Relatively Speaking: Finding the Relative Minor

Jack Mitchell Smith
Jun 4
4 min read

When we start to learn about scales and / or key signatures, we often begin so by learning major keys and major scales. However, what we don’t always immediately appreciate is that by using 95% of knowledge that we already pick up from these, we can also learn an equal amount of minor scales, thus doubling our scale repertoire.

All we need to do is to learn one of a few simple tactics to help us in find the relative minor of our major scale / major key, and that is what we will explore here.

But first, a refresher…

What is Major and Minor?

When we talk about major and minor, we’re really talking about tonality. Tonality refers in its simplest form to the mood of a piece of music, and ultimately the reasons for many these moods can be traced to one of two tonalities:

Major: can sound happy, fun, optimistic / hopeful, funny / amusing, light.
Minor: can sound sad, melancholy, pessimistic, frightening, dark.

Our major scales follow the typical “do-re-mi” pattern of a scale, which is tone, tone, semitone, tone, tone, tone, semitone up to the root. By changing the order of these tones and semitones, however, we can create a minor scale starting from the same note. A typical minor scale might be tone, semitone, tone, tone, semitone, tone, tone, tone up to the root (natural minor), and by starting on the same note and changing those tones and semitones around a bit we create what is called a parallel minor (e.g. G major and G minor are parallel major and minor of one another - they share the root note / tonic note).

But that’s a touch convoluted to learn a system of tones and semitones. What is easier still is for you to learn minor scales as relative minors because - if you do do this - you can understand how key signatures slot together more and much more easily work out the notes in a minor scale based around the major scale.

What is a Relative Minor?

A Relative Minor is a minor key or a minor scale that shares the same rules as its relative major. By rules, we are referring to sharps or flats that are found within that key.

For example, D major features two sharps - F♯ and C♯.

Somewhere on the keyboard there is a scale / key that follows these same rules but starts on a different note, thus creating the rearranged tone / semitone configuration and creating a minor tone, but not starting on the same note - therefore creating a different key!

All we have to do is find it!

So let’s have an explore of a few techniques we can look at to establish what it is…

Finding the Relative Minor

The Interval Method

Perhaps the most straightforward method to learn is to count up or down the scale in intervals. This is straightforward because it uses what you already know - the major scale and single digit numbers - to find your answer. You just have to remember which direction and which number!

Always count your root note / tonic as number 1 and count up your major scale to 6.

Alternatively, count down your major scale to 3.

Let’s use our D major to exemplify:

Counting up:

D = 1

E = 2

F♯ = 3

G = 4

A = 5

B = 6

…or backwards:

D = 1

C♯ = 2

B = 3

…and there is your answer!

Hold that thought whilst we just explore a slightly different method…

The Triad Chord Method

Naturally, this technique comes more into its own when you’re more confident with triad chords, But when you are it becomes much easier to visualise the relative minor on a keyboard, thus getting your answer much more quickly!

Remembering that our triad chords are made up of intervals root - 3 - 5, remember that the bottom two notes of our major triad will be the top two or the relative minor triad.

So D major as a triad chords is

F♯

The bottom two notes are D and F♯, so our relative minor is (root) - D - F♯.

If you know what note needs to go at the bottom to complete this minor triad chord, you win.

It’s B!

Playing Minor Scales based around the Relative Major

Now we have established that B is the relative minor of D major, we can put into practice our skills and play a B minor scale!

All you have to do is remember that it shares the same ‘rules’ as its relative major, thus it features F♯ and C♯. Therefore, we can play a B minor scale as:

B - C♯ - D - E - F♯ - G - A - B

This creates the most basic form of a minor scale and is known as the ‘natural minor’. Be aware that other forms are available! For example, the ‘harmonic minor’ features a raised seventh and the ‘melodic minor’ comes down differently to how it goes up! Read this blog here for more information on learning the different types, but this blog you are reading now was written more with the intention of helping you identify the relative minor and putting it into practice.

One Last Trick…

Because majors and their relative minors share their sharps or flats, it is fair to recognise that using the key signature at the beginning of a piece of music could potentially mean the piece could be in either key!

So, if you see a piece that appears to be in D major because it has two sharps and flats in the key signature:…

…then do remember it might also be in its relative minor - B minor.

Take a look at this excerpt from a score by Haydn below to see a couple of tricks as to how you could learn to recognise by just looking:

Jack Mitchell Smith is a piano teacher based in Congleton, Cheshire. Click here to find out more.

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