songs in a minor key

I love all music of any description........ well maybe not so much into folk or country, but the type of stuff that I really get drawn to is anything that has that minor key sound. I just find it so atmospheric and can really get lost in it.
some examples of what I mean

Crowded House - Don't Dream It's Over
Cold play - Trouble
Siouxsie and the Banshees - Dear Prudence
The Damned - Alone Again Or
The Corrs - Radio
men at work - overkill
Dido - All you want
Mooney - Dove (i'll be loving you)
The cure - A forest

Anyone else like the minor key sound, and what tracks spring to mind?

It is good to hear that someone else thinks that Overkill is a great song. It is the best song Men at Work ever did, although Be Good, Johny is pretty darn good, too.

Don't forget Mexican Radio by Wall of Voodoo.

[edit on 8/27/2006 by Moon Pie]

Stuff like Malmsteen's Black Star is pleasing to my ears. Toccata on the violin sounds cool to me...
I have a huge range of musical interest from Enya to Avenged Sevenfold, most of the songs I like are in the Minor modes

I would make a song list here, but I have to many favorites to name. I'm also a wannabe musician that writes in Minor modes.
If a song is dark and ominous sounding, then there is a 99% I will like it.

We play lots of blues in Aminor........

House
St. James Infermry
Stormy Monday
Little Wing

Angie-- Rolling Stones

Just Another Day-- Paul McCartney & Wings

Babe I'm Gonna Leave You---Led Zeppelin

Have You Heard-- Moody Blues

Don't Think Twice-- Bob Dylan ( sorry, Pantha, I know you don't like folk)

Comfortably Numb--Pink Floyd

The River--Bruce Springsteen

Also, Pantha, I think the "original" versions of Dear Prudence by The Beatles and Alone Again, Or by Love or, even better, UFO are more aurally pleasing than the versions you noted, but hey, to each his/her own, right?

glad to see some others who really appreciate this type of music, and thanks to all for those tracks. Some I've heard of and some I haven't but I'll be sure to check them out.
I think overkill is excellent , especially an acoustic version that I've heard.
I do like the beatles dear prudence, just as much as the banshees version, but I've not heard the original of alone again so I'll definatly hunt that down.
thought of a few more tracks

Tears For Fears - Head Over Heels
Propaganda - Duel
It's My Life - Talk Talk

probably about 80-90% of trance is written in minor key. the reason being major key is associated with choooons... or cheesy tunes. plus imo minor key just has a more melodic and emotional feel to it than major key

i would have to say that i love to play in minor and in major equaly, they both have their advantages.

Originally posted by XPhiles
Stuff like Malmsteen's Black Star is pleasing to my ears. Toccata on the violin sounds cool to me...
I have a huge range of musical interest from Enya to Avenged Sevenfold, most of the songs I like are in the Minor modes

I would make a song list here, but I have to many favorites to name. I'm also a wannabe musician that writes in Minor modes.
If a song is dark and ominous sounding, then there is a 99% I will like it.

Yngwie's music is a good example of minor tonality...Though a little repetitious in his
use of harmonic scales, He still kicks my butt....

Speaking as a musician, I think it's unnecessary and ill-advised to champion minor scales over major ones or vice versa. Perhaps an understanding of the difference between scales will help put things in perspective.

The essential difference between a minor and a major scale is one note -- the third note on the scale, mi, which is a tone above re on a major scale (equal to the difference between two adjacent white notes on a piano) and a half-tone above (the difference between the white note and the black note next to it) on a minor.

To hear the difference, go to this interval training page and click on the appropriate buttons.

Both major and minor third intervals are essential in music. The person who said that major scale melodies produce cheesy tunes probably hasn't listened to much music outside the so-called 'electronic dance category', which is, harmonically speaking, the most primitive style of music currently extant. He or she should listen to some classical music, particularly chamber music, in major keys. Or, for that matter, Latin music based on major scales and the (closely related) Mixolydian mode. They'll soon change their mind.

