But in terms of tonality, it’s difficult to agree with him: it’s too simple for “G major, bright, joyful, victorious” (N. Eskin. Journal of Musical Life No. 8, 1994, p. 23).

Subdominant, according to Riemann, is a chord of conflict. Under certain metrhythmic conditions, S challenges the tonic’s function of foundation (2, p. 138). “S is the centrifugal force inside the modal-functional system.” In contrast to the “effective” D, S– “counteraction” chord (p. 139), an independent, proud chord. Gevart has F major - courageous. According to the characteristics of P. Mironositsky (follower of Kerwen, author of the textbook “Notes-letters”, see about this 1, pp. 103-104) IV-I stage – “like a heavy sound.”

CharacteristicIV-I steps in "mental effects" - "dreary, fearsome"(according to P. Weiss (see 1, p. 94) is not a convincing definition) - does not give the expected parallel with the color of F major. But these are exact sound epithets minor harmonic subdominant and its projections - F minor sad.

TriadsVIth andIIIth steps– mediants, - middle, intermediate both in sound composition from T to S and D, and functionally: VI-I am softS(easy A minor), sad, plaintiveVI-I'm in "mental effects"; III-i - soft D (light E minor, smooth, calmIII-I stage. Secondary triads are opposite in modal inclination to the tonic. “Romantic thirds”, “delicate and transparent colors of mediants”, “reflected light”, “pure colors of major or minor triads” (2, pp. 147-148) - these subtle figurative characteristics are only part of those addressed to the chords III and VI th steps in the “Theoretical Course of Harmony” by S.S. Grigoriev.

TriadIIth stage, which has no common sounds with the tonic (as opposed to the “soft” mediant VI) - as if “hard” subdominant, active and effective chord in S group. Harmony II-th stage, motivating, full of hope(according to Curwen) - this is “courageous” D minor.

“Brilliant” D major is a direct analogy of major harmony onIIth stage, analogy chordDD. This is exactly how it sounds in the cadence DD – D7 – T, strengthening it, forming, as it were, a doubly authentic turn.

C major-minor of the same name:

Same name minor tonic –a softened shadow version of the major triad. Pathetic in C minor.

Natural (minor)d minor of the same name is a dominant, deprived of the “primary feature” (introductory tone) and losing its sharpness towards T 5/3, losing the tension, brightness and solemnity of the major triad, leaving only enlightenment, gentleness, poetry. Poetic G minor!

Medians of the same name in C minor. MajorVI-I(VIth low), - solemn chord, softened by the harsh coloring of the subdominant sound. A-flat major noble!TriadIII-its steps(III low) – major chord with fifth scale in C minor. E-flat major is majestic!

VII-I'm natural(eponymous minor) – a major triad with an archaic flavor of a harsh natural minor (B flat major proud!), the basis of the Phrygian phrase in the bass - a descending movement with obvious semantics of tragic

Neapolitan chord(by nature it can be the 2nd degree of the Phrygian mode of the same name, it can be an introductory tone S), - sublime harmony with the harsh Phrygian flavor. D flat major in Gevart it is important. For Russian composers this tonality of serious tone and deep feelings.

C major parallel combination (C major-A minor):

Shining E major– direct illustration III-ey major (harmD parallel minor, - bright, majestic).

C major-minor in the chromatic system, represented by side D (for example, A dur, H dur), side S (hmoll, bmoll), etc. And everywhere we will find convincing sound-colorful parallels.

This review gives us the right to draw further conclusions.

Each row of our triad, each pitch level demonstrates the unity of the interdependent mode-functional and semantic qualities of the elements of the triad tone, triad, tonality.

Each triad (major or minor), each individual sound (as a tonic) has individual colorful properties. Triad and tone are carriers of the color of their tonality and are capable of preserving it (relatively speaking) in any context of the chromatic system.

