Major and Minor

Thursday, while watching Amelie for the fifth-hundred time, I decided to record La Valse D'Amelie and Comptine D'un Autre on my cell phone and attempt to play it at school the next day. Mr. Coleman had said the piano is such a successful instrument because it can play both loud and soft, major and minor. That got me thinking about how different chords can affect your mood.


It strikes me as odd that you automatically think of something depressing, sorrowful, or even angry when listening to a piece of music written in a minor key. Or that you automatically think of something mirthful and ecstatic, even chipper, when listening to music written in a major key. So I decided to experiment with it, trying to write music in a major or minor key, and ending in the opposite.


The music seems to feel morose with a shine of hope at the end, or the complete opposite effect, jubilant becoming afflicted. I tried switching from major to minor to major again, which gave the piece of music an edge, something unique that allows to be called legitimate art. I like this.


The mood of the song also has to do with tempo. You can have a happy slow song (which can only be achieved if you're an artistic genius) and a fast sad song, but it wouldn't fit as well as a slow depressing song and up-beat happy one.


I tried reading up on what colors or pitch in your voice can affect mood, but found that music is the most effective way of changing from blissful to daunted. I tried watching movies, like Moulin Rouge! (which has been my favorite movie since age seven) and paying attention to scenes with no dialogue, and found that it is mostly music that attaches you to that scene.


Music makes the world go 'round; and, if it is well written, it can change your perspective on a certain situation or change how you perceive the world around you. My next experiment will have to do with tempo and chords, major and minor. I hope to make something so completely unique no one will ever be able to achieve it.

"There is a special kind of truth that lies within music. Truth in the form of a sound, a lyric, a voice, a chord, a key change, a whisper. Truth that can heal you and break your heart in the span of four minutes.


Like love, like air, like heartache, you cant see it, but you know when you feel it." - Claire London


Silly me, I set my goals so high.