Relative key

When a piece of music is in a major key, the relative minor means the minor key which has the same key signature. It can be found by taking the sixth note of the first scale and playing a minor scale starting on that note. For example: in C major the sixth note is an A. Therefore, A minor is the relative minor of C major (C major and A minor share the same key signature: no sharps or flats).
C major is called the relative major of A minor.

A complete list of relative minor/major pairs in order of the circle of fifths is:

 Key signature Major key Minor key B, E, A, D, G, C, F C flat major A flat minor B, E, A, D, G, C G flat major E flat minor B, E, A, D, G D flat major B flat minor B, E, A, D A flat major F minor B, E, A E flat major C minor B, E B flat major G minor B F major D minor C major A minor F G major E minor F, C D major B minor F, C, G A major F sharp minor F, C, G, D E major C sharp minor F, C, G, D, A B major G sharp minor F, C, G, D, A, E F sharp major D sharp minor F, C, G, D, A, E, B C sharp major A sharp minor

Related pages
 Modulation (music)
 scale (music)
 Circle of fifths

Category:Music theory