This is confirmed by the fact that the two elements of our triad , - consonance and tonality, - in music theory are often simply identified. For Kurt, for example, chord and key were sometimes synonymous. “The absolute action of a chord,” he writes, “is determined by the originality of the character tonality, finding its most distinct expression in the tonic chord that represents it” (3, p. 280). Analyzing the harmonic fabric, he often calls the triad tonality, endowing it with its inherent sound color, and what is important is that these harmonically sound colors are specific and independent of the context, the mode-functional conditions and the main tonality of the work. For example, about A major in “Lohengrin” we read from him: “The flowing enlightenment of the tonality A major, and in particular its tonic triad, acquires leitmotif meaning in the music of the work...” (3, p.95); or: “...a light chord E major appears, and then a chord with a more matte, twilight coloring - As major. Consonances act as symbols of clarity and soft dreaminess...” (3, p.262). And indeed, the tonality, represented even by its tonic, is a stable musical color. A tonic triad, for example, F major “masculine” will retain the flavor of its tonality in different contexts: being D5/3 in B-flat major, and S in C major, and III major in D-flat major, and N5/3 in E major.

On the other hand, the shades of its color cannot but change. Gevart wrote about this: “The psychological impression made on us by tone is not absolute; it is subject to laws similar to those that exist in paints. Just as white color seems whiter after black, so exactly the sharp tone of G major will be dull after E major or B major” (15, p. 48)

Of course, the phonic unity of consonance and tonality is most convincing and visual in C major, that original primordial tonality that took upon itself the mission of assigning a certain coloristic personality to other tonalities. It is also convincing in keys close to C major. However, with the removal of 4 or more characters, phonic relationships and harmonic colors become more and more complex. And yet, unity is not violated. In the shining E major, for example, a bright D5/3 is a mighty B major, a firm proud S (as we characterized it) is a joyful L major, a light minor VI is an elegiac C sharp minor, an active II degree is excited F-sharp minor, III – tense G-sharp minor. This is the palette of E major with a range of characteristic hard unique colors of complex shades inherent only to this key. Simple tonalities - simple pure colors (3, p. 283), distant multi-sign tonalities - complex colors, unusual shades. According to Schumann, “less complex feelings require simpler tonalities for their expression; more complex ones fit better into unusual ones, which are encountered less often by hearing” (6, p. 299).

On the phonic “personification” of tone in the “Theoretical Course of Harmony” by S.S. Grigoriev has only a few words: “The phonic functions of an individual tone are more vague and ephemeral than its modal functions” (2, p. 167). To what extent this is true, we are made to doubt the presence of specific emotional characteristics of the stages in the “mental effects”. But the colorful tone is much more complex, richer. The triad - tone, chord, tonality - is a system based on the unity of interdependent mode-functional and semantic qualities. Mode-phonic unity tone-chord-key- self-correcting system . Each element of the triad clearly or potentially contains the colorful properties of all three. “The smallest unit of mode-tonal organization - the tone - is “absorbed” (by the chord) - we quote Stepan Stepanovich Grigoriev, - and the greatest – tonality – ultimately turns out to be an enlarged projection of the most important properties of consonance” (2, p. 164).

Colorful sound palette MI, for example, is the smooth and calm (according to Curwen) sound of the third degree of C major; “pure”, “delicate and transparent colors” of the mediant triad, a special light-shadow “romantic” coloring of triads of the tertian ratio in harmony. In the color palette of the MI sound there is a play of colors in E major-minor, from light to shining

12 sounds of the chromatic scale - 12 unique colorful inflorescences. AND Each of the 12 sounds (even taken separately, out of context, as a single sound) is a significant element of the semantic dictionary.

“The favorite sound of the romantics,” we read Kurt, “is fis, since it stands at the zenith of the circle of tonalities, the arches of which rise above C major. As a result, romantics especially often use the D major chord, in which fis, as a third tone, has the greatest tension and stands out with extraordinary brightness. (...)

The sounds cis and h also attract the excited sonic imagination of romantics with their large tonal stratification from the middle - C major. The same goes for the corresponding chords. Thus, in Pfitzner’s “RosevomLiebesgarten”, the sound fis with its intense, characteristic coloring even acquires a leitmotif meaning (announcement of spring)” (3, p. 174).

