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Diagram XII - The Chords of the Twelve Minor Keys

CHAPTER XV.
DIAGRAM XII.—THE CHORDS OF THE TWELVE MINOR KEYS.

"No development can help anything which does not have corrective causes working with it; some power must shape the growth, and work correctively by laws impressed and authority maintained. The law of progress must be operated upon and moulded by guiding forces. That which acts, lives; and the universe lives as much by its soul as we do by ours."

"And what if all of animated nature
Be but organic harps diversely formed,
That tremble into thought as o'er them sweeps,
Plastic and vast, one intellectual breeze,
At once the soul of each and God of all?"—Coleridge.

"In all things, in all natures, in the stars
Of azure heaven, the unenduring clouds,
In flower and tree, in every pebbly stone
That paves the brooks, the stationary rocks,
The moving waters, and the invisible air,
. . . . From link to link
It circulates, the soul of all the worlds."—Coleridge.


ALTHOUGH only twelve notes of a keyed instrument develope perfect minor harmonics, there are fifteen different chords, the double tones D#-E?, E#-F?, A#-B? all sounding as roots. The fifteen roots are written in musical clef. A major and a minor fifth embrace the same number of key-notes, but the division into threefold chords is different. In counting the twelve, a major fifth has four below the third note of its harmony, and three above it; a minor fifth has three below the third note of its harmony, and four above it. A major seventh includes twelve key-notes, a minor seventh only eleven. As an example of the minor chords in the different keys, we may first examine those in the key of A, written in musical clef. The seven of its harmony have two threefold chords, and two of its ascending scale. If we include the octave note, the highest chord of the descending scale is a repetition (sounding an octave higher) of the lowest chord of the seven in its harmony, and the second chord of the descending scale is a repetition of the first chord of its ascending scale. These two repetition chords are only written to the key of A: the chords of the other eleven keys will all be found exactly to agree with those of A in their mode of development. We may again remark on the beautiful effect which would result if the colours of the minor chords could be seen, with the tones, as they develope.

page 37a


Hughes
The roots of the Minor Chords. The difference between a Major and a Minor Chord. The Chords of the 12 Minor keys follow. [Harmonies of Tones and Colours, The Roots of the Minor Chords, page 61]

The student may refer to Diagram XII., where he will find the chords coloured. [Harmonies of Tones and Colours, The Roots of the Minor Chords, page 61]

Created by Dale Pond. Last Modification: Thursday April 15, 2021 03:08:18 MDT by Dale Pond.