Pray For the Peace of Jerusalem
In Western Music, we have many scales and modes, but they all can be put in one of two categories...Major or minor. Now, Major and minor are not "value judgements": as the scales are equal in "value" and so intertwined and overlapping, that the terms describe a MOOD, not a "judgement".
Although the Intervals in these scales (or modes) reach back to Pythagoras (The Triangle Guy!) they are used to this very day in nearly all our music, from Classical to Rock, Country, Pop, and Soul.
Here is a very simplified depiction of the difference between Major and minor:
Major:
Happy (like "Mary Had a Little Lamb", or "Happy Birthday")
Triumphant: (Like The Star Spangled Banner)
Fun (like "Charlie on the MTA")
Glorious (Like the "Hallelujah Chorus"
minor:
Sad (like the "Volga Boatman")
Romantic, Hopeful (Like "Hatikvah", Israel's National Anthem)
Mysterious (Like "Time of the Season" by the Zombies, "and "Stairway to Heaven" by Led Zeppelin)
Dark (Like most Heavy Metal, but also some really lovely songs like "Moondance")
OK...so you get the picture. The scales are arranged in such a way that they overlap, and so every Major scale has a Relative Minor scale that has exactly the same notes in in, but just starts in a different place. I use the example of identical Twins to help the kids understand the relationship. This is really cool if the child HAPPENS to be a Twin, as he knows EXACTLY what I am talking about!
Look, I say, here you have two scales, C Major and A minor. They are identical twins. "C" was born first, and then "A", the other, six minutes later. "C" is strong, hairy, ruddy, and jolly, and "A" is romantic, contemplative, mysterious, and a bit of a trickster. They have the same DNA, but different souls. (Relative scales have the same Key Signature, but way different MOODS).
Esau is "C": boastful, vibrant, aggressive, and open about it. Jacob is "A minor": Moody, contemplative, dark, and tricky. He knows that his older brother thinks more about his immediate needs than something as nebulous and romantic as a "Birthright". A bowl of Lentil Soup and a hunk of bread was all it took!
Major and minor are both essential in our appreciation of Western Music. If everything was in a Major Mode, the music would become clownish and we would tire quickly of it. If it were nothing but minor cadences, it would become whiny and depressing. The perfect mix is when the scales overlap, shift back and forth, and run the gamut of our emotions. Although things look grim for Jacob and Esau right now, they are eventually reconciled, but it takes twenty YEARS for that to happen!
Come and Pray For the Peace of Jerusalem, For Our FRiends in Need, For Persecuted Believers, and For Our Beloved Nation.
Christ Is Risen. He is Risen Indeed.
God Bless America!
Blessings To All Who Visit This Garden of Prayer.
This Symbol Represents Christians in The Middle East, who desperately need our Prayers.
Hallelujah and Amen
ML/LTOS