It so happened that the most heartbreaking compositions were written in minor keys. It is believed that the major scale sounds cheerful, and the minor - sad. In that case, prepare a handkerchief: this entire lesson will be devoted to the “sad” minor modes. In it you will learn - what kind of keys they are, how they differ from major keys 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? I will remind you 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, thick in places :-). So it is with your fingers: if you do not 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've only played major scales.

Let me tell you right away: minor scales are no smaller (and no less important) than major scales. It's just that they were given such an unfair name.

Like major scales, minor scales consist of eight notes, the first and last of which bear the same name. But the order of the intervals in them is different. The combination of tones and semitones in the 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 of a major scale, but in fact, the tones and semitones are in a different order here. The best way feel this sonic difference - 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 step, the so-called terts tone: in minor it is lowered, forming with the tonic (m.Z).

Another difference is that in the major mode the composition of the intervals is always constant, while in the minor mode it can change on the upper steps, which creates three different types of minor. Perhaps it is precisely from this many-sidedness of the minor key that brilliant works are obtained?

So what are these different types, you ask?

There are three types of minor:

1. natural
2. harmonic
3. melodic.

Each type of minor is characterized by its composition of intervals. Up to the fifth step in all three they are the same, and on the sixth and seventh there are variants.

natural minor– Tone – Semitone – Tone – Tone – Semitone – Tone – Tone

harmonic minor differs from the natural one by an elevated seventh step: raised by half a tone, it is moved closer to the tonic. The interval between the sixth and seventh steps thereby becomes wider - it is now one and a half tones (called an extended second - uv.2), which gives the scale, especially in a downward movement, a kind of "eastern" sound.

AT harmonic minor the composition of the intervals is as follows: Tone - Semitone - Tone - Tone - Semitone - One and a half tones - Semitone

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

Both in jazz and classical music(and in other styles too) the melodic minor differs in that it has two steps raised - the sixth and seventh. As a result, the order of intervals in the melodic minor scale becomes:

Tone - Semitone - Tone - Tone - Tone - Tone - Semitone.

I like to call this scale the inconstant scale, because it can't decide whether it should be major or minor. Look again at the order of intervals in it. Please note that the first four intervals in it are the same as in the minor scale, and the last - 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 comes the concept 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 separated from each other by a minor third - a minor will always be built on the sixth step of the major scale.

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

Understanding the relationship of parallel keys is not so difficult: play the C major scale, and then it, but not from the first step, but from the sixth, and stop at the sixth at the top - you played nothing more than the “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 die minor - A-dur / f: -moll (3 sharps)
• E major / C-sharp minor - E-dur / cis-moll (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, and now all this knowledge can be put into practice. And you need to start, of course, with scales. Below is a table of all existing major and parallel minor scales with all fingerings (finger numbers). Get busy, don't rush.

Let me remind you the technique of playing scales:

1. Play slowly with each hand a scale of 4 octaves up and down. Note that in the sheet music application, the finger numbers are given above and below the notes. The numbers above the notes refer to right hand, below - to the left.
2. Note that the Melodic minor, unlike the other two types of minor scales, will build differently 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 the melodic minor coincide from the first step to the fourth) to the minor will sound not a rhyme pleasant. And to solve this problem, the natural minor is used in the downward movement - the seventh and sixth steps return to their original position of the minor scale.
3. Connect with two hands.
4. Gradually increase the pace of playing scales, but at the same time make sure that the game is smooth and rhythmic.

In fact, the composer is not obliged to use all the notes from any scale in his melody. Scale for the composer - 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 to experiment a bit with the order of alternating intervals in the major and minor scales. Replace a tone with a semitone somewhere (and vice versa) and listen to what happens.

And it turns out that you will create a new scale: neither major nor minor. Some of these scales will sound great, others will sound disgusting, and still 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 spacing ratios since the advent of music. And although most experimental scales have not gained such popularity as major and minor, in some musical styles these inventions are used as the basis of melodies.

And finally, I'll give you a little interesting music in minor keys

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

For the name of the key, as you know, two elements are used: the name of the tonic and the name of the mode. Sometimes they even say that « KEY = TONIC + FLATS» . This scheme also applies to the literal designation of keys. First, the tonic is called, then the word is added, which should determine.

What is the letter for tonic?

