minor to major??

[invisiblewasp]

I'm trying to write a song that goes from minor to major. Any recs of other songs that do that successfully?

[egordon99]

Originally Posted by invisiblewasp

I'm trying to write a song that goes from minor to major. Any recs of other songs that do that successfully?

I’d say Pink Floyd’s Comfortably Numb does that successfully.

[Brent Hahn]

Check out "If I Were a Rich Man" from "Fiddler on the Roof." That thing careens from A major to A minor to C major. Pretty brilliant. And none of the online sources I've seen for chord changes are particularly accurate.

[b1j]

I’ll Be Back by John and Paul.

[K20C]

The minor fall, the major lift?

[Ryan51]

Runaway-Del Shannon. Am and A.
Things We Said Today-Beatles. Am and A.
I'll Be Back-Beatles. Am and A.
The Crystal Ship-Doors. Fm and F. Ending chord is guitar playing Fm and keys playing FMaj.
Love Street-The Doors. Gm and G. Am and A.
Light My Fire-The Doors. Am and A. Bm and B.
Theme From Exodus-Ernest Gold. Am and A.
Aqualung-Jethro Tull. A and Am.
John Barleycorn-Traffic. Dm and D.
Legend of a Mind-Moody Blues. Am and A.
Tortoise and the Hare-Moody Blues. Gm and G, Cm and C.
One More Time to Live- Moody Blues. Dm and D, Gm and G, Cm and C, F#m and F#, Em and E.
Killing Me Softly-Roberta Flack. Fm and F, Bbm and Bb.

[mr. beaumont]

Adelita, by Tarrega.

[JonPR]

More Beatles:

Fool on the Hill - D minor to D major
While my Guitar Gently Weeps - A minor to A major
Here There and Everywhere - G major to G minor (via Bb major)
Norwegian Wood - E major (mixolydian) to E minor (dorian) - and back via an E major ii-V

[Gitfiddlemann]

Maybe not your cup of tea, but a well known Sor study comes to mind:
Opus 6, Nr. 11
Its signature key and tonality is very much Em, but the change to E major in the last section and ending is impactful and really highlights how well the transposition can work to make a beautiful change while maintaining the overall musical feel of the piece. Sor was a brilliant composer and virtuoso player, and this is a good example of just how talented he was.
Listen for the change at the 2:10 mark or so.

[Charlie Bernstein]

Here are several ways it's been done:

- Jazz: "Who Walks In When I Walk Out" has minor verses and a major chorus.

- Cowboy: The Grateful Dead version* of "Me and My Uncle" starts verses on a major and ends themon its relative minor.

- Rock: "White Room" gracefully uses major and minor versions of several chords.

- Folk: "Knocking on Heaven's Door" is two bars ending on a minor and two bars ending with its relative major, over and over: G D / Am / G D / C /. . . .

- Blues: "Free and Equal Blues" is in a minor key except the last chord of each verse, which is major, brightening it up.

Hope that helps!

-------------

* Maybe John Phillips' version, too. I don't remember.

[Brent Hutto]

It's not a song with words or anything but there's a tune (kind of like a fiddle tune) I made up and play all the time that starts out in C-harmonic-minor then has a short section in the middle in G-major but actually switches into A-minor at the very end. There's a couple accidentals in there too but the G-major bit really stands out as nice contrast.

I also speed up the tempo of the short G-major bit plus play it higher up the neck. So the whole effect is a real brightness that 4-bar major section.

Yeah, not helpful to your original question. I just like my little tune and had to mention it

[Gordon Currie]

From way out in left field:

"Fantasia On A Theme By Thomas Tallis" - Ralph Vaughn Willliams

The constant seesaw between minor and major is entrancing and emotionally immersive.

[capefisherman]

Originally Posted by JonPR

More Beatles:

Fool on the Hill - D minor to D major
While my Guitar Gently Weeps - A minor to A major
Here There and Everywhere - G major to G minor (via Bb major)
Norwegian Wood - E major (mixolydian) to E minor (dorian) - and back via an E major ii-V

Excellent recommendations here! George loved writing songs that went from minor to major with the same root, often connected by pieces of descending chromatic scales. The other Beatles songs recommended in this thread are great examples too. At the time, going back and forth from minor to major (not using relative minor, which is much easier for our musical brain to digest because the same scale-tones are present) was quite revolutionary and at times startling. I've often wondered how much influence George Martin had introducing or encouraging the concept in the studio? I'm guessing - a lot!

[Nama Ensou]

Not sure if it's already been brought up, but one of the key points to going Major to minor is changing a mood from cheerful or strong, to melancholic or sad, and vice versa of course.

Many times these changes, even if they don't exist in the original version, can aid in bringing additional emotional redirection to a song. It's one of the things that is likely going on when someone runs through a new song and decides that they prefer to substitute Major for minor to soften the mood, or minor to Major for a stronger, up-front feel and/or drive.

[JonPR]

Originally Posted by capefisherman

I've often wondered how much influence George Martin had introducing or encouraging the concept in the studio? I'm guessing - a lot!

Maybe none at all!

He did often make suggestions about arrangements and so on, but AFAIK never dabbled in actual songwriting suggestions. Lennon, McCartney and Harrison not only knew 100s of songs in all popular styles - including some jazz, even a little classical - so would have heard and copied (and stolen) these effects when found in older songs. Also, they were fearless experimenters in putting chords together in different ways, judging results purely by ear. They needed no input from George Martin in that respect.

The main contribution Martin made was in tightening up arrangements sometimes - e.g., he suggested Please Please Me should be faster than John envisaged it, and that Can't Buy Me Love should start with the chorus - in both cases to give them more impact. He also beefed up the Hard Days Night chord with extra piano, for the same reason.

IOW, the Beatles knew how to write songs - needed no help there! But they knew almost nothing about recording, and of course George Martin knew lots. For Lennon especially, Martin seemed like a guru with countless magical effects at his command - but all in the context of recording, not songwriting. Of course Martin also wrote the various orchestral arrangements, but even those were often dictated by McCartney singing the lines he wanted. Essentially Martin was almost as in awe of their songwriting skills as they were of his production skills.