# Terminology of different ways of transforming melodies from major to minor and v/v



## atlanteanmuse (May 29, 2013)

If you have a major key melody and want to have a minor key version of it later on in a piece, with the accompanying harmonies changed to minor (i.e. flattening the mediant and submediant where they appear in the harmonies), the melody has to also be somehow altered. There are two common ways this is done: 
1. Keep the melody at the same pitch level relative to the tonic, but flatten the mediant and the descending 6th and 7th scale degrees where they occur [i.e. the melody is at the same pitch level as the PARALLEL major of the minor key]
2. Transpose the melody up a major 3rd, while preserving all the melodic intervals, so that the melody notes are now as if they belonged to the RELATIVE major of the new minor key

Schubert used both of them, especially #1 in many works, but he used #2 several times in the Sonata D960 (1st mvt development, and 2nd mvt also)

Now, my question is, is there specific terminology to describe each of these two processes? e.g. related to transformation/transposition?


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## atlanteanmuse (May 29, 2013)

atlanteanmuse said:


> 2. Transpose the melody up a major 3rd, while preserving all the melodic intervals, so that the melody notes are now as if they belonged to the RELATIVE major of the new minor key


Whoops, should have been "Transpose the melody up a *minor* 3rd" (relative to the tonic).


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## Ramako (Apr 28, 2012)

I am not aware of any specific terminology for these things. Sometimes other more complex, at times apparently unnecessary, transformations occur. By and large these have to be dealt with on a case by case basis.

1. is the standard, and I would describe as the melody transferred to the minor mode or suchlike, whereas 2. would require special mention, because the melody is (probably) retained at the original pitches, or if not something even more interesting is taking place, but could not simply be described as the melody transferred to the minor mode, as that would suggest 1..


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