You can read about how to call a tonic. Let me briefly remind you that almost any sound can become a tonic - the main step or its derivative version (sharp, flat). For the alphabetic recording of musical sounds, 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 like this:

Pay attention to exceptions to the rules (marked with an asterisk) * ):

1) the B-flat note likes to show off, so a separate letter is assigned to it, and not some, but a letter b - the second alphabetic;

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

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

How to designate a mode?

major scale denoted by the word dur (fool), but - in a word mall (mol). These abbreviated latin wordsdurus(hard) and mollis(soft), which are adapted to the needs musical 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.

STE NOT EVERYTHING YET!

I'll tell you a story.... Once, the laziest musicians came to visit Aunt Lyuba to treat themselves to Aunt Lyubina's signature coat over a herring. As luck would have it, the lazy musicians were exhausted all at once, and as soon as they sat down at the table, they bowed their heads and dozed off. When they woke up, a bitter disappointment awaited them: some kind of EVIL MOTH was eating the whole fur coat over the herring. Since then, the musicians have decided that it’s easier to live without fools and moles ... Oh, a stupid fairy tale turned out, sorry)))

In general, with the literal designation of keys, words can be dur and mall do not write, just to be fulfilled RULE ONE AND LAST (see above).

We here with a fairy tale digressed a little from the topic, I remind you: we dismantled the letter designation of keys. I hope you get the gist. 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:

Got the material? Tell the whole world about it! Click "I like it!". To keep abreast of new cool articles - subscribe to updates of this page in contact -

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

According to the presence of key signs, tonality can be divided into three groups: without signs, with sharps in the key, with flats in the key. It does not happen in music that sharps and flats at the same time will be signs in the same key.

And now I give you a list of keys and their corresponding key signs.

Tonality table

So, having carefully considered this list, it is necessary to note several important points.
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, sol, do, fa. Note that it is the reverse of the sharp sequence.

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

Definition of signs of tonality

Now follows important point. We need to learn how to determine by the name of the tonality what key signs it has and how many of them. First of all, you need to remember that the 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 the major (except for F major) does not mention signs at all, or only 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 with 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 keys of A major. We list the sharp notes: F, C, G. G is one 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, we have the key of A flat major. We begin to list the flats: si, mi, la, re. Re is the next note after the name of the tonic (la). Therefore, there are four flats in the key of A-flat major.

fifth circle

Quint circle of keys- this is graphic image connections of different keys and their corresponding signs. It can be said that everything that I explained to you before is clearly present in this diagram.

Major keys

Minor keys

Parallel Keys

Enharmonic equal keys

Enharmonic equal keys - keys are the same in sound, but different in name.

Comments:

03/29/2015 at 14:02 Oleg said:

I did not see a table with all the characters in the key in all POSSIBLE keys. There is a table, but what you need is not!

04/05/2015 at 23:54 Svetlana said:

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

01/21/2016 at 16:06 Julia said:

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

01/21/2016 at 16:17 Svetlana said:

Fixed, thanks!

02/19/2016 at 18:59 Maksim said:

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 said:

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

There are no plans to write such an article in the near future.

08/30/2017 at 04:52 I need to build a d7 with calls in 24 keys, and everywhere for some reason I find 30 keys on the Internet. Why? said:

I accidentally wrote my question in the name.

25.04.2018 at 14:25 Peter said:

Guys, in fact, all of the above is very useful, and it is necessary for practical application, I simply do not understand those who, due to insufficient understanding of the topic, leave bad reviews.

08.10.2018 at 17:36 Julia said:

Good afternoon,

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

Unfortunately, already the 4th solfeggio teacher in 3 years, the material is given in pieces. The daughter does not understand at all what it is and what they want from her.

Tell me please.

01/02/2019 at 21:33 morozalex2018 said:

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

02/09/2019 at 09:16 Eve said:

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

04/16/2019 at 19:33 Lida said:

What are the signs in F flat minor?

04/21/2019 at 23:48 Oleg said:

Useful advice

04/21/2019 at 23:49 Oleg said:

Useful information

04/21/2019 at 23:55 Oleg said:

Let's analyze the key in F flat minor. So, in the key of F minor - 4 flats, and in F flat minor there are 7 flats more, that is, 4 + 7 = 11b. Some may say that this cannot be. I answer - maybe! There are 4 double flats in F flat minor: -sibb, mibb, labb and rebb. As well as solb, dob and fab.

