Minor chord
Combination of three or more notes
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A minor chord is a triad with a minor third and a perfect fifth above the root. The minor triad built on C is spelled C–E♭–G.
| Component intervals from root | |
|---|---|
| perfect fifth | |
| minor third | |
| Tuning | |
| just - 10:12:15[1] | |
| Forte no. | |
| 3-11[2] |
Structure
The primary intervals in a minor chord are the minor third above the root, and the perfect fifth above the root. There is a major third between the third and fifth.[3] It is a tertian chord because it is built in thirds.[4]: 458 A minor triad is represented by the integer notation {0,3,7}.[2]
On lead sheets, a minor chord is sometimes indicated by the letter of its root followed by the abbreviation "MI" in small caps font. [5] Other variations include the abbreviations (in normal font) "min", "mi", "m", or the minus sign character "-". For example, D min, D mi, D m, or D -.
The minor chord timbre is sometimes described as darker than its major counterpart.[6]
Just intonation
In just intonation, a minor chord is tuned in the frequency ratio 10:12:15, reflecting an appearance of the minor chord in the harmonic series.[7] The ratio was refined to 10/9:4/3:5/3 by Ben Johnston.[8] In a just major scale, the 10:12:15 minor triad appears on iii and vi.[9]
A justly tuned perfect fifth is 702 cents, compared to 700 cents in equal temperament. The just minor third is 316 cents, where the equal-tempered interval is 300 cents.[4]: 455
Alternate just minor chord tunings include:
Georg Andreas Sorge derived the minor chord from the confluence of two major triads such as F-A-C and C-E-G. An A minor triad arises from the connection.[12] He pointed out that overtones 10, 12, 15, and 18 of the harmonic series form a minor seventh chord.[13]