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Question: Choosing between C Major and A minor Scales!?
Since a major scale and its complementary minor scale contain the same pitches, why would a composer choose one over the other!?

When a composer composes a song he chooses the key (scale) from which the majority of pitches (notes) will come from!. I understand Major and minor scales sound different, but they only sound different when played in their Major or minor note order!. Once a composer begins composing that order vanishes, therefore I see no difference in choosing either the major or minor scale which both contain the same notes (such as C Major and A minor scales which both contain A B C D E F G)!.Www@QuestionHome@Com


Best Answer - Chosen by Asker:
you lack the education and training to grasp all that goes into key selection/modality!.
yes, they contain the same notes-but if you just do even a simple rock progression of 1-4-5, you get very different & different sounding chords!.

a 1-4-5 in c major would have the chords c maj!.-f maj!.-g maj!.
whereas a 1-4-5 in a minor would have the chords a minor-d minor-e major (assuming the raised 7th)!. these two progressions alone give very different emotional qualities!. the idea opf using a key is to stay in the key, therefore while a minor and c major share the same notes, they do not share the same chord qualities (which is the primary reason for choosing a particular key)!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

A minor has G#!. The key signature is the same but the accidental G# is added!.
there are several types of minor scales!. One raises the 7th note a half step above the key signature and one raises it only in ascending passages and returns it to key signature position in descending passages!.
I am sure you can find a full explanation of minor scales on the web!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

Correct answers above; just wanted to assure you that Kab is wrong and the A minor scale does *not* contain a G#; that's the harmonic minor!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

all in the chords!. an A Major chord (A C E for example) sounds a lot different than a C Major chord (C E G)!.
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