minor key

American  

noun

Music.

1. a key or mode based on a minor scale.

2. a less jubilant or more restrained mood, atmosphere, or quality.

   The conversation shifted to a minor key with news of the defeat.

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minor key British  

noun

1. music a key based on notes taken from a corresponding minor scale

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Etymology

Origin of minor key

First recorded in 1810–20

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

minor key

The mood is melancholic, redoubled by long, drawn-out notes from the strings and minor key piano arpeggios; passages of happiness feel fragile, fleeting, untrustworthy.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 4, 2023

This single-sitting listen is a minor key masterpiece.

From Seattle Times ● Aug. 9, 2022

The overture of “Madama Butterfly” is very fast and energetic, in a minor key, that sounds very Western.

From New York Times ● Aug. 5, 2022

Even so, he says, Looking High's sepia-toned memories shift from a major to a minor key, "because those clubs are all closed down now and our friends have moved out of Oxford".

From BBC ● Jun. 15, 2022

If the final chord is the tonic of either the major or minor key for that key signature, you have almost certainly identified the key.

From "Understanding Basic Music Theory" by Catherine Schmidt-Jones and Russel Jones