Some quick music theory:
I’ve mentioned previously on this site that there is such a thing as a relative minor scale. It works like this. Let’s look at a C major scale:
C D E F G A B C
Conveniently, there are no sharps of flats. Major scales sound happy while minor scales sound sad and more complex. Interestingly, every major scale has a relative minor scale. That means that if you use all the same notes, but play them in a different order it can sound minor. For the C major scale, the relative minor is A minor. Check it out:
A B C D E F G A
Again, no sharps or flats. Neat! But for us music theory beginners, it can be tough to remember what the relative minor is for each key. This weekend, while I was in Portland visiting Sarah T, she taught me a really handy tool.
The difference between a major and its relative minor is three half-steps and three half-steps is the equivalent of the sad trombone sound. To go from a happy major to a sad minor, just work your way down the sad trombone and you’re good to go.
Ha! Awesome! Thanks Sarah T!