“How strange the change from major to minor…”[1]
Cole Porter: Ev’ry Time We Say Goodbye
Most pop songs stay in the same key throughout. Some have change key towards the end (usually higher, to ‘lift’ the final chorus) while a few have different sections in different keys. But one easy way to alter the mood between sections is to shift from the relative minor to the major or vice versa. As heard in:
We Can Work It Out, When I'm Sixty Four and Crazy Train (Ozzy Osbourne)
One Minute Theory Lesson
In musical terms relative keys share the same seven notes but treat a different note as the centre of their musical universe and use a different chord as the home chord. The most common example of this concept is the relative major and minor.[2] The key of C major has no flats or sharps and consists of C D E F G A B C. If you make C the most important note and C major the most important chord you’re in the key of C major. Make A the centre and Am the most important chord and you are in A minor [3] Many songwriters utilise this switch going into a new section because, rather than altering notes, they’re merely emphasising different notes, which can provide an effortless change of mood.
Beatles Application
In Cry Baby Cry a G major chorus gives way to an E minor verse (0:11). When I'm Sixty Four begins in C major but soon shifts to Am (0:38). Though the chords in general draw from the same set of notes the mood become darker - a chill wind blows, momentarily, through the song. At the same spot in We Can Work It Out (0:38) a hopeful chorus in D major gives way to a more sombre meditation on mortality in Bm. Sixty Four and Work It Out both songs drop to the relative minor in the bridge and coincidentally borrow the V7 chord from the harmonic minor in place of the v (E7 in the former, F#7 in the latter).
Featured Song: Crazy Train - Ozzy Osbourne
This 1980 rock anthem opens with a classic guitar riff in F#m (0:18) before launching into a frenetic, yet jolly, chord progression in A major for the verse (0:31). This happy sound is a little uncharacteristic for the genre but the song soon reverts to F#m for the chorus (1:07) and bridge.
Reader Application
Consider using this ticket when the lyrics have scope to switch the mood, from happy to sad, hopeful to hopeless or vice versa. It usually works best if you start your section with the new root chord to strongly establish that you have switched to a new key centre. You can even keep the same progression and just swap out the first chord[4] - e.g.
Verse: F#m | D | E | Bm
Chorus: A | D | E | Bm
Extended Playlist
1930 Georgia On My Mind – Hoagy Carmichael and His Orchestra (0:51)
1960 Georgia On My Mind – Ray Charles (1:15)
1965 We Can Work It Out - The Beatles (0:38)
1966 When I'm Sixty-Four - The Beatles (0:38)
1966 Good Vibrations – Beach Boys (0:26)
1968 Cry Baby Cry - The Beatles (0:11)
1969 Let It Be - The Beatles (0:39)
1980 Crazy Train - Ozzy Osbourne (0:32, 1:07)
1985 Yesterday's Men – Madness (1:58)
1986 Livin’ On A Prayer - Bon Jovi (1:32)
1994 Live Forever – Oasis (0:33)
2006 All The Way Down - Glen Hansard, Markéta Irglová (0:00, 0:41)
2012 Enjoy The Ride – Nik Kershaw (1:14)
2013 Traveling Alone – Jason Isbell (0:55)
Further Study
Ticket 10: The Aeolian Cadence
Ticket 45: Change Keys Between Sections
Ticket 69: Climb the Chord Ladder
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[1] To be strictly accurate, Porter’s song does not change from a major to minor key at this point but from a major to minor chord (IV to iv).
[2] Of course there are five other notes (and chords) to promote as the new home. You could, for instance, switch from C major to G mixolydian mode - but these kind of switches aren’t as common - though the Beatles used this very one in Getting Better [0:00, 0:09, 0:26].
[3] Some classical music theorists would say the legitimate relative of C major is not A minor but A harmonic minor which does have a different note (G# instead of a G natural). This complicates things a little theory-wise and isn’t usually what is happening in pop songs. Naturally the Beatles flirted with this substitution too - on When I’m Sixty Four and We Can Work it Out (see application section).
[4] The Beatles and Oasis both use the exact same trick on Let It Be and Live Forever, taking a verse progression that starts with a major chord and replacing it with a minor chord for the chorus.
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