Theory · glossary
Relative minor
Also called relative major, relative key, relative major and minor
The relative minor is the minor key that shares all its notes and its key signature with a major key. It starts on the major scale's 6th note, three semitones below the tonic, so A minor is the relative minor of C major.
C major and A minor use the same seven notes, the white keys of a piano: C D E F G A B and A B C D E F G. The only difference is which note feels like home. Every major key has a relative minor like this, and every minor key has a relative major.
Two quick ways to find it:
- Count up to the 6th note of the major scale. In C major that is A. In G major it is E.
- Count down three semitones from the major key’s name. From F: E, Eb, D, so D minor.
Count up three semitones from a minor key to go the other way: E minor goes up to G major.
| Major key | Relative minor | Key signature |
|---|---|---|
| C | A minor | none |
| G | E minor | 1 sharp |
| D | B minor | 2 sharps |
| F | D minor | 1 flat |
| Bb | G minor | 2 flats |
Because the notes match, the chords match too. C major’s chords are C, Dm, Em, F, G, Am and Bdim, and A minor uses the same seven with Am as home. Loop C, G, Am, F and it sounds bright. Start the same loop on Am (Am, F, C, G) and it leans sad, since your ear takes the first chord as home.
The parallel minor is a different thing: it shares the home note and changes the notes. C minor is C major’s parallel minor, with Eb, Ab and Bb, and chords taken from it are borrowed chords.
Minor-key music often raises the 7th note for a stronger pull home. In A minor that turns G into G#, and the Em chord into E (E G# B) or E7. That G# comes from the harmonic minor scale, and it is the quickest way to tell A minor from C major on a chord sheet: an E or E7 chord points to A minor.
On the circle of fifths, each minor key sits on the inner ring, right inside its relative major. Compare the A minor chords with the C major chords to see the shared set.
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