Examples are closer to us.

The sound sol, cheerful, poetic, ringing with a trill in the upper voices in the song and dance theme of the refrain of the finale of Beethoven’s 21st sonata “Aurora” is a bright colorful touch in the overall picture of life-affirming sound, the poetry of the morning of life (Aurora is the goddess of the dawn).

In Borodin’s romance “False Note” the pedal in the middle voices (the same “sinking key”) is the sound of FA, the sound of courageous grief, sadness - the psychological subtext of drama, bitterness, resentment, offended feeling.

In Tchaikovsky's romance “Night” to the words of Rathaus, the same FA sound at the tonic organ point (dull measured beats) is no longer just sadness. This is a sound that “inspires fear”, this is an alarm bell - a harbinger of tragedy, death.

The tragic aspect of Tchaikovsky's VI Symphony becomes absolute in the coda of the finale. Its sound is the mournful intermittent breathing of a chorale against the background of an almost naturalistically depicted rhythm of the dying heartbeat. And all this in the mournful tragic tone of the SI sound.

ABOUT THE CIRCLE OF QUINTS

The contrast in the phonism of keys (as well as their modal functions) lies in the difference in the fifth ratio of their tonic: a fifth up is dominant brightness, a fifth down is the masculinity of a plagal sound. R. Schumann expressed this idea, E. Kurt shared it (“Increasingly intense enlightenment when moving to high sharp keys, the opposite internal dynamic process when descending to flat keys” (3, p. 280)), F. tried to practically implement this idea. Gevart. “The closing circle of fifths,” wrote Schumann, “gives the best idea of ​​the rise and fall: the so-called tritone, the middle of the octave, that is, Fis, is, as it were, the highest point, the culmination, from which - through flat tones - there is a fall again to the artless C-dur" (6, p. 299).

However, there is no actual closure, an “imperceptible overflow,” in Gewart’s words, “identification” of the colors Fis and Ges dur (5, p. 48). The concept of “circle” in relation to tonalities remains conditional. Fis and Ges major are different tonalities.

For vocalists, for example, flat tones are psychologically less difficult than sharp ones, which are harsh in color and require tension in sound production. For string players (violinists), the difference in the sound of these keys is due to the fingering (psycho-physiological factors), - “tight”, “compressed”, that is, with the hand approaching the nut in flats, and, on the contrary, with “stretching” in sharps .

Gevart’s major keys (contrary to his words) do not have that “correct gradualism” in changing colors. (The “cheerful” G major, the “brilliant” D and others do not fit into this series). Moreover, there is no gradualism in epithets, and in our country in minor keys, although the dependence of the color of the minor on the major of the same name naturally presupposes it (!!! the range of analyzed cyclic works would be too small; besides, the students did not and could not have 1st year of proper analysis skills for such work).

There are two main reasons for the inconclusiveness of the results of Gevart’s work (and ours too).

Firstly. It is very difficult to characterize in words the subtle, subtle emotional and colorful coloring of tonality, and in one word it is completely impossible

Secondly. We missed the factor of tonal symbolism in the formation of the expressive qualities of tonality (about this in Kurt 3, p. 281; in Grigoriev 2, pp. 337-339). Probably, cases of discrepancy between emotional characteristics and mode-functional relationships assumed in connection with T-D and T-S, facts of violation of the gradual increase and decrease of emotional expression are due precisely to tonal symbolism. It is a consequence of composers’ preference for certain tonalities to express certain emotional and figurative situations, and therefore stable semantics have been assigned to some tonalities. We are talking, for example, about B minor, which, starting with Bach (Mass hmoll), acquired the meaning of mournful, tragic; about the victorious D major, which appeared at the same time in figurative contrast to B minor, and others.

The factor of convenience of individual keys for instruments, such as wind instruments and strings, may have a certain significance here. For a violin, for example, these are the keys of open strings: G, D, A, E. They provide timbral richness of sound due to the resonance of open strings, but the main thing is the convenience of playing double notes and chords. Perhaps it was not without these reasons that the open timbre of D minor secured its significance as a tonality of serious, masculine sound, being chosen by Bach for the famous chaconne from the second partita for solo violin.

