Relative key

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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[math]\displaystyle{ \flat }[/math], E[math]\displaystyle{ \flat }[/math], A[math]\displaystyle{ \flat }[/math], D[math]\displaystyle{ \flat }[/math], G[math]\displaystyle{ \flat }[/math], C[math]\displaystyle{ \flat }[/math], F[math]\displaystyle{ \flat }[/math] C flat major A flat minor
B[math]\displaystyle{ \flat }[/math], E[math]\displaystyle{ \flat }[/math], A[math]\displaystyle{ \flat }[/math], D[math]\displaystyle{ \flat }[/math], G[math]\displaystyle{ \flat }[/math], C[math]\displaystyle{ \flat }[/math] G flat major E flat minor
B[math]\displaystyle{ \flat }[/math], E[math]\displaystyle{ \flat }[/math], A[math]\displaystyle{ \flat }[/math], D[math]\displaystyle{ \flat }[/math], G[math]\displaystyle{ \flat }[/math] D flat major B flat minor
B[math]\displaystyle{ \flat }[/math], E[math]\displaystyle{ \flat }[/math], A[math]\displaystyle{ \flat }[/math], D[math]\displaystyle{ \flat }[/math] A flat major F minor
B[math]\displaystyle{ \flat }[/math], E[math]\displaystyle{ \flat }[/math], A[math]\displaystyle{ \flat }[/math] E flat major C minor
B[math]\displaystyle{ \flat }[/math], E[math]\displaystyle{ \flat }[/math] B flat major G minor
B[math]\displaystyle{ \flat }[/math] F major D minor
C major A minor
F[math]\displaystyle{ \sharp }[/math] G major E minor
F[math]\displaystyle{ \sharp }[/math], C[math]\displaystyle{ \sharp }[/math] D major B minor
F[math]\displaystyle{ \sharp }[/math], C[math]\displaystyle{ \sharp }[/math], G[math]\displaystyle{ \sharp }[/math] A major F sharp minor
F[math]\displaystyle{ \sharp }[/math], C[math]\displaystyle{ \sharp }[/math], G[math]\displaystyle{ \sharp }[/math], D[math]\displaystyle{ \sharp }[/math] E major C sharp minor
F[math]\displaystyle{ \sharp }[/math], C[math]\displaystyle{ \sharp }[/math], G[math]\displaystyle{ \sharp }[/math], D[math]\displaystyle{ \sharp }[/math], A[math]\displaystyle{ \sharp }[/math] B major G sharp minor
F[math]\displaystyle{ \sharp }[/math], C[math]\displaystyle{ \sharp }[/math], G[math]\displaystyle{ \sharp }[/math], D[math]\displaystyle{ \sharp }[/math], A[math]\displaystyle{ \sharp }[/math], E[math]\displaystyle{ \sharp }[/math] F sharp major D sharp minor
F[math]\displaystyle{ \sharp }[/math], C[math]\displaystyle{ \sharp }[/math], G[math]\displaystyle{ \sharp }[/math], D[math]\displaystyle{ \sharp }[/math], A[math]\displaystyle{ \sharp }[/math], E[math]\displaystyle{ \sharp }[/math], B[math]\displaystyle{ \sharp }[/math] C sharp major A sharp minor

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