Tag: musical concepts

13. Relative Major And Minor

This post is one of a 2-part series of free basic music theory lessons on my blog, musictheoryde-mystified.com. You can see the complete list here. Please feel welcome to make a comment or ask a question.

In a hurry? You can scroll down to the summary here.

This lesson should really be called Relative Modes because the following applies equally to other traditional Western diatonic modes such as Dorian or Myxolydian. All these modes are relatives; they are all siblings.

First, a quick reminder about scales, keys and key signatures. You can read more on this in my beginner’s tip, Scales, Modes And Keys: What’s The Difference?

  • A key is made up of a root note and a mode (such as major or minor).
  • A scale is an ordered list of the notes of a key.
  • A mode is the pattern of intervals from one note to the next in a scale.
  • A key signature is an ordered list of the notes of a key which are sharps or flats. Those not listed in a key signature are naturals.
  • Keys/scales are named after their root note and mode.

Let’s start by looking at the naturals, A to G – a key signature of 0 sharps or flats. We already know that we can play a major scale by starting on C (C major). We can also play a minor scale by starting on A (A minor). These are the original major and minor modes.

Both these scales, C major and A minor, use the same notes; the naturals, and have the same key signature (0 sharps/flats). The same is true for any key signature. 

For any key signature there is one major and one minor key. We call these relative major and minor, because they share the same notes (the same key signature).

Here we can see C major and A minor. 

The Relationship Between Relative Major And Minor

The relationship between them can be seen by their root notes. 

  • If you start with A minor, it’s relative major, C major, is the 3rd scale note up from the root note.
  • If you start with C major, its relative minor, A minor, is the 3rd scale note down from the root note (or, as in the above graphic, the octave of the root note, which of course is the same).

Note: When counting scale notes, we count the starting note as the first note. For example, the 3rd note up from A is C. We count A B C.

If you already have a key signature for the major it’s really easy to count scale notes to find the relative minor. From the major’s root note just count down to the 3rd letter: the key signature takes care of the sign.

If you know the key signature of the major scale, it’s easy to find its relative minor.

Note: To find the key signature of a major key, use the cycle of fifths. See 12. Major Keys And The Cycle/Circle Of Fifths for more.

What If We Don’t Know The Key Signature?

In the graphic of C major and A minor, we can also see that the root notes of the relative major and minor scales are 3 semitones apart. If we don’t know the key signature, such as when reading chord charts, it’s important to count semitones as well as letters.

How To Find The Relative Minor

  • From a major key to its relative minor, count down to the 3rd letter.
  • If we don’t know the key signature, count the number of semitones between the two notes.
  • If you count 3 semitones, you have the right answer.
  • If you count 4 semitones, sharpen the note (if it’s a natural, add a sharp sign).

Example 1: What is the relative minor of Ab major?

  • The 3rd letter down from Ab (including A itself) is F (count A G F)
  • Ab is 3 semitones below F, which is the right amount.
  • The relative minor of Ab major is F minor.

Example 2: What is the relative minor of A major?

  • The 3rd letter down from A (including A itself) is F (count A G F)
  • F is 4 semitones below A, so we have to sharpen it to make it 3 semitones below A = F#
  • The relative minor of A major is F# minor.

How To Find The Relative Major

  • From a minor key to its relative major, count up to the 3rd letter.
  • If we don’t know the key signature, count the number of semitones between the two notes.
  • If you count 3 semitones, you have the right answer.
  • If you count 4 semitones, flatten the note (if it’s a natural, add a flat sign).

Example 1: What is the relative major of E minor?

  • The 3rd letter up from E (including E itself) is G (count E F G)
  • G is 3 semitones above E, which is the right amount.
  • The relative major of E minor is G major.

Example 2: What is the relative major of Eb minor?

  • The 3rd letter up from Eb (including E itself) is G (count E F G)
  • G is 4 semitones above Eb, so we have to flatten it to make it 3 semitones above Eb = Gb
  • The relative major of Eb minor is Gb major.

We call the interval between the root notes of the relative major and minor a minor 3rd. Don’t worry, we’ll look at interval names properly later in this course- I only mentioned it in case you’ve heard of it. In a nutshell, when we count intervals we include the fist and last notes, hence we call from A to C a 3rd. A minor 3rd is only 3 semitones, not 4.

Note: When counting the interval between two notes as letters, always include the first and last letter.

Once you know the relative major, you can use your memory of the cycle of 5ths for major scales to find the key signature.

Patterns

C major is the original major. All other major scales have the same pattern of intervals from note to note, the same mode, as C major, so whatever we can observe with C major is true for all major scales or keys. The same can be said for A minor: whatever we can observe with A minor is true for all minor scales/keys.