By the way, just because a song has a minor key signature doesn't mean it has minor tonality all the way through. Somebody mentioned Angie -- well, the key signature of that song is A minor, but it modulates to C major during the second part of the verse 'All those dreams we held so close / seem to all go up in smoke' before coming back to the minor at the end. This is quite a common trick. A particularly clever version of it is in Elvis Costello's Watching the Detectives, where this near-cliche is put to startlingly original use in the modulation from verse to chorus.

Originally posted by Astyanax
Speaking as a musician, I think it's unnecessary and ill-advised to champion minor scales over major ones or vice versa. Perhaps an understanding of the difference between scales will help put things in perspective.

The essential difference between a minor and a major scale is one note -- the third note on the scale, mi, which is a tone above re on a major scale (equal to the difference between two adjacent white notes on a piano) and a half-tone above (the difference between the white note and the black note next to it) on a minor.

To hear the difference, go to this interval training page and click on the appropriate buttons.

Both major and minor third intervals are essential in music. The person who said that major scale melodies produce cheesy tunes probably hasn't listened to much music outside the so-called 'electronic dance category', which is, harmonically speaking, the most primitive style of music currently extant. He or she should listen to some classical music, particularly chamber music, in major keys. Or, for that matter, Latin music based on major scales and the (closely related) Mixolydian mode. They'll soon change their mind.

By the way, just because a song has a minor key signature doesn't mean it has minor tonality all the way through. Somebody mentioned Angie -- well, the key signature of that song is A minor, but it modulates to C major during the second part of the verse 'All those dreams we held so close / seem to all go up in smoke' before coming back to the minor at the end. This is quite a common trick. A particularly clever version of it is in Elvis Costello's Watching the Detectives, where this near-cliche is put to startlingly original use in the modulation from verse to chorus.

I couldnt agree with you more.

The key signature of a minor scale is the same as that of its relative major scale a minor 3rd above. example, c minor uses the signature of e flat major, A minor, c major and so on...

There are 3 forms of minor scales.. Harmonic, natural, and melodic

I think what these people are trying to say is that they prefer that dark,sad,ominous sound that a minor key, note, or tone produces

Originally posted by PEADY
...dark, sad, ominous sound that a minor key, note, or tone produces.

I agree. But...

In my view even the association of 'dark, sad, ominous' feelings with minor keys is a Western cultural phenomenon.

Around the world, musical forms based on the minor-third interval are far more common than those based on major thirds. I'm open to correction on this, but it is my understanding that harmony based on major thirds is a European invention. At any rate, I can't think offhand of any culture that produced music in a major key without being influenced by European ideas first.

Most musical cultures know only minor-third intervals. For people in those cultures, any emotion expressed in music is expressed in a minor key.

And any emotion can be expressed in a minor key. Take the blues. Okay, it's called the blues because a lot of it is sad, ominous and dark. But there are plenty of blues that are nothing of the kind -- a lot of Chicago blues, for example, and the music derived from it. There are happy blues, horny blues, even joke blues. All of them are based on minor-third melodies (played, for the most part, over major or dominant-seventh chords -- this is the essence of the blues).

The association of particular emotions (or colours, or times of day, or whatever) with particular musical sounds or melodies is very culture-dependent. Take the whole concept of the rag (pronounced 'rahg'), for example. In Indian classical music, different rag (ie different scales and modes) are associated with feelings, times of day and so on -- but a non-Indian listener often receives very different associations. Actually, even North Indians and South Indians receive different associations, because their musical traditions differ considerably.

Astyanax,

In my view even the association of 'dark, sad, ominous' feelings with minor keys is a Western cultural phenomenon.

Are we speaking about todays music or music throughout history?

I feel that musicans often reflect in their writings about what they see and feel as it pertains to that time era, and today there is so much violence and hate and sadness it goes without saying.

I wouldnt say a Western cultural phenomenon... Rather a world phenomenon.
Does this make sense?

I can't think offhand of any culture that produced music in a major key without being influenced by European ideas first.

Again are we speaking about todays music or music throughout history?

The Egyptians, Assyrians,Chinese,...Shall I go on?

