In music, the relative minor of a particular major key (or the relative major of a minor key) is the key which has the same key signature but a different tonic, as opposed to parallel minor (or major, where appropriate) which shares the same tonic. For example, G major and E minor both have a single sharp in their key signature at F♯; therefore, E minor is the relative minor of G major. The relative minor of a major key always has a tonic a minor third lower.

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♭ major	A♭ minor
B♭, E♭, A♭, D♭, G♭, C♭	G♭ major	E♭ minor
B♭, E♭, A♭, D♭, G♭	D♭ major	B♭ minor
B♭, E♭, A♭, D♭	A♭ major	F minor
B♭, E♭, A♭	E♭ major	C minor
B♭, E♭	B♭ 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♯ minor
F♯, C♯, G♯, D♯	E major	C♯ minor
F♯, C♯, G♯, D♯, A♯	B major	G♯ minor
F♯, C♯, G♯, D♯, A♯, E♯	F♯ major	D♯ minor
F♯, C♯, G♯, D♯, A♯, E♯, B♯	C♯ major	A♯ minor

Together with moves to the dominant (fifth scale degree) or subdominant (fourth scale degree), modulations to the relative minor or major are the most common in tonal music.

[edit] Finding the relative major or minor

To find the relative minor of a particular key go down a minor third (three semitones) from the tonic of the major key.

• Example: If your major key is C major, going down a minor third from the note C will land you on the note A. So, A minor is the relative minor of C major. Or instead of going down a minor third you can go up a sixth, or say it is the sixth note in the Major scale

To find the relative major of a particular key go up a minor third from the tonic of the minor key.

• Example: If your minor key is E minor, going up a minor third from the note E will land you on the note G. So, G major is the relative major of E minor.

[edit] References