This is good news! Unlike the scientific method, where every instance needs to be proven, with scales we can treat any one example as universal. So much easier, and so much easier to remember. If you forget the relationship between relative major and minor, just look at the keys you know best, C major and A minor. 

Know Your Key Signatures

Classical students learn the key signatures of all major and minor keys by rote, usually at primary school age, and often gradually, over the same period of time as they learn to play in these keys.

However, there are a couple of other options which we’ll look at below. I would like to add, though, that it’s definitely worth learning at least the most commonly used keys for your instrument and genre.

The Cycle Of Fifths And Relative Minor/Major

In 12. Key Signatures: Major Keys And The Cycle/Circle Of Fifths we discovered the relationships between major keys and the order of key signatures. We also looked at using a mnemonic to remember the order of major keys and their key signatures.

Potentially we could learn another mnemonic that starts on A instead of C for the minors but we don’t need to. If we know the major key of a key signature, we can find its relative minor by counting down to the 3rd note.

How To Find The Minor Key Of A Key Signature

As we saw with our earlier example, the key signature of three flats,

  • Remember (or look at) the cycle of fifths to find the major key for that key signature.
  • Then simply count down to the 3rd scale note to find its relative minor.
If you know the key signature of the major scale, it’s easy to find its relative minor.

How To Find The Key Signature Of A Minor Key

You can also use this in reverse. To find the key signature of a minor scale, count 3 semitones up to the 3rd letter to find its relative major, then use the cycle of fifths to remember/look up the key signature.

  • First, find the relative major by counting up to the 3rd letter.
  • Check that the interval is 3 semitones. If it’s 4 semitones, flatten the note (if it’s a natural, add a flat sign).
  • Now use the cycle of 5ths for major scales, either from memory or by looking below, to find the key signature.

Example: What is the key signature of G minor?

  • Count up to the 3rd letter = B
  • Count semitones =4
  • If 4 semitones, flatten the note = Bb. The relative major of G minor is Bb major.
  • Look up the relative major in the cycle of fifths (try to do this by memory): Bb major has two flats, Bb and Eb.
  • The relative minor, G minor, also has two flats, Bb and Eb.

Try These…

Exercise 1:

Name the major and minor keys that have the following key signatures.

Use your memory of the Cycle of fifths or see the graphic below below to find the major key, then find its relative minor by counting down to the third note. Be sure to look at the key signature to see whether that note is a sharp, flat or natural.

Exercise 2:

Now try it the other way round. Name the key signature of the following minor keys.

B minor, C# minor, Bb minor, C minor

Answers at the end of this post.

if you’ve forgotten the cycle of fifths for major keys, here it is…

The Cycle of Fifths For Major Keys

The Cycle Of Fifths For Majors And Minors

For those who just want the ultimate shortcut and have their phone on hand, have a look at The Cycle (circle) Of Fifths which shows the cycle of fifths for both major and minor keys in the same image.

How To Tell Whether A Piece Is Major Or Minor

When you see a notated part, the key signature itself doesn’t tell you whether the piece is in the major or minor key of that key signature. It is expected that the player will be able to tell, once they look at the notes.

What a player looks for is the root note. The root note is the obvious difference between relative major and minor. Once we know both the key signature and the root note, as we play, we can listen to the notes from the perspective of the intended tonality and interpret the music correctly.

So how can we tell which note is the root note?

Looking For The Root Note

In a typical piece, the root note will be evident in the first bar and again in the last bar. By evident, I mean that the note will stand out in relation to the surrounding notes. It may be the longest or strongest note, the note most repeated, or just the note that the neighbouring notes lead towards it.

This is a very broad statement and is mostly, but not always, true.
It applies to music which is familiar to the ear: music which we might describe as “musical”, “melodic” or “understandable” when we listen to it.

Note: For more detail on how to find the root note of a written part, please have a look at How Can We Tell Which Key We’re In? This post includes some short examples of what to look for.

It may seem daunting to find the root note out of 7 possible notes but it’s not as bad as all that. The vast majority of music is based on the major or minor modes (and variations of the minor, but more on that in a later post) so for most genres we only need to look for one of two possible notes, not 7. Most of the other modes are more typically used in early music or folk music and publishers of these genres often specify the mode as text, in which case we don’t need to look any further…

Once we know which two notes to look for, we can have a look at the first and last bars of the music to find which one is more prominent.

Summary 

  • To find the relative major of a minor key, count up to the 3rd note in the key signature. 
  • To find the relative minor of a major key, count down to the 3rd note in the key signature.
  • When counting, don’t forget to include the note you start on in your count.
  • If you don’t have a key signature, such as when reading chord charts, make sure that the two root notes are also 3 semitones apart (not 4 semitones). This may require you to use a flat or sharp sign.
  • To find the key signature of a minor key, find its relative major as above and use the cycle of 5ths for major scales to find the key signature.

