ORIGIN AND NATURE OF MINOR 229 



The test of harmonic self-reports in one voice when 

 applied to this hypothetical minor scale at once dis- 

 closes the fact that the scale is major, not minor. In 

 whatever rhythm we may ascend or descend on this 

 scale the resultant melody will always report itself as 

 major, each individual tone will report a major har- 

 monic percept, in short, we feel and perceive in com- 

 mon that this scale starts and ends on mi, the large 

 third of the major tonic-harmony upon which it is 

 based. Our next example presents the scale in its 

 descending form, each tone is named by a syllable, 

 each harmonic percept is marked by its specific num- 

 ber. 



3 5 13 3 5^3 



mi — re — do ^^^ ti — la — sol — fa s,.^ mi 



Not only is this Zarlino-Riemann scale major, but it 

 is also identical with the ancient Dorian scale of the 

 Greeks. In the terms of our notation the tonic of 

 this scale is Ai? and not C ; the basic harmony of the 

 scale is that of AKmajor and not the supposititious 

 pendant minor chord of C. 



On the line of least resistance, upon which homo- 

 phonic harmonies assert themselves, this scale abso- 

 lutely refuses to report the minor mode. However, 

 there are two ways in which in one voice this scale 

 may be induced to report itself as minor. First, by a 

 prelude in which we establish the feeling of the minor 

 consonance as below at a); next, by arbitrarily con- 

 ceiving the scale as minor. In the first case the minor 

 harmonic percepts owing to the prelude arise on the 

 homophonic line of least resistance, while in the second 

 case they are premeditated and therefore selective. 



