why do minor chords sound “sad” and major chords sound “happy”?

Question

Why do minor chords (in Western music) sound “sad” while major chords sound “happy”? Is it a purely learned interpretation, or is there something intrinsic to those intervals that makes them sound sad / happy?

In: Other

Answer 1

There’s a previous thread on this that covers all the key points already:

ELI5: Why does a major chord sound happy, while a minor chord sounds sad?
byu/vaus2 inexplainlikeimfive