04/22/2019 at 00:05 Oleg said:

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

Semantic (mode-phonic) unity

Multi-level units of classical harmony.

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

N.L. Vashkevich. expressiveness of tone. Minor. (Manuscript) Tver, 1996.

The choice of tonality by the composer is not a matter of chance. To a large extent it is connected with its expressive possibilities. The individual colorful properties of tonality are a fact. Far from always they are in unity with the emotional coloring of a musical work, but they are always present in its colorful and expressive overtones, as an emotional background.

Analyzing the figurative content of a large range of major works, the Belgian musicologist and composer Francois Auguste Gevaart (1828-1908) presented his own version of expressiveness major keys, which reveals a certain system of interaction. “The paint characteristic of the major mood,” he writes, “takes on shades of 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. “C - Sol - D - A major, etc. - getting brighter and brighter. Do - Fa - 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 brilliance of tones with sharps, brought to hardness, is suddenly erased and, through an imperceptible transfusion of shades, is identified with the gloomy paint of the tone in G-flat major (6 flats), which creates a semblance of a vicious circle:

C major

Firm, determined

F major G major

Courageous Happy

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 Mighty

G-flat major F-sharp major

Gloomy Hard

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

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

And yet, "despite some naivete" (as Ostrovsky noted), for us, the characteristics of Gevaart's keys 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, Klinberger, J.G. Sulzer, A. Khr. Koch, J. J. von Heinse, Chr.F.D. Schubart (Romain Rolland reports this in the book “Beethoven's Last Quartets”, M., 1976, p. 225). "The problem of key characterization occupied Beethoven to the end of his life."

Gevaart's work "Guide to instrumentation", which contains material on keys, was translated into Russian by P. Tchaikovsky. The great composer's interest in this speaks volumes.

"Expressiveness minor keys- wrote Gevart - is less diverse, dark and not so definite. Are Gevart's conclusions correct? It is doubtful that among the keys, which have undeniably specific and vivid emotional characteristics, there are no less minor ones than major ones (suffice it to name B minor, C minor, C sharp minor). To answer this question was the task of the joint course work of the 1st year students of T.O. Tver Musical College (1977-78 academic year) Bynkova Inna (Kalyazin), Dobrynskaya Marina (Staraya Toropaya), Zaitseva Tatiana (Konakovo), Zubryakova Elena (Klin), Shcherbakova Svetlana and Yakovleva Natalia (Vyshny Volochek). The work analyzed the 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. Transience. Op.22,

Shostakovich. 24 preludes and fugues. Op.87,

Shchedrin. 24 preludes and fugues.

In our course work, the analysis was limited to only the first exposed topic according to a predetermined plan. All conclusions about the emotional-figurative content had to be confirmed by an analysis of the means of expression, intonation features of the melody, and the presence of pictorial moments in the musical language. Turning to musicological literature for help was mandatory.

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

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

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

Following the example of Gevaart, we propose the following, in our opinion, an 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 - harsh

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?

Recall that Gevart's system in major keys was their arrangement in a circle of fifths, which reveals a natural enlightenment of their color when moving towards sharps and a darkening towards flats. Denying individual emotionally colorful properties to the minor key, 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 such a correct gradualness, as in major tones” (5 , p.48).

Challenging Gewart 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 ones, variants of connections with other elements of the musical system, namely, the arrangement

in a circle of fifths (similar to major ones),

at other intervals

according to the chromatic scale;

location according to emotional characteristics (identity, contrast, gradual emotional transitions);

comparisons with parallel major keys,

with the same name,

analysis of the color of tonalities, based on their pitch position on the steps of the scale relative to the sound C.

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

First regularity.

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 more vague, like any “minor” in general in relation to the “major” of the same name. N. Rimsky Korsakov (see p. 31).

C major is firm, resolute

pathetic minor,

B major is mighty

mournful minor,

B flat major proud

gloomy minor,

A major joyful

minor easy,

G major cheerful

poetic minor,

F-sharp major hard

minor excited,

F major courageous

minor sad,

E major shining

minor light,

E flat major majestic

minor severe,

D major brilliant (victorious)

minor courageous.

In most major-minor comparisons, the relationship is obvious, but in some pairings, not quite. For example, D major and minor (brilliant and courageous), F major and minor (courageous and sad). The reason, perhaps, is the inaccuracy of the verbal characteristics of the keys. Assuming the approximation of ours, one cannot fully rely on the characteristics given by Gewart. For example, Tchaikovsky characterized the key in 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. Contradictions in their emotional characteristics are natural.

