Fathoming Minor

So how can you begin to create your own creepiness and unease? To begin with, we must understand what constitutes a minor key. Essentially, we know if a song uses a minor key by seeing if it’s using a minor scale. The pattern of a minor scale takes the following steps up from the starting note (also known as the base note or tonic note). It goes a little something like this:

Whole-Half-Whole-Whole-Half-Whole-Whole

For example, if you wanted to turn a regular A major scale into a something a bit more, shall we say, haunting, simply follow the pattern of whole-half-whole-whole-half-whole-whole up the scale and back. You’d end up playing (starting from A, remember): A-B-C-E-D-F-G-A. And there’s your minor scale.

Now would be a good time to point out that major keys share the same key signature with their relative minor keys – in this example, A minor shares the same key signature of having zero sharps or flats with C major. Because they share something in common – musical DNA, so to speak – the minor is a relative to the major, hence the name relative minor.  

If you want to use a major key to find the relative minor key, just find the name of the major key and move three half-steps backwards (or down). Three half-steps down from C is A, so A is the relative minor of C major. And that, boys and ghouls, is knowledge, and knowledge found here is musical power.

Spookifying A Major Key

Now that we’re familiar with the relationship between major and minor, let’s use the example of cousins C major and A minor to see how we can go from a cheery major to a foreboding minor.

1. To turn a C major tune into a song evoking a sad, melancholy, or spooky feeling, sub in the 1-4-5 chords from C major with the 1-4-5 chords from A minor.

Instead of this:

C – F – G  
(I – IV – V)

Use this:

Am – Dm – Em
(i – iv – v)

2. To bring an even spookier feel to an A minor song, use the following chord progression: i – ii dim – V – i.

Example:  Am – Bdim – E – Am

For more exercises in creating your own minor chord progressions, head over to this guide to discovering more minor chord progressions.

Build-Your-Own Creepy Tune

Armed with some minor key theory and emboldened by the spirit of Halloween, you are now ready to take on the sacred task of writing your own frightening magnum opus.

1. Use a minor key (see above and be sure to reference the related links for more in-depth info and cheat sheets).
2. Consider your tempo. What kind of effect will increasing or decreasing the tempo have on your song? Play around with it and see what gives you the effect you’re after.
3. Determine your instrumentation. A song can sound totally different when you play it in a minor key on a xylophone or harpsichord. If you have access to a keyboard (or hey, said harpsichord), you can use different sounds to heighten the dreadful vibe. Try:

• Strings
• Tuba
• Oboe
• Chimes/xylophone/music-box instruments
• Organ
• Piano
• harp/harpsichord
• Bass guitar
• The waterphone
• Theremin
• Pipe organ
• Ondes martenot
• Blaster beam

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