Most musical cultures know only minor-third intervals. For people in those cultures, any emotion expressed in music is expressed in a minor key.

Can you please tell me who these cultures are?

All of them are based on minor-third melodies (played, for the most part, over major or dominant-seventh chords -- this is the essence of the blues).

Classic blues in its simplest form uses the three primary cords of a key based on the first the forth and the fifth of a scale. Pianists often add a tone to the basic chord...the 6th or the seventh flatted.

Are you a pianist?

Originally posted by PEADY

Originally posted by Astyanax
In my view even the association of 'dark, sad, ominous' feelings with minor keys is a Western cultural phenomenon.

Are we speaking about todays music or music throughout history?

How far back do you want to go? These associations probably developed over time -- probably several hundred years, possibly even longer. But they are not universal. They are largely cultural.

At least, I believe they are. But here is a quote from a musicologist who disagrees with me.

The... major third is more harmonious than the minor third, which has a more complex ratio of vibrations. In plain english, the minor is more on the edge of discord than is the major.... [This] discord or dissonance creates a sense of physical pain in the ear [that] repels the listener.

But, if the discord also has the characteristic of being nearly or "almost" harmonious, then there is an also an attraction as well as a repulsion... into which many compex or stressful emotions can be read by the listener.

However, he also adds that

Other factors (culture, upbringing, habit, associations) play a big role...

I wouldnt say a Western cultural phenomenon... Rather a world phenomenon.
Does this make sense?

I'm afraid not, at least not to my way of thinking. The major and minor scales of Western music are not universal -- other cultures use other scalar patterns: pentatonic and heptatonic scales, quarter-tones, microtones, just intonation, twenty-tone equal-temperament scales and heaven only knows what else. Many of these scales and modes contain a minor third interval (or something like it).

I can't think offhand of any culture that produced music in a major key without being influenced by European ideas first.

Again are we speaking about todays music or music throughout history?

Obviously, music throughout history. But it seems I may be wrong. The same pesky musicologist I quoted earlier says that the oldest song in the world is based not only a diatonic scale, but a major scale at that.

Most musical cultures know only minor-third intervals. For people in those cultures, any emotion expressed in music is expressed in a minor key.

Can you please tell me who these cultures are?

Music coming from a non-Western tradition that I have actually heard -- African, Arabian, Indian and Afro-American as well as much else -- seems to gravitate more naturally to a 'minor' tonality (using Western terminology) than a 'major' one. Yes, I know there are many different kinds of African music, and just as many different Indian and even Arab music genres -- and when I say 'Indian' music, I'm referring not just to the music of India but that of surrounding countries that are part of the Indian cultural universe. So I'm talking about dozens and dozens of different kinds of music. I am, in fact, making a huge and probably ignorant generalization. But I stand by it, because I think it's true.

The Egyptians, Assyrians, Chinese... shall I go on?

Did these people use major intervals in their music? How do we know what Egyptian or Assyrian music sounded like? Those cultures are dead and their music has gone beyond recall. Chinese music is another story, but I don't suppose modern Chinese music (even so-called 'classical' Chinese music) has much to do with the Chinese music of earlier eras. I agree that some Chinese (and Japanese) music sounds major-keyed to my ears. But as I said, I am not an expert.

Classic blues in its simplest form uses the three primary cords of a key based on the first the forth and the fifth of a scale.

Yes, that is what I said. With a minor-keyed melody sung or played on top.

Are you a pianist?

No, I am a guitarist. I often think how easy harmonic theory and improvisation must be for pianists: the keyboard is like a chart with all the notes laid out on it and the rules of harmony mde explicit in the arrangement of the keys. We poor guitarists, on the other hand, have multiple positions for playing the same note, no clear distinction between bass, chordal and melodic roles and fifty million subtleties of intonation and timbre based on how a given note is fretted and picked. Of course, these ambiguities multiply our sonic and musical choices, so it's win on the white notes and lose on the blacks. Or something.

[edit on 2-10-2006 by Astyanax]

[edit on 2-10-2006 by Astyanax]