Relative key - Definition and Overview

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, respectively. For example, G major and E minor both have a single sharp in their key signature; so we say that 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 is:

• C major–A minor
• C sharp/D flat major–A sharp/B flat minor
• D major–B minor
• D sharp/E flat major–C minor
• E major–C sharp/D flat minor
• F major–D minor
• F sharp/G flat major–D sharp/E flat minor
• G major–E minor
• G sharp/A flat major–F minor
• A major–F sharp/G flat minor
• A sharp/B flat major–G minor
• B/C flat major–G sharp/A flat minor

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