The Minor Third

Seriousness, Solemnity—5:6


Arising from the Major Third in the Harmonic Series is the Minor Third at 5:6. In music as well as in castings, it is the Minor Third that most clearly defines minor keys and the somber, serious feelings we associate with them. This is a powerful dyad: it can shake us from our daydreams with its sudden, solemn beauty, or provide an entrancing underscore to our attachments and self-pity.

In the active suit of Brass, the hermeneutic for the Minor Third is prudence; in the emotional suit of Strings, sadness; in the intellectual suit of Woodwinds, factuality; in the physical suit of Percussion, crisis; and in the spiritual, holistic suit of Voices, sacrifice.

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