Second regularity.

The search for brief verbal characterizations of keys could not but remind us of something akin to the "mental effects" of Sarah Glover and John Curwen.

Recall that this is the name of the method (England. XIX century) of personifying the steps of the mode, i.e. verbal, gestural (and at the same time both muscular and spatial) characteristics of them, which is designed to provide a high effect (“mental effect”!) of modal education of hearing in the system of relative solmization.

MU students get acquainted with relative solmization from the 1st year both in music theory (mental effects are an indispensable opportunity to explain the topic “Modal and phonic functions of the steps of the mode”), 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 scale in

MINOR "mental effects" MAJOR

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

Mournful sensitive - mighty

A minor - VI, A - sad, A major -

Light mournful - joyful

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

Poetic, bright - cheerful

F minor V, F - dull, F major -

Sad fearsome - courageous

E minor - III, E - smooth, E major -

Light calm - radiant

D minor - II, D - inciting, D major -

Courageous full of hope - brilliant (victorious)

C minor - I, C - strong, C major -

pathetic resolute - firm, resolute

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

The comparison of the IVth degree and F major, VIth Art. does not convince. and A major. But, let's note, it is these steps (IV-th and VI-th) in the quality, as Kerven "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 given by them to be the only possible ones” (p. 94)).

But there is a problem. In relational 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 steps of the mode: Do (strong, decisive) is the 1st step in both F-dur, and Des-dur, and C-dur. Do we have the right to correlate the tonalities of the circle of fifths with steps only in C major? Can C major, and not any other keys, determine their expressive qualities? We want to express our opinion on this matter in the words of J. Milstein. Bearing in mind the significance of C major in Bach's HTK, 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, taken together, give a colorless white color, so the C-dur key, combining elements of other keys, to a certain extent has a neutral, colorless-light character” (4, p. 33-34) . Rimsky-Korsakov is even more specific: C major - tonality white color(see below, p.30).

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

C major is the center of tonal organization in classical music, where step and key form an inseparable mutually defining modal-phonic unity.

“The fact that C-dur is felt as the center and basis, as if confirms our conclusions Ernst. Kurt in "Romantic Harmony" (3, p. 280) - is a consequence of two reasons. Firstly, the sphere of C-dur is in the historical sense the birthplace and the beginning of further harmonic development into sharp and flat keys. (...) C-dur at all times means - 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 keys. E-dur, for example, is perceived depending on how it initially stands out against the background of C-dur. Therefore, the absolute character of tonality, determined by the relation to C-dur, is determined not by the nature of music, but by historical and pedagogical origins.

The seven steps of C major are only seven pairs of keys of the same name closest to C major. But what about the rest of the "black" sharp and flat keys? What is their expressive nature?

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

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

MINOR altered MAJOR

B Flat Minor – SI B Flat Major -

Gloomy - proud

LA A-flat major -

Noble

G-sharp minor – SOL

Tense

S 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 - RE

High tone.

C-sharp minor - DO

Elegiac

In these comparisons does not justify, at first glance, only C-sharp minor. In its coloring (in relation to the pathetic C minor), in accordance with the ascending alteration, one would expect an emotional clarification. However, let us inform you that in our preliminary analytical conclusions, C-sharp minor was characterized as sublimely elegiac. The color of C-sharp minor is the sound of the 1st movement moonlight sonata Beethoven, Borodin's romance "For the shores of the fatherland ...". These adjustments restore balance.

Let's complete our findings.

The coloration of the tonalities on the chromatic steps of C major is in direct proportion to the type of alteration - increasing (increasing expression, brightness, rigidity) or decreasing (darkening, thickening of colors).

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

KEY, SOBRIOUS, TONE -

SEMANTIC (LADO-PHONIC) UNITY

Our conclusion (about direct connection between the expressiveness of keys and the colorful and phonic qualities of the steps in C major) discovered the unity of two units, - tonality, tone, essentially combining two independent systems: C major (its natural and altered steps) and the system of tonalities of the circle of fifths. In our association, one more link is clearly missing - chord.

