when i have bassline/chords/melody all in one midi file (lets say all in C major)

and i move everything up or down by one semitone

am i moving between Minor/Major keys or am i just messing everything up?

 

Then you move everything either to C# major or B major.

 

so basically i can move freely between major keys just by adjusting everything up or down one semitone

and if i want to test also in minor keys how do i convert first to a minor key so i can do the same (i.e move everything down and up by one semitone to move between minor keys)

 

You do not "test" characteristica. You rather feel them.

But if you wish to modulate to minor, take a look at this method: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circle_of_fifths

 

no no no no no no no no no no no no circle of 5ths is my nightmare, lol......ehhh might have to take a look

 

Circle of fifths is crazy useful, 125% worth learning.

 

Imagine you're playing a song on your keyboard. Okay, now imagine you shift a transpose knob on your keyboard up or down one semitone and play it again- it all still works right? If you move everything you've simply transposed your song and you've changed nothing about any of the harmonic relationships within it. It's just the same thing in a different key.

 

No, you are not change the major to minor key, when you change all the notes together, this is called transposing.
The only thing that changes in this case, is the tonality. So, if the track was in Do or C major, and you move all the notes up 1 semitones, the track will be in Do# or C# major.
If you move it down one semitone, the track will be in Si or B major.

When we speak about major or minor, we refer to the the third degree of the scale.
For example: in C you would have E as the third degree if it's C major,
if it's C minor, that would be Eb.

So to change your song from major to minor, you would have to change only the third degree of your song one semitone lower. But if your track have chord changes, it could be a bit chaotic.

Just try it on your keyboard, it's much easier to understand doing it than reading it.

Play C - E - G then just move down the E to one semitone lower. You will clearly hear and feel the minor chord.

I hope this helps

 

Last edited: Aug 5, 2022