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Writing music out - minor key

Author: Jeff Forman
Date: 2001-01-27 15:21

Hi all. After playing stringed instrumetns by ear for 30 years, I took up clarinet last March and had to learn to read music. So far it's been challenging but rewarding. But I have a question about writing music down.

I am playing a song called Jerusalem Ridge which is in G minor. I worked it out by ear and want to write it down - I'm actually starting to like having the music in front of me! My question is - do I put one sharp on the staff lines showing it in the key of G and then just put the flat accidental by every B? Or is there a real way to denote the key of G minor?

On the generic flip side of this question, how do I know that a song (or "piece", I guess, once I get into the classical realm) is in a minor key? Do I just figure that out from its sound and noticing that the thrid note of scale always seems to be flatted? Or will the key signature give me a clue?

Thanks for the help

Jeff Forman

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RE: Writing music out - minor key

Author: Dee
Date: 2001-01-27 16:59

The G minor scale is "related" to the key of Bb. Thus the key signature of the piece will be notated just like that of Bb. i.e. at the beginning of the staff there will be a Bb and an Eb. Now from the sounds of your description, you are not working with the natural minor but perhaps the melodic minor or harmonic minor. These have certain accidentals with them so here is how they are noted.

G natural minor - key signature Bb (i.e. Bb and Eb at beginning of staff). No additional accidentals.

G harmonic minor - key signature Bb (i.e. Bb and Eb at beginning of staff). The note F (the 7th degree of the scale) will always be raised a 1/2 step making it an F#. This is always noted as an accidental throughout the piece not as key signature.

G melodic minor - key signature Bb (i.e. Bb and Eb at the beginning of the staff). The notes Eb and F (the 6th and 7th degrees of the scale) will be raised 1/2 step in an ascending sequence making them E and F#. However, in a descending sequence, they will be Eb and F.

To tell a minor scale, first look at the key signature. Then figure out what note the piece seems to return to for its "home" note. In many pieces, the last note (or chord) of the piece will be the home note. If that note is a minor third below the name of the major scale, then the piece is written in the minor key.

Here's a partial list of keys and their related minors. The natural, harmonic, and melodic versions of the minors are constructed in the same way as described above

C major - no flats or sharps in key signature
A minor

F major - one flat (Bb) in key signature
D minor

G major - one sharp (F#) in key signature
E minor

Bb major - two flats (Bb and Eb) in key signature
G minor

D major - two sharps (F# and C#) in key signature
B minor

However it would be wise to get a good book on basic music theory as there are a lot of other variant types of scales that can be confusing to a beginner.

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