We conclude our story with the beautiful words expressed by Heinrich Neuhaus, words that have invariably supported us throughout our work on the topic:

“It seems to me that the tonalities in which these or those works are written are far from accidental, that they are historically substantiated, naturally developed, obeying hidden aesthetic laws, and acquired their own symbolism, their own meaning, their own expression, their own meaning, their own direction.”

(On the art of piano playing. M., 1961.p.220)

In musical practice, a system of letter designations has long been established and is widely used, both individual sounds and tonalities. The basis is taken from the letters of the Latin alphabet, as well as some words from the same language.

To name a key, as you know, two elements are used: the name of the tonic and the name of the mode. Sometimes they even say that « TONE = TONIC + MODE» . This scheme also applies to the letter designation of keys. First, the tonic is called, then a word is added that should define.

What letter denotes tonic?

You can read about how to call tonic water. Let me briefly remind you that almost any sound can become a tonic - the main level or its derivative version (sharp, flat). To write musical sounds in letters, we need the first eight characters of the Latin alphabet ( a b c d e f g h ) and suffixes –is (sharp) and –es (flat). Draw yourself a spur sign like this:

Please note exceptions to the rules (marked with an asterisk) * ):

1) the note B-flat likes to show off, so it is given a separate letter, and not just any letter, but a letter b – second alphabetical;

2) A and E flats are so jealous that they don’t tolerate the second vowel next to them - they are simply written down as And es .

RULE ONE AND LAST. If the tonality is major, then the name of the tonic is written with a capital (capital) letter, if it is minor, with a lowercase (small) letter.

How to designate a fret?

The major mode is indicated by the word dur (fool), and - in a word moll (mol). These abbreviated Latin words durus(solid) and mollis(soft), which were adapted for the needs of music theory.

Examples: C-dur, c-moll – C major and C minor Es-dur, es-moll – E-flat major and E-flat minor; Fis-dur, fis-moll – F-sharp major and F-sharp minor.

THAT'S NOT ALL!

I'll tell you a fairy tale... One day, the laziest musicians came to visit Aunt Lyuba to treat themselves to Aunt Lyuba’s signature fur coat over herring. As luck would have it, the lazy musicians all became exhausted at once, and as soon as they sat down at the table, they hung their heads and dozed off. When they woke up, a bitter disappointment awaited them: some BAD MOTH had eaten the entire coat of the herring. Since then, the musicians decided that it would be easier to live without fools and prayers... Oh, it turned out to be a stupid fairy tale, sorry)))

In general, with the letter designation of tonalities, words can be dur And moll don’t write, as long as it gets done RULE ONE AND LAST (see above).

Here we are a little distracted from the topic with the fairy tale, let me remind you: we were looking at the letter designation of keys. I hope you get the point. By the way, you can not only read more about the letter designation of sounds, but also watch a cool video lesson. Here he is:

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It so happened that the most heartbreaking compositions were written in minor keys. It is believed that the major mode sounds cheerful, and the minor mode sounds sad. In that case, have a handkerchief ready: this entire lesson will be dedicated to “sad” minor modes. In it you will learn what these keys are, how they differ from major ones and how to play minor scales.

By the nature of the music, I think you will unmistakably distinguish between a cheerful, energetic major and a gentle, often sad, plaintive, and sometimes tragic minor. Remember the music and, and the differences between major and minor will become more than obvious to you.

I hope you haven't quit studying? I will remind you of the importance of these seemingly boring activities. Imagine that you stop moving and putting stress on your body, what will be the result? The body will become flabby, weak, and in places fat :-). It’s the same with your fingers: if you don’t train them every day, they will become weak and clumsy, and will not be able to play the pieces you love so much. So far you have only played major scales.

Let me tell you right away: minor scales are no smaller in size (and no less important) than major scales. They were just given such an unfair name.

