Guide · Guitar theory
What is a relative minor? How to find one
A The major and minor keys that share all seven notes and the same key signature, such as C major and A minor. is the minor key that uses exactly the same notes and The sharps or flats written at the start of each line of music, telling you which notes the key changes. as a major key. To find it, go down three The smallest distance in Western music: one fret on the guitar, such as E to F or F to F♯. from the major key's The home note of a key, and the chord built on it. Music in G major feels finished when it lands on G., or take the sixth note of its scale: the relative minor of C major is A minor, and of G major it is E minor.
Same notes, different home
C major and A minor share all seven notes; what changes is the note that sounds like home.
Click a chord to hear it · drag the dial to change keyTap a chord to hear it · swipe across the dial to change key
Use the Key slider to turn the dial. In the chord grid, arrow keys move, Enter plays a chord, Shift and Enter makes it the key, digits 1 to 7 play the chords of the key, and Escape stops playback.
Selected chord · i
AmminorTonic
- A1
- C♭3
- E5
Home — progressions come to rest here.
Outer: major · Middle: relative minor · Inner: diminished (vii°)
C major runs C D E F G A B. A minor runs A B C D E F G: the same notes, starting from A. Both have the same The sharps or flats written at the start of each line of music, telling you which notes the key changes. and the same chords, C, Dm, Em, F, G, Am and B°, but in A minor the Am chord is home and the music sounds darker.
That shared material is why so many songs drift between the two. Nothing has to change in your hands; only the chord you lean on does.
How to find it on the guitar
Move down three The metal strips across the neck, and the spaces between them. Each fret raises a string by one half step. on the same string from the major key's The home note of a key, and the chord built on it. Music in G major feels finished when it lands on G., then name the new note two letters down (C to A, E♭ to C) so the spelling stays right.
G on the low E string is at the third fret; three frets down is the open E, so E minor is the The major and minor keys that share all seven notes and the same key signature, such as C major and A minor. of G major. The same move works from any The note a chord is named after and built up from. C is the root of C, Cm and C7. on any string.
Count letters as well as frets. From E♭, three frets down is the note you could call C or B♯, but two letters down from E is C, so the relative minor of E♭ major is C minor. E♭ major has three flats: B♭, E♭ and A♭. C minor has the same flats.
The other way works too: the relative minor's tonic is the sixth note of the major scale. In C major that is A; in G major it is E.
On the circle of fifths
The The major and minor keys that share all seven notes and the same key signature, such as C major and A minor. sits on the inner ring of the All twelve keys arranged in a circle, each a 5th above the last. Neighbouring keys differ by one sharp or flat., right beside its major key.
Going round the circle, the pairs are: C major and A minor, G major and E minor, D major and B minor, A major and F♯ minor, E major and C♯ minor, B major and G♯ minor, F♯ major and D♯ minor, D♭ major and B♭ minor, A♭ major and F minor, E♭ major and C minor, B♭ major and G minor and F major and D minor.
Because each pair shares a The sharps or flats written at the start of each line of music, telling you which notes the key changes., the circle shows both rings with one set of sharps or flats per position. The interactive circle lets you switch between a major key and its relative minor with one tap.
Relative minor or parallel minor?
The The major and minor keys that share all seven notes and the same key signature, such as C major and A minor. shares the notes; the The major and minor keys that share a tonic but not all their notes, such as C major and C minor. shares the The home note of a key, and the chord built on it. Music in G major feels finished when it lands on G..
C minor is the parallel minor of C major: same starting note, different notes. C minor has three flats: B♭, E♭ and A♭. A minor is the relative minor: different starting note, same notes.
Both are useful. Moving to the relative minor is smooth because every chord carries over. Borrowing from the parallel minor, such as an F minor chord in a song in C, gives a sudden change of mood.
Use it when you solo
A major key and its The major and minor keys that share all seven notes and the same key signature, such as C major and A minor. share a A five-note scale. The minor pentatonic is the most used scale in rock and blues guitar solos. too, so the same box works over both.
- A1
- B2
- C♭3
- D4
- E5
- F♭6
- G♭7
- A, the tonic
- Other scale notes
The A minor pentatonic scale is A C D E G. The C major pentatonic is C D E G A: the same five notes. The box shapes most players learn first work over both keys, and what changes is which note you treat as home.
Over a C major song, land your phrases on C, E and G; over A minor, land on A, C and E. The CAGED page shows the pentatonic boxes and the relative-minor view in every key.