In the reading for Thursday’s class, the works that conveyed sad or tragic meanings were set to the minor key. The information about the context of the works were provided, so it was easy to grasp the feeling of the music. For example, O Jonathan, Woe is Me, conveys the grief David feels after Jonathan dies; however, because the song is in the minor key and is sung in a very slow tempo, it would be very easy to understand the emotions that are being conveyed even without knowing the song’s context. There are some exceptions to this though. In class on Tuesday we listened to many examples of songs in the minor key that conveyed a very upbeat and joyful feeling.