A minor

A minor (abbreviated Am) is a minor scale based on A, consisting of the pitches A, B, C, D, E, F, and G. The harmonic minor scale raises the G to G♯. Its key signature has no flats or sharps (see below: Scales and keys).

Its relative major is C major, and its parallel major is A major.

Changes needed for the melodic and harmonic versions of the scale are written in with accidentals as necessary.

Johann Joachim Quantz considered A minor, along with C minor, much more suitable for expressing "the sad effect" than other minor keys (Versuch einer Anweisung die Flöte traversiere zu spielen).

Whereas traditionally key signatures were cancelled with naturals whenever the new key signature had fewer sharps or flats than the old key signature, or had flats instead of sharps or vice versa (so, for example, D major changing to D minor would be notated with a key signature of F♮, C♮, and B♭ at the change), in modern popular and commercial music, cancellation is only done when C major or A minor replaces another key.

Violin Concerto in A minor (Bach)

The Violin Concerto in A minor, BWV 1041, was composed by Johann Sebastian Bach. It is "generally thought to have been composed at Cöthen in 1717-23", although Christoph Wolff has raised the possibility that the work may have been written in Leipzig, perhaps during Bach's time as director of the Collegium Musicum. In any event, the only autograph source to survive are parts Bach copied out (along with other copyists) in Leipzig circa 1730 from a now lost score or draft.

Structure and analysis

The piece has three movements:

The motifs of the theme of the Allegro moderato appear in changing combinations and are separated and intensified throughout the movement.

In the Andante Bach uses an insistent pattern in the ostinato bass part that is repeated constantly in the movement. He focuses the variation in the harmonic relations.

In the final movement Bach relies on bariolage figures to generate striking acoustic effects. The meter and rhythm are those of a gigue.

Minor

Minor may refer to:

Music theory

Mathematics

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Backing track

A backing track is an audio recording on audiotape, CD or a digital recording medium or a MIDI recording of synthesized instruments, often of rhythm section or other accompaniment parts that live musicians play or sing along to. Backing tracks enable singers and bands to add parts to their music which would be impractical to perform live, such as string section or choir parts which were recorded in the studio.

Uses

Bands or solo musicians may use backing tracks to add extra instrumental or vocal tracks to a live performance, to enhance the sound (as in the employment of doubled backing vocals) or to replicate more closely the instrumentation heard on a recording (as in the use of additional recorded parts such as string sections which would be costly to reproduce live.) A singer or vocal group performing without a backup band may sing along to pre-recorded music. A music track without lead vocals may also be called a karaoke, minus-one track or playback. Music backing tracks are also available for instrumental practice and jamming by jazz musicians, to help beginning to intermediate performers learn to improvise over chord progressions. Backing tracks are also known as jam tracks. If bought commercially, backing tracks often use session musicians to play the instruments and backing vocals, rather than using the original recording of a song, because the rights to use the original performance of the backing parts of a song by a well-known band would be very costly to purchase.

Pink Floyd

Pink Floyd were an English rock band formed in London. They achieved international acclaim with their progressive and psychedelic music. Distinguished by their use of philosophical lyrics, sonic experimentation, extended compositions and elaborate live shows, they are one of the most commercially successful and musically influential groups in the history of popular music.

Pink Floyd were founded in 1965 by students Syd Barrett, Nick Mason, Roger Waters, and Richard Wright. They gained popularity performing in London's underground music scene during the late 1960s, and under Barrett's leadership released two charting singles and a successful debut album, The Piper at the Gates of Dawn (1967). David Gilmour joined as a fifth member in December 1967; Barrett left the band in April 1968 due to deteriorating mental health. Waters became the band's primary lyricist and, by the mid-1970s, their dominant songwriter, devising the concepts behind their critically and commercially successful albums The Dark Side of the Moon (1973), Wish You Were Here (1975), Animals (1977), The Wall (1979) and The Final Cut (1983). The Dark Side of the Moon and The Wall became two of the best-selling albums of all time.