Do You Prefer Major Key or Minor Key? Why?

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Not necessarily. Some songs begin with the key they are in, and some don't. What note a song starts with often has little to do with what key the song is in. It's a little hard to explain... I'm really sorry

Asparval was referring to scales (successions of notes with certain patterns of intervals in between, useful in understanding music theory and often used in works of music but not, by themselves, works of music). Although there is a higher than average probability that the first note of a song is its key, it is not necessary.

The first note of a song often has nothing to do with the key but the LAST note is most of time the key of it.

Ja, because of that coming home sense.

Still, looking at the first chord in the song (or for chords of a certain key that are recurrent) is usually instructive, but you need to look at other things too.

Some examples of Major and Minor:

http://users.whsmithnet.co.uk/tim.collett/Piano%20Series%203.1.MID

This is in A flat major


http://users.whsmithnet.co.uk/tim.collett/Music/Piano%20Series%203.0.MID

This is in C sharp minor


http://users.whsmithnet.co.uk/tim.collett/Music/Piano%20Series%202.MID

This is in B flat minor.

Oh well, nobody else has done it yet, so I suppose I'll have to.....

What do you get when you drop a piano down a mineshaft? A flat minor.....

The old 'uns are the best 'uns..... <cough>

I guess i would have to say that i like listening to something in minor. For some reason, a piece in minor has a lot more emotion for me than in major. I'm not saying that music in major isn't emotional, i just like the emotions that are put into minor keys than in major keys.

Anyways, I just love to listen to the harmonic scales. I love that sound when the 7th is raised.

Besides, in minor keys, you have the subtonic. For some reason, i love to say Subtonic.

Got a few theory questions though.

1. What's the difference between a semitone and a half step?

2. Can secondary dominants happen anytime or do they happen in a specific key, etc?

Thanks

I believe its a cross-pond thing: Europeans say semitone, Americans say half step (similar to "quarter note"/"quaver", "eighth note"/"semiquaver"), although I may be wrong?

Well, I know about the dominant, which is a key based on the 5th note of another key. A secondary dominant is the 5th note of that dominant key?

But that's a 9th isn't it? (/me tries to show off musical knowledge, despite only a limited understanding of much of it)

ha, ha, ha, ha...

boom boom

Basil Brush would have been proud of that one....

Dunc

I checked major, but honestly it depends on what kind of mood I am in.

Tallgirl.

Is "secondary dominant perhaps another term for "subdominant"? If so I am not exactly sure what you mean when tou ask if they "happen".
A 'subdominant' is one of the degrees of the scale . These 'degrees are simply names for each note of a scale, starting from the 'Tonic' (or key-note) and ascending to the next tonic (which although higher in pitch, sounds similar to the lower tonic as its frequency is exactly double).

In ascending order, the notes or "degrees " of the scale are:-
1 TONIC 2 SUPERTONIC 3 MEDIANT 4 SUBDOMINANT 5 DOMINANT
6 SUBMEDIANT 7 LEADING NOTE 8 TONIC

These names represent position not the actual note, so they remain the same for every scale, no matter what the Key. For example, in the key of A major, the Dominant is E; in C major, the Dominant is G. Etc.

And re the joke about dropping a piano down a mineshaft - well, it makes a change from dropping a piano in an army officers'mess, when all you get would be A FLAT MAJOR (and a different kind of mess, I guess)

Glenn

Secondary dominants are kind of like if you're in a piece that's in a minor and you want to temporarily change into the key of C major. since G is the subtonic in a minor it can also act as the dominant of the mediant in a minor seeing as G is the dominant in C major.

I don't know if this helps you at all. but i hope it kind of clears it up for you

Urrrgghhhh.... overwhelmed by..... music theory...... Urge to grab guitar..... and play repetetive I-IV-V blues songs...... overwhelming.....

Erm...I wouldn't know one from another, having never had the benefit (or probable enjoyment) of any musical training (except about a month of guitar lessons when I was 16 that ended in frustration). I'm musically illiterate! Ugh.