RELATIVE KEY

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 in order of the circle of fifths is:

Key signature	Major key	Minor key
B, E, A, D, G, C, F	C flat major	A flat minor
B, E, A, D, G, C	G flat major	E flat minor
B, E, A, D, G	D flat major	B flat minor
B, E, A, D	A flat major	F minor
B, E, A	E flat major	C minor
B, E	B flat 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 sharp minor
F, C, G, D	E major	C sharp minor
F, C, G, D, A	B major	G sharp minor
F, C, G, D, A, E	F sharp major	D sharp minor
F, C, G, D, A, E, B	C sharp major	A sharp minor

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

Contents

Finding the relative major or minor

Finding the relative major or minor

To find the relative minor of a particular key go down a minor third (or 3 half steps) 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 note A. So, A minor is the relative minor of C major.
To find the relative major of a particular key go up a minor third (or 3 half steps) 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 note G. So, G major is the relative major of E minor.