If you found this post helpful, please feel welcome to like, share or leave a comment. If you have any questions, leave them as a comment and I’ll respond as soon as I can. To stay up to date wth new posts, please subscribe.

NEXT LESSON: 14. The Relationships Between Keys

PART 1 CONTENTS: Basic Music Theory Course Contents

Answers

Exercise 1:

  • G major and E minor
  • F major and D minor
  • A major and F# minor
  • Ab major and F minor

Exercise 2:

  • 2 # = F#, C#
  • 4# = F#, C#, G#, D#
  • 5b = Bb, Eb, Ab, Db, Gb
  • 3b = Bb, Eb, Ab

Welcome to Music Theory De-mystified!

Hi, I’m Erik Kowarski. Welcome to my blog! At any time, please feel free to comment. If you find my posts useful, please like and share them. You can also subscribe so you’ll be notified of new posts. To go straight to the latest post, scroll down.

In this blog I try where possible to look at music, or at least Western music, as a whole, rather than in terms of a specific genre; to explore the underlying principles and learn by observation rather than by a set of rules.

The posts are grouped into categories. On the Posts page there is a list of individual posts within each category, oldest first. This is particularly useful for Basic Music Theory Lessons as they should be done in numerical order.

Categories

Basic Music Theory Lessons

Basic Music Theory Lessons is a 2-part course designed for beginners and self-taught musicians. Using clear explanations rather than rules it focuses on theory that applies broadly, across all genres. The emphasis is on learning by listening and observation.

The lessons can be done as a course, in small modules or as individual lessons.

If you’re a beginner, Basic Music Theory Lessons are the posts for you. Nothing is assumed, everything is explained from scratch. There are plenty of illustrations, audio clips and mini movies as well as practical tips and exercises. Every major point is backed by examples you can hear.

If you have a question, please post it as a comment and I will reply when I can.

Beginner’s Tips and Hacks

Beginner’s Tips offers some handy hacks and tips as well as lists for quick reference.

Music Theory De-mystified

Music Theory De-mystified, aka The De-mystified Files, is a series of brief investigations into what makes music theory tick. A very basic understanding of music theory is assumed, such as note names, key signatures and basic interval names. Although I still endeavour to explain related background information, the posts would get too long and with too many detours if I followed every back story. Instead, I try to look at one unusual aspect of music theory and provide some context.

Musicianship

A list of all posts which contain musicianship/ear training exercises. These include timing, rhythm, singing scales, pitching intervals, recognising notes in a triad and more.

Musings

Musings is a forum for discussion. The posts are my personal thoughts and observations- you might agree or disagree with my views. I would love to receive your comments.

The Interval-Singing Project

A survey looking for different intervals used at the start of popular songs in various genres. The aim is to build a database of familiar songs containing each interval, as a learning aid for singing intervals. The database will be available free to subscribers.

The Theory Of Practice

Tips on practice technique.

Please like and share my posts. If you have any questions, please leave them as a comment and I’ll reply as soon as I can.

Erik Kowarski 

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Reality and Taste

To me, there are two aspects to music theory: objective reality and taste.

Objective reality is the physical interaction between notes: universal truths independent of genre and culture. An octave is universal, as is the concept of a mode, of bars and beats and of strong and weak notes. Apart from ambient or abstract music, all styles of music are built on on these concepts.

Taste exists on two levels; community/cultural taste and personal taste.

Cultural taste is the prevailing taste of a particular era, region or school. Cultural taste defines genres and styles of music.

Personal taste allows a player to put their own stamp on a performance, whether interpreting an existing work or creating their own.

I believe that true understanding begins with a strong foundation in objective reality before studying a specific genre. This foundation makes it easier to understand how the characteristics of a particular genre are achieved.

If you understand the concept of modes, you can easily identify and learn a mode used in a particular era or culture. If you understand bars and beats, you can learn the time signature and characteristic rhythms of a particular musical style.

Introduction: Music Theory is my Friend

Welcome to my blog!

I’m Erik Kowarski and I’ve been a musician and music teacher in Perth, Western Australia for well over 40 years. Throughout my career I have benefited from my music theory knowledge and I believe there is a useful place in every musician’s toolkit for a basic understanding of music theory and notation.

My main instrument is violin. I was brought up with Classical training including music theory, which I studied to AMEB (Australian Music Examinations Board) Grade 6.

When my musical interests widened to include many popular music genres I was lucky enough to be invited to “play along” in a variety of local bands of different genres, largely because to many the violin was considered a novel instrument outside Classical music (and traditional folk music).

I found it relatively easy to adapt to these various styles because of my understanding of music theory. I could recognise chord structures, identify and play characteristic rhythms and recognise other qualities that define the genre or style, enabling me to sound plausible in the band even though the instrument wasn’t native to that genre. (In other words, I was good at faking it).

