Timeline for Does minor/major affect scale degrees when talking about chords?
Current License: CC BY-SA 4.0
5 events
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| Nov 2, 2019 at 5:20 | comment | added | Athanasius | In general, I think the mixed case RN notation became more common in undergrad theory textbooks maybe 50-60 years ago. Before that, you'd still see all-caps RN in many standard introductory sources. Now it's rare in that context. However, some jazz and pop harmony sources occasionally still use an all-caps notation too, indicating chord quality with standard chord symbols (m or - for minor, etc.), so a minor tonic chord could be Im or I-. | |
| Nov 2, 2019 at 5:14 | comment | added | Athanasius | @MichaelCurtis: It's worth noting that the older convention (dating to the early 19th century) is to use all-caps Roman numerals exclusively. Whether a chord was major or minor could be determined from context and local key. This convention is still used by many music theorists (particularly those closer to Schenkerian roots), but it's more rarely seen at the undergraduate level or in popular sources these days. The use of lowercase RN for minor dates to the late 19th century and followed earlier use of lowercase letters to indicate minor keys and chords (e.g., A = A major, a = A minor). | |
| Nov 1, 2019 at 21:08 | comment | added | Michael Curtis |
Do you mean why doesn't Cm: I mean a minor chord by default considering the key signature is given? I don't know the reason, but chord quality is always indicated by letter case, and symbols like + for augmented and o for diminished triads. It does seem a little arbitrary. (I'm thinking of the system used in Kostka/Payne textbook.)
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| Nov 1, 2019 at 20:41 | comment | added | Laurence | But i not I for the minor tonic triad? Why this anomaly? | |
| Nov 1, 2019 at 13:22 | history | answered | Michael Curtis | CC BY-SA 4.0 |