Minor is the “why?” of music. It is linked to reflection, loss, and deep emotion. It is linked to the Aeolian mode, described by Glarean in 1547.
There are three forms: natural minor (sad, folk-like), harmonic minor (with a raised 7th — tense, Eastern), and melodic minor (ascending form with raised 6th and 7th — songful). Favorite minor keys: A minor (simple, song-like), D minor (dramatic, as in Mozart's Requiem), C minor (tragic, as in Beethoven's Fifth Symphony).
The minor mode is defined by the minor third between the 1st and 3rd degrees, which the ear hears as “shaded.” Historically minor was long considered less stable than major, and minor works were even ended on a major chord — the so-called Picardy third. In Romanticism minor became the chief colour for expressing longing, passion, and drama, and the Ukrainian melos is rich in distinctive minor turns with raised scale degrees.