Like major scales, minor scales are made up of eight notes, the first and last of which have the same name. But the order of intervals in them differs. The combination of tones and halftones in a minor scale is as follows:

Tone – Semitone – Tone – Tone – Semitone – Tone – Tone

Let me remind you that in major it is: Tone – Tone – Semitone – Tone – Tone – Tone – Semitone

It may look like a combination of intervals in a major scale, but in fact the tones and semitones are in a different order. The best way to feel this sonic difference is to play and listen to the major and minor scales one after the other.

As you probably noticed, the main difference between the major and minor modes lies in the third degree, the so-called third tone: in a minor key it is lowered, forming with the tonic (m.3).

Another difference is that in the major mode the composition of intervals is always constant, but in the minor mode it can change in the upper steps, which creates three different types of minor. Maybe it is precisely from this diversity of the minor that brilliant works are obtained?

So what are the different types, you ask?

There are three types of minor:

1. natural
2. harmonic
3. melodic.

Each type of minor is characterized by its own composition of intervals. Up to the fifth stage, they are the same in all three, but at the sixth and seventh, variations arise.

Natural minor– Tone – Semitone – Tone – Tone – Semitone – Tone – Tone

Harmonic minor differs from the natural one by the raised seventh degree: raised by half a tone, it is moved towards the tonic. The interval between the sixth and seventh steps thereby becomes wider - it is now one and a half tones (called an increased second - uv.2), which gives the scale, especially in the downward movement, a peculiar “oriental” sound.

In the harmonic minor scale, the composition of the intervals is as follows: Tone - Semitone - Tone - Tone - Semitone - One and a half tone - Semitone

Another type of minor is melodic minor, also known as jazz minor (found in most jazz music). Of course, long before the advent of jazz music, composers such as Bach and Mozart used this type of minor as the basis of their works.

In both jazz and classical music (and in other styles too), the melodic minor is distinguished by the fact that it has two degrees raised - the sixth and seventh. As a result, the order of intervals in the melodic minor scale becomes as follows:

Tone – Semitone – Tone – Tone – Tone – Tone – Semitone.

I like to call this scale a fickle scale because it can't decide whether to sound major or minor. Look again at the order of the intervals in it. Please note that the first four intervals are the same as in the minor scale, and the last four intervals are the same as in the major scale.

Now let's touch on the question of how to determine the number of key signs in a particular minor key.

Parallel keys

And here the concept emerges parallel keys.

Major and minor keys with the same number of signs (or without them, as in the case of C major and A minor) are called parallel.

They are always spaced apart by a minor third - the minor scale will always be built on the sixth degree of the major scale.

The tonics of parallel keys are different, and the composition of the intervals is different, but the ratio of white and black keys is always the same. This once again proves that music is a realm of strict mathematical laws, and, having understood them, you can move in it easily and freely.

Understanding the relationship between parallel keys is not so difficult: play the C major scale, and then the same one, but not from the first step, but from the sixth, and stop at the sixth at the top - you have played nothing more than a “natural minor” scale in the key of A minor.

In front of you list of parallel keys with their Latin designations and the number of key characters.

• C major/A minor - C-dur/a-moll
• G major/E minor - G-dur/e-moll (1 sharp)
• D major/B minor - D-dur/H-moll (2 sharps)
• A major/F-diee minor - A-dur/f:-moll (3 sharps)
• E major/C sharp minor - E major/cis minor (4 sharps)
• B major/G sharp minor - H-dur/gis-moll (5 sharps)
• F-sharp major/D-sharp minor - Fis-dur/dis-moll (6 sharps)
• F major D minor - F-dur/d-moIl (1 flat)
• B-flat major/G minor - B-dur/g-moll (2 flats)
• E-flat major/C minor - E-dur/c-moll (3 flats)
• A-flat major/F minor - As-dur/F-moll (4 flats)
• D-flat major/B-flat minor - Des-dur/b-moll (5 flats)
• G-flat major/E-flat minor - Ges-dur/es-moll (6 flats)

Well, now you have an idea about the minor scale, and now all this knowledge can be put into practice. And we must start, of course, with scales. Below is a table of all existing major and parallel minor scales with all the fingerings (finger numbers). Take your time, don't rush.

