ORIGIN AND NATURE OF MINOR 177 



in minor is exceedingly small. The major mode arose 

 when the major consonance arose; the minor mode 

 arose when the minor consonance arose: the ques- 

 tion of the origin of the mode therefore resolves 

 itself into that of the origin of the consonance with 

 which it sprang into being and in which it is rooted. 

 How melody brought forth major has been fully 

 explained. How melody brought forth minor is the 

 study confronting us. 



An isolated tone never generates and reports the 

 minor consonance. It is true that on an isolated 

 tone we may think and hear the minor chord as we 

 may any one of a hundred other chords, but in so 

 doing we think and hear what we select, not what a 

 tone itself asserts and reports. Now in this our study 

 of one voice or melody everything hinges upon our 

 power to discriminate between the self-report of a 

 tone and personal selection. The former alone is 

 free from bias and has value ; the latter is all bias and 

 valueless. Whether discrimination between the two 

 be easy or difficult, in no way affects the truth of our 

 thesis that an isolated tone never reports the minor 

 consonance, nor does it affect any of our data and 

 theses. 



In evolution a new something springs from a previ- 

 ously existing something. Since major came before 

 minor it follows that minor sprang from elements 

 previously existing in major. We have explained 

 how melody began by intoning the rhythmic relation 

 of cadence and repose and thus brought forth the 

 major consonance and its cadences, that is, the major 

 mode. Hence our thesis: the form of harmony is 



