Overview
You can reinvent major key songs like “Oh Susanna” by playing them in a minor key. This is a fun way to improve your mental map of scales, melodies and the fingerboard. Plus, it’s a creative practice which gets you into the mindset for improvisation.
Two ways I can help you on your fiddle journey 🎻
- Sign up for the Free Two-week Trial. You’ll get full access to all courses and group lessons. Plus, I’ll send you some free lessons tailored to your current skill level.
- Sign up for the FiddleHed newsletter below, then get high-value tips and lessons delivered to your inbox.
Learning Steps
Start by playing a D Major scale with a D drone.
D0-1-2-3-A0-1-2-3
Lower the third, sixth and seventh steps to get the D Minor scale.
D0-1-L2-3-A0-L1-L2-3
Practice going between the two scales with a D Drone.
How do they feel different?
Enjoy the sound and the emotional contrast as you switch.
Going from major to minor on songs
Now let’s play a familiar song like Oh Susanna in D Major. Here’s the first chunk:
(D0-1)-2-A0-0-1-0-D2-0-1-2-2-1-0-1-1
Sing then play: Well I come from Alabama with a banjo on my knee
To transform a whole song from a major to minor key, just switch out the third, sixth and seventh notes where they occur.
Let’s do it on the first Chunk of Oh Susanna.
D0-1-L2-A0-0-L1-0-DL2 -0-1-L2-L2-1-0-1
That’s it! Simply Repeat the process on the remaining Chunks.
Further Practice
Once you get this for Oh Susanna, try it on other familiar songs you know, like Mary Had A Little Lamb, Twinkle Little Star, etc.
This will make these old melodies fresh again.
Transposer
I made a Transposer tool to help you transpose scales from major to minor in the keys of G, D, A and E.
| Scale Steps | Solfege | G Major | G Minor | D Major | D Minor | A Major | A Minor | E Major | E Minor |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | Mi | - | - | - | - | - | - | GL1 | G0 |
| 4 | Fa | - | - | G0 | G0 | - | - | G1 | G1 |
| 5 | So | - | - | G1 | G1 | - | - | G2 | G2 |
| 6 | La | - | - | G2 | G2 | - | - | GH3 | G3 |
| 7 | Ti | - | - | GH3 | GH3 | GL1 | G0 | D0 (G4) | D0 (G4) |
| 1 | Do | G0 | G0 | D0 (G4) | D0 (G4) | G1 | G1 | D1 | D1 |
| 2 | Re | G1 | G1 | D1 | D1 | G2 | G2 | D2 | D2 |
| 3 | Mi | G2 | GL2 | D2 | DL2 | GH3 | G3 | DH3 | D3 |
| 4 | Fa | G3 | G3 | D3 | D3 | D0 (G4) | D0 (G4) | A0 (D4) | A0 (D4) |
| 5 | So | D0 (G4) | D0 (G4) | A0 (D4) | A0 (D4) | D1 | D1 | A1 | A1 |
| 6 | La | D1 | DL1 | A1 | AL1 | D2 | DL2 | A2 | AL2 |
| 7 | Ti | D2 | DL2 | A2 | AL2 | DH3 | D3 | AH3 | A3 |
| 1 | Do | D3 | D3 | A3 | A3 | A0 (D4) | A0 (D4) | E0 (A4) | E0 (A4) |
| 2 | Re | A0 (D4) | A0 (D4) | E0 (A4) | E0 (A4) | A1 | A1 | E1 | E1 |
| 3 | Mi | A1 | AL1 | E1 | EL1 | A2 | AL2 | E2 | EL2 |
| 4 | Fa | AL2 | AL2 | EL2 | EL2 | A3 | A3 | E3 | E3 |
| 5 | So | A3 | A3 | E3 | E3 | E0 (A4) | E0 (A4) | E4 | E4 |
| 6 | La | E0 (A4) | AL4 | E4 | EL4 | E1 | EL1 | - | - |
| 7 | Ti | E1 | EL1 | - | - | E2 | EL2 | - | - |
| 1 | Do | EL2 | EL2 | - | - | E3 | E3 | - | - |
If you take this Major To Minor journey, you might feel your brain growing!
Examples
Manic Mary
You can take a syrupy Major key melody like “Mary Had A Little Lamb” and play it in a minor key to make it sound nice and gloomy!
But then if you speed it up and add some fiddle variation, it becomes a fun klezmer tune.
- Sad Mary
- Replace D Major with D Minor: D0-1-L2-3-A0-1-L2-3
But then if you speed it up and add some fiddle variation, it becomes a fun klezmer tune.
- Klezmer Mary
Twinkle Little Star Klezmer
Further learning
Once you get this for Oh Susanna, try it on other familiar songs you know, like Mary Had A Little Lamb, Twinkle Little Star, etc.
Easy Song, Skills Strong / Harness the power of familiar songs.
Takeaways
1. Transform a major scale to a minor scale by lowering the third, sixth and seventh steps.
2. Alter the same notes in major key tunes to create minor key versions.
3. Start on super simple songs.
I do feel my brain growing! So fun, thanks!
Yes 🙂 🧠 🎶 💗