RE: [Harp-L] Why do we associate major with happy and minor with sad? (No harp content)

["Rick Dempster" <rick.dempster@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

In the European orchestral tradition, as I understand it, minor keys were dominant when most of the music written was
of a religious nature. ie the church was the dominant cultural power. As the world became more secularised, the major key came into prominence.
The minor keys were seen as being of a devotional nature, while the major scale was more wordly.
Think I got this impression from some musical history book I read some years ago.

RD

>>> chicago bluesman <chicagobluesman@xxxxxxxxxxx> 24/11/2010 14:51 >>>

I tend to associate minor key tunes with cultures which have been historically repressed & persecuted.  Think of how Judaism/Jews have  been treated...or Romani (gypsies)...I'm sure there are other examples.   I suppose that just as we associate blues with an oppressed class of people during a specific historical time...some minor key song structures may be linked to other groups which have known great hardship. There must be an ethnomusicologist on the list who can shed more light and put it in context.    But I agree with something written by someone else--some minor key material is funny, whimsical, witty and charming.

> Date: Tue, 23 Nov 2010 09:50:59 -0600
> From: michaelrubinharmonica@xxxxxxxxx 
> To: harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx 
> Subject: [Harp-L] Why do we associate major with happy and minor with sad?	(No harp content)
> 
> Guesses?
> Michael Rubin
> Michaelrubinharmonica.com