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$\flat$, E$\flat$, A$\flat$, D$\flat$, G$\flat$, C$\flat$, F$\flat$	C flat major	A flat minor
B$\flat$, E$\flat$, A$\flat$, D$\flat$, G$\flat$, C$\flat$	G flat major	E flat minor
B$\flat$, E$\flat$, A$\flat$, D$\flat$, G$\flat$	D flat major	B flat minor
B$\flat$, E$\flat$, A$\flat$, D$\flat$	A flat major	F minor
B$\flat$, E$\flat$, A$\flat$	E flat major	C minor
B$\flat$, E$\flat$	B flat major	G minor
B$\flat$	F major	D minor
	C major	A minor
F$\sharp$	G major	E minor
F$\sharp$, C$\sharp$	D major	B minor
F$\sharp$, C$\sharp$, G$\sharp$	A major	F sharp minor
F$\sharp$, C$\sharp$, G$\sharp$, D$\sharp$	E major	C sharp minor
F$\sharp$, C$\sharp$, G$\sharp$, D$\sharp$, A$\sharp$	B major	G sharp minor
F$\sharp$, C$\sharp$, G$\sharp$, D$\sharp$, A$\sharp$, E$\sharp$	F sharp major	D sharp minor
F$\sharp$, C$\sharp$, G$\sharp$, D$\sharp$, A$\sharp$, E$\sharp$, B$\sharp$	C sharp major	A sharp minor

Related pages

• Modulation (music)
• scale (music)
• Circle of fifths