Let me remind you how to play scales:

1. Play slowly with each hand a scale of 4 octaves up and down. Note that in the sheet music app, finger numbers are given at the top and bottom of the notes. Those numbers that are above the notes belong to the right hand, below - to the left.
2. Note that the Melodic Minor, unlike the other two types of minor scale, will not be built the same way when moving up and down. This is due to the fact that in a downward movement, a sudden transition from major (with which the intervals of melodic minor coincide from the first degree to the fourth) to minor will not sound pleasant. And to solve this problem, the downward movement uses a natural minor - the seventh and sixth degrees return to the original position of the minor scale.
3. Connect with both hands.
4. Gradually increase the tempo of playing scales, but at the same time ensure that the playing is even and rhythmic.

In fact, a composer is not required to use all the notes from any scale in his melody. The composer's scale is a menu from which you can select notes.

The major and minor scales are without a doubt the most popular, but they are not the only scales that exist in music. Don't be afraid, experiment a little with the order of alternating intervals in the major and minor scales. Replace a tone somewhere with a semitone (and vice versa) and listen to what happens.

What will happen is that you will create a new scale: neither major nor minor. Some of these scales will sound great, others will sound terrible, and others will sound very exotic. Creating new scales is not only allowed, but even recommended. Fresh new scales give life to fresh new melodies and harmonies.

People have been experimenting with interval ratios since the dawn of music. And although most experimental scales have not gained such popularity as major and minor, some musical styles use these inventions as the basis of melodies.

And finally, I’ll give you some interesting music in minor keys

Greetings to all readers of our music blog! I have already said more than once in my articles that for a good musician it is important to have not only playing technique, but also to know the theoretical foundations of music. We already had an introductory article about it. I highly recommend that you read it carefully. And today the object of our conversation is signs in.
I would like to remind you that there are major and minor keys in music. Major keys can be figuratively described as bright and positive, while minor keys can be described as gloomy and sad. Each key has its own characteristic features in the form of a set of sharps or flats. They are called tonality signs. They can also be called key signs in keys or key signs in keys because before writing any notes and signs, you need to depict a treble or bass clef.

Based on the presence of key signs, keys can be divided into three groups: without signs, with sharps in the key, and with flats in the key. There is no such thing in music that the signs in the same key will be both sharps and flats at the same time.

And now I give you a list of tonalities and the key signs corresponding to them.

Key Chart

So, after carefully considering this list, there are several important points to note.
In turn, one sharp or flat is added to the keys. Their addition is strictly stipulated. For sharps the sequence is as follows: fa, do, sol, re, la, mi, si. And nothing else.
For flats the chain looks like this: si, mi, la, re, salt, do, fa. Note that it is the reverse of the sharps sequence.

You probably noticed the fact that the same number of characters have two tones. They're called . There is a separate detailed article about this on our website. I advise you to read it.

Determination of key signs

Now comes the important point. We need to learn to determine by the name of the key what key signs it has and how many there are. First of all, you need to remember that signs are determined by major keys. This means that for minor keys you will first have to find a parallel major key, and then proceed according to the general scheme.

If the name of a major (except for F major) does not mention any signs at all, or only a sharp is present (for example, F sharp major), then these are major keys with sharp signs. For F major, you need to remember that B flat is in the key. Next, we begin to list the sequence of sharps, which was defined above in the text. We need to stop the enumeration when the next note with a sharp is a note lower than the tonic of our major.

• For example, you need to determine the signs of the key A major. We list the sharp notes: F, C, G. G is a note lower than the tonic of A, therefore the key of A major has three sharps (F, C, G).

For major flat keys the rule is slightly different. We list the sequence of flats up to the note that follows the name of the tonic.

• For example, our key is A flat major. We begin to list the flats: B, E, A, D. D is the next note after the name of the tonic (A). Therefore, there are four flats in the key of A flat major.

Circle of fifths

Circle of fifths- This is a graphic representation of the connections of different tonalities and the corresponding signs. We can say that everything that I explained to you before is clearly present in this diagram.