Intervals & Scales
Relative key
In music theory, relative keys are the major and minor scales that have the same key signatures (enharmonically equivalent), meaning that they share all of the same notes but are arranged in a
Distinguishing on the basis of melody#
To distinguish a minor key from its relative major, one can look to the first note/chord of the melody, which usually is the tonic or the dominant (fifth note); The last note/chord also tends to be the tonic. A “raised 7th” is also a strong indication of a minor scale (instead of a major scale): For example, C major and A minor both have no sharps or flats in their key signatures, but if the note G (the seventh note in A minor raised by a semitone) occurs frequently in a melody, then this melody is likely in A harmonic minor, instead of C major.
List#
A complete list of relative minor/major pairs in order of the circle of fifths is:
Terminology#
In German, relative key is Paralleltonart, while parallel key is Varianttonart. Similar terminology is used in most Germanic and Slavic languages, but not in Romance languages. Adding to the confusion, a parallel chord is derived from the relative key.
See also#
- Chromatic mediant
- Mode (music)