in a minor key
1
6.6
- idiom
- Specialized
:
en una tonalidad menor
- The music was simple and spare, in a minor key.
- songs in a minor key
Examples
-
Rush was a master of chilling slow blues in a minor key.
Academic text (2002) -
As a girl, confident of the light, I peered under rocks for shade, sang songs in a minor key, and gazed in sham melancholy.
Fiction book (1991) -
And instead of use Marla used the same thing but in a minor key in his first Symphony.
-
"Mighty Lak' a Rose," in a minor key.
Fiction book (1992) -
The iim7b5? " because technically in a minor key, the 5th scale degree is flatted.
Blog text (12) -
Students with decoding-level capabilities can learn about the construction of modes and can discuss whether a familiar song such as "Happy Birthday" sounds correct in a minor key.
Academic text (2002) -
Conductors may need an adagio piece in a minor key, for example, or a unison chant from Zimbabwe.
Academic text (2000) -
The admonition that they should nonetheless embrace the integrative ideal and give it substance by their own heroic efforts guarantees only that integrated teaching will continue in practice to offer up golden oldies, absent the challenging high notes and variations in a minor key.
Academic text (2002) -
The song had a haunting quality, played beautifully in a minor key.
-
Many classical pieces evoke deep emotions when composed in a minor key.
Synonyms
16
7.4
A musical key that sounds sad
Antonyms
How Somber
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'having the tonality of a minor key' is directly and transparently derived from the constituents: 'in' (locative/prepositional), 'a' (article), 'minor' (type of scale) and 'key' (tonality). This is a straightforward compositional noun phrase referring to musical tonality, a pattern that is cross-linguistically common, so a B1 learner who knows the words will readily understand it.
Etymology
In a minor key comes from music: a minor key is a way of using notes that people hear as 'sad' or 'serious'. So, saying something is in a minor key means it feels quieter and sadder, giving a sad and thoughtful mood.