A Key on the Verge of Extinction?
Have you ever wondered why some songs instinctively sound cheerful to you, while others immediately evoke a sense of melancholy? This phenomenon goes beyond the lyrics: even a simple melody played on an instrument can evoke deep and contrasting emotions. But what is the source of this musical magic?
The answer lies, to a large extent, in a fundamental element of musical language: key. Specifically, the distinction between major and minor keys plays a crucial role in determining the "emotional color" of a piece.
Immagina di sederti al pianoforte e di suonare tre tasti contemporaneamente: Do, Mi e Sol. Quello che hai appena creato è un accordo di Do maggiore, che suona luminoso e gioioso. Ora, sposta il dito medio leggermente a sinistra sul tasto nero precedente, passando dal Mi al Mi bemolle. Con questo piccolo movimento, hai trasformato l’accordo in Do minore, e il suono è diventato improvvisamente più cupo e malinconico. È sorprendente, vero? Come un semplice spostamento di mezzo tono possa cambiare completamente l’atmosfera emotiva di un accordo [1].
Now, think about your playlist of favorite songs. Have you ever taken a look at what key those songs are in? You might discover something interesting about your emotional "musical diet." If you've ever particularly empathized with a song that had an almost cathartic effect on you, it’s very likely that the song was in a minor key.
This premise helps introduce an interesting observation: in recent decades, mainstream Western music has undergone a subtle but significant change. The major key, once dominant in the charts, is gradually giving way to the minor key.
A study conducted by E. Glenn Schellenberg and Christian von Scheve [2] revealed that in the 1960s, about 85% of hit songs were in a major key. Today, that percentage has drastically dropped, in some cases reaching as low as 40%. In other words, the music we listen to is increasingly in minor keys, traditionally associated with feelings of melancholy, introspection, or sadness. The current snapshot, as of October 2024, shows a fairly balanced situation. In fact, the keys are distributed as follows in their respective Spotify playlists:
| Top 50 Favorite songs Global | Top 50 Favorite songs Italy | Top Viral 50 Global | Top Viral 50 Italy | |
| % Songs in major key | 58 | 54 | 46 | 50 |
| % Songs in minor key | 42 | 46 | 54 | 50 |
I chose the top favorite songs and top viral charts because I believe they better reflect users' preferences, being directly connected to their actions (for example, saving a song, liking it, or sharing it on social media).
But why this shift? And what might it mean?
A first explanation is purely musical. Composing “marketable” music in a minor key is, in fact, much easier. Just a few elements are enough to immediately evoke atmospheres and moods that capture the audience’s attention. The minor key has an innate ability to elicit deep and complex emotions, even with relatively simple harmonic progressions.
On the other hand, writing a good piece in a major key often proves to be a more complex challenge; the result risks being perceived as banal or even childish. The major key requires greater sophistication in writing to avoid clichés and keep the listener engaged. It’s as if contemporary songwriters, aware of this difficulty, more frequently opt for the emotional “safety” of the minor key.
Another possible explanation could lie in the social and psychological changes we are experiencing as a society. The idea that music can be a mirror of society is not new. Even in ancient Greece, Plato observed: “Music is the moral mirror of a state.” If music truly reflects our society, what is the increasing shift towards minor keys and darker themes telling us?
We might suggest that this shift towards more melancholic tones coincides with the emergence of greater psychological fragility, particularly among young people. A study published in the Journal of Abnormal Psychology in 2019 found that between 2009 and 2017, depression among 16-17-year-olds increased by 69%, and in the same period, the rise among 18-25-year-olds was 63%. And after COVID, the situation has worsened.
But it’s not just the key that’s changing. The lyrics of songs are also evolving in ways that reflect this psychological aspect. For example, references to psychotropic drugs are increasingly frequent: it’s as if music is becoming a mirror of the growing medicalization of emotional distress in our society.
Then there’s the phenomenon of alexithymia. Have you ever felt emotionally disconnected, unable to name what you’re feeling? Alexithymia is a psychological concept describing the difficulty in recognizing, identifying, and describing one’s emotions, and it seems to be on the rise among younger generations. The term comes from the Greek “a-” (lack), “lexis” (word), and “thymos” (emotion), literally meaning “lack of words for emotions.” “What Was I Made For? / don’t know how to feel / But someday I might,” sings Billie Eilish. These words resonate with many contemporary listeners, perhaps reflecting a growing difficulty in managing and expressing our emotions in an increasingly complex and fast-paced world. Interestingly, the melodic and harmonic intertwining of the song often plays on major seventh chords: a particular chord created by the “fusion” of a major and minor chord. Artistic expression, like Billie Eilish's music, can serve as a catalyst for exploring and expressing emotions, offering an alternative language to articulate complex emotional experiences that might otherwise remain unspoken. In this sense, art can play a therapeutic role, helping people connect with their emotions and potentially mitigating some of the negative effects of alexithymia.
So, what does all this mean? The predominance of the minor key and darker lyrical themes could be a reflection of a society struggling with rising levels of stress, anxiety, and depression.
But what if, instead of being a sign of widespread depression, this trend toward minor keys is actually a sign of emotional maturity? Perhaps our society is simply becoming more comfortable exploring a wider range of emotions. It’s not that we’re becoming sadder, but maybe deeper, more willing to confront the complexity of modern life through music.
There’s more: listening to music in a minor key may have benefits you wouldn’t expect. Some studies suggest it could help us process and release negative emotions in a safe way—a sort of emotional gym, if you will. And not only that: it might also increase our empathy, helping us connect more deeply with others’ experiences.
So maybe this “minor turn” in music isn’t a sign of decline, but of evolution. Perhaps we’re entering an era where music allows us to explore and accept the full range of human experience, including the more complex and nuanced aspects of our emotions.
We must ask: could constantly listening to emotionally charged music in a minor key influence our mood in the long run? Are we perhaps contributing to a cycle of negative feedback?
Or maybe this change simply reflects an evolution in our musical sophistication, a search for more complex and nuanced emotional expressions?
We don’t have definitive answers, but one thing is certain: music continues to be a powerful mirror of our society and our collective emotional experience. The next time you listen to your favorite song, pay attention not just to the lyrics, but to the key. You might discover something new about yourself and the world around you.
Notes
It’s important to note cultural differences in musical perception: the perception of major and minor keys can vary significantly across cultures. What sounds “sad” in a Western culture may not have the same connotation in other musical traditions. This article refers to Eurocentric music.
[2]Schellenberg, E. G., & von Scheve, C. (2012). Emotional cues in American popular music: Five decades of the Top 40. Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts, 6(3), 196–203. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0028024
[3] Twenge, J. M., Cooper, A. B., Joiner, T. E., Duffy, M. E., & Binau, S. G. (2019). Age, period, and cohort trends in mood disorder indicators and suicide-related outcomes in a nationally representative dataset, 2005–2017. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 128(3), 185-199. https://doi.org/10.1037/abn0000410
To further explore the basics of harmony and hear some examples:
Major vs. Minor chords what is the difference? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=it43JQy136I
Acknowledgments
Special thanks to Filippo Gualtieri for quickly writing a code capable of extracting the key of each song from Spotify playlists and returning the percentages between major and minor keys.