A related phenomenon (but not the same) was noted by S.S. Grigoriev in his study “Theoretical Course of Harmony” (M., 1981). Tone, chord, tonality presented by Grigoriev as three different-level units of classical harmony, which are carriers of modal and phonic functions (p.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 the mode-tonality: tone is the 1st step of the mode, chord is the tonic triad.

Let's try to find, if possible, objective modal and phonic characteristics chords(major and minor triads as tonic).

One of the few sources where we have the information we need, bright and accurate fret-phonic characteristics of chords (an acute problem in teaching harmony and solfeggio at the school) is the work of S. Grigoriev mentioned above. Let's use 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 attraction, peace, balance (2, pp. 131-132); "a logical conclusion from the previous mode-functional movement the ultimate goal and resolution of its contradictions” (p. 142). Support, stability, strength, hardness are the general characteristics of both the tonic triad and the key in Gevart's C major, and the 1st degree of Kerven's major.

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

Gevaart's epithet "cheerful" (G major) obviously does not reach the D5 / 3 coloring. But in relation to the tonality, it is difficult to agree with him: it is too simple for “G major light, joyful, victorious” (N. Eskina. w-l Muses. life No. 8, 1994, p. 23).

Subdominant, according to Riemann, is the chord of conflict. Under certain metrorhythmic conditions, S challenges the tonic's function of rest (2, p. 138). "S is the centrifugal force within the modal-functional system." In contrast to the "effective" D, S– a “counter-action” chord (p. 139), an independent, proud chord. Gevart has F major - courageous. According to the characteristics of P. Mironositsky (follower of Kerven, author of the textbook "Notes-Letters", see about this 1, pp. 103-104) IV-I step - "like a heavy sound."

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

TriadsVI-th andIIIth steps- mediants, - median, intermediate both in sound composition from T to S and D, and functionally: VII am softS(easy A minor), sad, plaintiveVI-I'm in "mental effects"; III-i - soft D (light E minor, smooth, calmIII-th stage. Side triads are opposite in the modal mood to the tonic. “Romantic thirdness”, “gentle and transparent colors of the mediant”, “reflected light”, “pure colors of major or minor triads” (2, p.147-148) - these subtle figurative characteristics are only a part of those addressed to chords III and VI th steps in the “Theoretical course of harmony” by S.S. Grigoriev.

TriadIIth stage, which does not have common sounds with the tonic (as opposed to the “soft” mediant VIth) - as it were "hard" subdominant, active and effective chord in the S group. Harmony II-th step, encouraging, full of hope(according to Curwen) is "courageous" in D minor.

"Brilliant" D major is a direct analogy of major harmony onII-th stage, analogy chordDD. This is exactly how it sounds in the cadence DD – D7 – T, strengthening it, forming, as it were, an authentic turnover doubly.

C major-minor of the same name:

eponymous minor tonic -softened shadow version of the major triad. Pathetic in C minor.

Natural (minor)d the minor of the same name is a dominant, devoid of a “primary sign” (leading tone) and losing its sharpness inclination to T 5/3, losing tension, brightness and solemnity of a major triad, leaving only enlightenment, softness, poetry. Poetic G minor!

Mediants of the same name in C minor. MajorVI-I(VI-th low), - a solemn chord, softened by the harsh color of the subdominant sound. A-flat major noble!TriadIII-her steps(III-th low) - major chord with fifth core in C minor. E-flat major majestic!

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

Neapolitan chord(by nature, it can be the II-th step of the Phrygian mode of the same name, it can be an introductory S), - sublime harmony with severe Phrygian flavor. D flat major Gevart's is important. For Russian composers this tonality of a serious tone and deep feelings.

C Major Parallel Combination (C Major-A Minor):

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

C major-minor in the chromatic system, represented by secondary D (for example, A dur, H dur), secondary 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 interdependent modal-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, tone are carriers of the color of their tonality and are able to preserve 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, they are often elementarily identified. For Kurt, for example, chord and key were sometimes synonymous. “The absolute effect of a chord,” he writes, “is determined by the uniqueness of the character keys, which finds its most distinct expression in the tonic chord representing it” (3, p. 280). Analyzing the harmonic fabric, he often calls the triad tonality, endowing it with its inherent sound coloring, and what is important, these harmonically sound colors are concrete and independent of the context, the modal-functional conditions and the main tonality of the work. For example, we read about A major in Lohengrin: “The flowing lightness of the tonality of A dur, and in particular, its tonic triad, acquires a leitmotif in the music of the work…” (3, p. 95); or: “... a light chord appears E major, and then a chord with a more matte, twilight color - As dur. 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. The tonic triad, for example, F major "masculine" will retain the flavor of its key 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. Gevaart 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. As the 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)

