Tendency in Minor Keys

3. Confirm by Ear

Now, thinking about things only through sheet music, doubts gradually arise. Could it really be true that the relationship between so and la reverses? Let’s confirm that by listening to actual songs.

Having learned about “shells” in Chapter II, it’s confirmed that even a strong tendency tone has no need of resolution if it harmonizes with the chord. So, even if we find examples of unresolving la over VI_m or IV, it won’t serve as verification for the “kernel” theory. To examine the tendency of a melodic tone itself, it’s necessary to observe instances where the melody is not in harmony with the chord. This primarily involves the chords like I, III_m, and V.

On these chords I’d like you to experience the situations like “In major, it doesn’t feel settled for la without going down to so, but in minor, there’s a sense of landing even when la stays.” Then it becomes apparent that in minor, la exhibits stability as a leader.

La’s Movement in Major Keys

Firstly, let’s revisit and confirm the behavior of la in the major key.

“Sweetest Goodbye” starts with a simple 2-5-1-6 progression. And the melody, from the start, repeats the la→so resolution again and again. This is the fundamental movement of la in the major key—Creating tension as the sixth note within the key, and releasing it by moving to so.

What’s interesting here is that even in II_m chord, where la can easily stay due to its stability coming from 5^th shell function, la progresses to so.

Horizontal logic is prevailing over vertical logic

This illustrates how strongly the horizontal tonal gravitation governs the movement of a tone.

La’s Movement in Minor Keys

This situation is overturned the moment it transitions to a minor key environment… Does it really happen? Let’s check some songs in a minor key this time.

David Guetta – Where Them Girls At

This is an EDM track in a relatively minor key that repeats the chords VI_mIVIV. Although this song still has many major chords, it’s sufficiently in a minor key. In the latter half of the chorus, specifically at “Where them girls at?”, it repeats the movement do→la.

Here la seems to serve as the landing point, even under the context of I chord. Listeners should feel the sense of resolution on la, with no necessity to go to so.

Red Hot Chili Peppers – The Getaway

Let’s also listen to the pattern where la settles on the III_m and V chords.

First, the initial note of the intro guitar is la, presenting the center. The melody also begins with do→la, but since the chord is VI_m, it’s not surprising that la feels settled. However, when the chord progresses to III_m, the melody continues to linger on la, as if proclaiming that la is the boss!

Next, the chord moves to V, and here, the resolving movement of so→la can be observed.

Here, more clearly than the previous song, you can feel the state where la works as the center!

From the perspective of familiarity with III_m and V (=Shell perspective), so should be more stable. However, in the so→la motion, there is an unmistakable sense of “resolution”. The flow of the phrase leads to the impression that la is the landing position. The simple rock style arrangement with a weak sense of chordal harmony makes clear the default stability/instability of each note in the scale.

Having learned the theory of “church modes”, it becomes clearer that, while chords are crucial in establishing tonality, the melody alone has the ability to express centricity. Even with the same “white key-only scale”, the mere difference in centrality has given rise to seven different modes. Considering this, there is no doubt about the fluidity of tonal tendencies, where in a major environment la was subordinate but behaves as a stable center in a minor environment.

4. Monism and Gravitation Shifts

Up to this point, we have discussed major and minor keys in contrast. However, in reality, today’s pop music is made with the idea of “Monism”, where relative keys come as a set, and the balance between major/minor flows based on perceptual cognition. This idea was introduced in the early stages of the Chord Chapter I.

Two relative keys can easily get into an “intermediate” or “superimposed” state, influenced by subtle melody lines or chord changes. Following the premise that there is an intermediate state in the perception of the tonic, it is reasonable to consider that there is also an intermediate state in the perception of tonal gravitation.

In the article on “Monism,” we introduced the idea that “ambiguous tonality makes a song more appealing.” One of the significant reasons for this is undoubtedly chord progressions, but the fact that the qualities (tendencies and stability) of tones transform amidst major and minor tonalities may also be a contributing factor.

Complexity and Operability

Looking at it this way, you can understand why the “Monism” model is not adopted in general jazz/popular music theory. If you consider too much of human psychology, the theory might become cluttered and not very smart. To some extent, courageous “simplification” is necessary for theory construction. Even in LMT, “Monism” has only become significant with the introduction of Roman numeral degrees, and the reality is that this concept hasn’t been deeply explored.

What I’ve visualized in the figure above is purely intended to make it easier for you to recognize the “fluctuation” with your ears. I won’t refer to this in future discussions, and no need to memorize it.

Changes in “Height”

In Chapter I’s kernel theory, there was a discussion about the sense of highness in of mi and so due to the remoteness from the center and the floating sensation in re caused by being one step above the center. In a minor key, the center position drops, It could happen that listeners may feel the differences in these “heights”.

In terms of positions, theoretically, do in minor is as high as mi in major. Mi in minor is as high as so in major. But such senses of “height” is very abstract and, considering the tonal fluctuations due to the Monism, it becomes a quite challenging area to theorize/verify and is not extensively discussed in current theories. This reveals a bit of the limitation of theories trying to capture our emotional responses.

So, once again, we studied the details of the tonal gravitation in a minor key. If you encounter situations where la settles on chords like IIIm or V, recalling this discussion should help you make sense of it.

That concludes Melody Chapter III. Chapter IV will bring the discussion back to major scales and further explore the theory of “shells” introduced in Chapter II. Since it involves quite delicate content, it’s recommended to proceed after reading through Chapter IV of the Chord Section.

Summary

• In the minor scale, the 1st, 3rd, and 5th tones are “stable”, while the 2nd, 4th, 6th, and 7th tones are “unstable”.
• Comparing relative scales, roughly speaking, tendencies of so and la reverse, and do takes on a weak tonal tendency.
• Due to the ambiguity in the perception of the tonal center, fluctuations are likely to occur in the perception of tonal tendencies.

Congratulations on completing Melody Chapter III! Consider your next steps, whether it’s advancing to another chapter or taking some time for production and analysis.