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

Related pages

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