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

On the phonic "personification" of tone in "Theoretical course of harmony" by S.S. Grigoriev, there are only a few words: “The phonic functions of an individual tone are more indefinite and ephemeral than its modal functions” (2, p. 167). How true this is, the presence of specific emotional characteristics of the steps in "mental effects" makes us doubt. But the brilliance of tone is much more complex, richer. The triad - tone, chord, tonality - is a system based on the unity of interdependent modal-functional and semantic qualities. Lado-phonic unity tone-chord-tonality- self-correcting system . In each element of the triad, the colorful properties of all three are explicitly or potentially present. “The smallest unit of the tonal organization - tone - is “absorbed” (by a chord), - we quote Stepan Stepanovich Grigoriev, - and the largest - 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 a smooth and calm (according to Kerven) sounding of the III degree in C major; “pure”, “delicate and transparent colors” of the mediant triad, a special light-shadow “romantic” coloring of the triads of the tertiary ratio in harmony. In the color palette of the sound of MI, there are overflows of colors of 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, 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 keys, the vaults 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 dur. The same goes for the corresponding chords. Thus, in Pfitzner's "Rosevom Liebesgarten" the sound fis with its intense coloring peculiar to it alone acquires even a leitmotif meaning (the proclamation of spring)" (3, p. 174).

Examples are closer to us.

The sound of 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 morning dawn).

Borodin in the romance “False Note” has a pedal in medium voices (the same “sinking key”) - the sound of FA, the sound of courageous grief, sadness - the psychological subtext of drama, bitterness, resentment, offended feelings.

In Tchaikovsky's romance "Night" to the words of Rathaus, the same sound FA in the tonic organ point (deaf measured beats) is no longer just sadness. This is the sound that “inspires fear”, this is the alarm, the herald of tragedy, death.

The tragic aspect of Tchaikovsky's 6th 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 of the phonism of keys (as well as their modal functions) lies in the difference in the fifth ratio of their tonics: the fifth up is the dominant brightness, the fifth down is the virility of the plagal sound. R. Schumann expressed this idea, E Kurt shared it (“Increasingly intense enlightenment during the transition to high sharp keys, the opposite internal dynamic process when descending to flat keys” (3, p. 280)), F. Gevart. “The closing circle of fifths,” Schumann wrote, “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, highest point, the culmination, from which - through the flat keys - there is a fall again to the artless C-dur" (6, p. 299).

However, there is no proper closure, “imperceptible overflow”, - the words of Gevart, - “identification” of colors Fis and Ges dur (5, p. 48) and cannot be. The concept of "circle" in relation to keys remains conditional. Fis and Ges dur are different keys.

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

Gevart does not have that “correct gradualness” in changing colors in major keys (contrary to his words). (The “cheerful” G major, “brilliant” D and others do not fit into this series). Moreover, there is no gradualness in epithets, and we have it in minor keys, although the dependence of the color of the minor on the major of the same name naturally suggests it (!!! the circle of analyzed cyclic works would be too small; besides, students did not and could not have I-course of proper analysis skills for such work).

Two main reasons for the inconclusiveness of the results of Gewart's work (and ours too).

Firstly. It is very difficult to characterize in words the subtle, barely perceptible emotionally colorful coloring of the tonality, and in one word it is impossible at all.

Secondly. We missed the factor of tonal symbolism in the formation of the expressive qualities of tonality (more on this in Kurt 3, p. 281; in Grigoriev 2, pp. 337-339). It is likely that cases of discrepancy between emotional characteristics and the functional correlations assumed in connection with T-D and T-S, the facts of violation of the gradual increase and decrease in emotional expression are due precisely to tonal symbolism. It is a consequence of composers' preference for certain keys to express certain emotional-figurative situations, in connection with which stable semantics have been assigned to some keys. 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 performed at the same time in figurative contrast to the B minor, and others.

The factor of convenience of individual keys for instruments - wind, strings - may have a certain significance here. For a violin, for example, these are the tonalities of open strings: G, D, A, E. They give timbre 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 D minor, open in timbre, secured the significance of the tonality of a 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 invariably support us throughout the work on the topic:

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

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