What is the power/ secret of minor chords in a music so as to touch a person?

[joseph chikaka]

I need a help on this matter that in minor chords there is a power to influence people or to capture the tension of people on music.
I still have journey to learn about the principles and philosophy of music.

[Noel Anderson]

It's not so much a "magical" or "mystical" power so to say. It is simply that minor chords and minor songs generally have a "sad" feeling. If someone is feeling sad when they listen to a minor song it may connect with them, since it is meeting them where they are at. In addition, seventh chords and suspensions have the power to do just what they say; sustain, whether that is sustaining someone's attention or their tension. Dissonance works similarly in that it can put a sound to someone's pain, anxiety, etc, then relieving or resolving that dissonance or suspension can have a releasing feeling on a person. In essence we are all programmed to expect certain things out of music. Good music is a mix of the expected and the unexpected. Too much expectation is boring. Too much unexpected can be overwhelming to the untrained ear! Hope that helps!

[Chuck Schwandt]

Very interesting.... I was attracted to this discussion because most of my songs are dominated by minor chords. If minors do communicate "sadness", does that mean I'm always communicating sadness in my songs? Do they always communicate sadness? Thanks

[Paul Lytle]

Playing with different modes is always very fun. There's a great conversation in Plato's Republic where the people just talk about which mode of music is best for what type of tune. Of course, we don't even use those modes anymore, but the point is well made.

The whole reason Gregorian Chants sound the way they do is because of the mode. The scale they use (usually) is called the Dorian scale. It tends to make very peaceful, very reverent music. That's not always the case. Actually, quite a bit of Alt Rock in the 90s was written in Dorian.

Usually we'll hear minor modes in sad music, but it can also be very uplifting and powerful (listen to some of Wagner's operas or other classic music in minor modes). It can also have a darker sound. Blues and Jazz are usually built around the Minor Penatonic scale, which is a Minor mode. It isn't necessarily a sad mode, but can very easily make sad music.

I don't know the science behind it. (I'm a lot of help, aren't I?) I'm sure someone could explain it in terrible and boring detail, but I think the best way to learn about it is to listen to some good music that uses these techniques and figure out what they are doing. Get the sheet music and look at what is going on. What's the key? What's the chord progression? What changes do they make with the conventions (modulations, sudden key changes, etc). I've learned more by getting the chords for a song and playing it myself than in any book or class.