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Relative Minor Keys

You have learned how to spell the major scales for all of the major keys. There is also a set of minor keys that have scales you must learn to spell. The good news is that you already know almost everything you need to spell the natural minor scales for the minor keys. In this Focal Point you will be introduced to the secret to spelling the minor scales, which is the relationship between the relative major and minor keys.

 Relative Major and Minor Keys

Each major key has a minor key with the same key signature. This minor key is called the relative minor. It is easy to find the relative minor for any major key. This is because the note name of every relative minor key is ALWAYS a minor 3^rd below the letter name of the relative major key. Since you already know how to find a minor 3^rd below any note, you can easily find the relative minor for every major key. If you do not know, please stop here and take the free online course at http://www.socraticmethod.net/music_theory to learn how to find minor 3^rds. Since many people reading this book will have taken the online course, the following lesson will use language presupposing a knowledge of the course. However, if you did not take the course and still know how to find minor 3^rd, you can still read past it without confusion. 

The relative minor of Eb Major is C Minor.

(C is a minor 3^rd below Eb.)

 Finding the Relative Minor

To find a relative minor of a major key you just find the note name that is a minor 3^rd below the note name of the relative major key in question. This section of the course will use terms such as "Cycle of Thirds" and describe methods that presuppose you have taken the online course, "The Music Theory Advantage^TM." The Music Theory Advantage^TM will teach you how to find Major and minor 3^rds above or below any note, as well as finding all other intervals above or below any note. If you do not know how to very quickly and easily determine what note is a Major or minor 3^rd above or below any note, stop now and take the first three steps in The Music Theory Advantage^TM course. The MTA course is the fastest and most effective method to learn interval spelling.

To find the relative minor for the key of C Major ask, “What is a minor 3^rd below C?”
The next step backward in the Cycle of Thirds is A.
You know that the 3^rd between A and C is a minor 3^rd.

A is a minor 3^rd below C.

Therefore the name of the relative minor key for C Major is A Minor.

To find the relative minor for the key of G Major ask, “What is a minor 3^rd below G?”
The next step backward in the Cycle of Thirds below G is E.

E is a minor 3^rd below G.

Therefore, the name of the relative minor of G Major is E minor.

What if the next step backward in the Cycle of Thirds is NOT a minor 3^rd?

To find the relative minor for E major, find a minor 3^rd below E:
The next step backward in the Cycle of Thirds below E is C.
C is a Major 3^rd below E, so raise C by one half step.

C# is a minor 3^rd below E.

Therefore, C# Minor is the relative minor of E major.

Exercise 8:

Fill in the blanks with the relative minor key for each major key below. If you are having trouble finding minor 3^rds below the major key note name, read the Focal Points two and three in part one of the book for a review of finding thirds. Scroll to the bottom of this page for answers.

 Major Key    Relative Minor Key        Major Key    Relative Minor Key  

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Exercise 8: 1) E Minor  2) B Minor  3) D# Minor   4) F# Minor  5) G# Minor 

6) C# Minor  7) A# Minor 8) Ab Minor  9) C Minor  10) G Minor  11) F Minor   12) D Minor 

13) Bb Minor  14) Eb Minor 15) A Minor