I’m not trying to claim that I’m a great player: far from it, but my knowledge of music theory gave me an edge in learning and adapting to what was for me, new territory, which in turn gave me more insight into the inner workings of music.

Why music theory?

I have met many musicians who believe that music theory is only valid for Classical music and is irrelevant to popular music genres. Even Classical students often struggle to see a point to music theory beyond learning to read music. Creative players, especially, are afraid that learning music theory will stifle their creativity.

I can see why they feel concerned: music theory is often portrayed as highly theoretical and in most cases it is taught as a complex series of rules and conditions.

Sure, there are some aspects of music theory that must be learned by heart to be effective. Basics such as the names of musical note pitches and the symbols indicating note length require this approach because note names, note values and staves are the written language of music. Just as we learn basic spelling and grammar in order to speak and write English, note names and note values, keys and time signatures provide the basic communication of musical language.

Classical players are taught basic theory and music notation as part of learning to play an instrument, much of it by rote.

To me, though, music theory is more than that. Music theory allows us to understand the fundamental principles of music. These principles are natural phenomena: forces which are always present. Understanding these forces helps us in listening to, playing and creating music.

Mode and Time signature

When we play or listen to music we can feel that the piece has a certain overall character. In part this is due to the mode the piece is based on, such as major or minor, and the piece’s time signature and tempo. The mode and time signature/tempo provide a basic setting within which the piece is written.

Phrases

Within this setting, individual pieces can vary hugely in the emotions they invoke and how direct or complex they are. Just like a spoken language, music is based on phrases. Musical phrases, like sentences, have a beginning, middle and end. One phrase leads to another, forming a melody, the musical equivalent of a sentence.

Just like sentences, there are open phrases, equivalent to questions, and closed phrases, which are like answers. Often a melody is made up of one or more open phrases followed by a closed phase. We can feel the music lead from one phrase to the next, often arriving at a conclusion; a place where the melody feels that it has arrived.

A sense of home

One of the key concepts of music theory is the idea of home. Home is a note: the root note or tonic. Every piece that sounds like music in the conventional sense has a root note. Without an obvious root note, we can’t make sense of what we hear.

When we combine a root note and a mode we have a key, such as C major or A minor. Knowing the key of a piece tells us what the overall character is and which note it’s based on.

Often a piece starts and finishes at home and visits various neighbouring keys along the way. The most prominent chords that accompany the melody indicate these keys by pointing to their respective root notes.

Knowledge is power

It is my belief that music theory would be easier to accept as valid and useful if based on an understanding of the principles: how music actually works. Too often students are expected to take on faith a large number of rules and conditions without knowing why they exist. By understanding the musical principles at work we can see that these are not actually rules: merely ways in which to achieve a certain musical character or effect.

I have touched on just a few of the most significant musical principles to illustrate that an understanding of these principles greatly enhances our understanding of the music we listen to, play and create. I believe that knowledge, if presented clearly, is power that can only add to our musical skill set, not take away from it.

Music theory is especially useful for creative music, be it composition/ songwriting or improvisation. Every note we play has an effect – a consequence. An understanding of music theory allows the composer or player to choose which note produces the effect that they are after. This greatly speeds up processes like finding a nice solo to play or writing a melody that captures a certain emotion or character.

Music theory for working musicians

That said, I realise that such an in-depth approach doesn’t appeal to everyone.

There are many competent working musicians who have achieved their skills without the benefit of music theory. Over time they have developed a sense of the musical principles through listening and playing by ear. For many such players, the idea of delving into the theory behind the music may seem redundant.

Even so, I would like to recommend at least a basic grasp of music notation, if only for the communication benefits. I believe that it’s much quicker to learn a piece of music by reading it than by having to play an audio file 1 or 2 bars at a time, several times over.

Most musicians are familiar with the natural note names, A to G, and possibly sharp and flat. As letters on a page we can’t tell whether a note is in a high or low octave without some made-up symbols to help. I believe that it’s actually easier to learn to read these notes on a stave: the music is much more graphic in terms of high and low notes. Key signatures may look strange at first but they make sense once you can associate a key signature with a root note and a scale.

Musicians who play by ear are also familiar with beats and bars and the use of strong and weak notes. Note values and time signatures provide the rhythmic information of a piece in a way that makes it easy to teach yourself the rhythm. If the rhythm isn’t one that’s familiar to the player, I believe it’s both quicker and clearer to read as notation than to learn by ear.

Music notation has evolved by and for musicians. Notation exists because it makes musical sense.

One other useful aspect of musical language is being able to name intervals. An understanding of interval names is the gateway to understanding chords and chord symbols. It’s quite easy to learn the basics of interval names as they are based on counting notes in the major scale, something quite familiar to most musicians.

Please feel welcome to make comments or ask questions.

In the coming months I intend to put up posts in two categories:

  • Music notation and basic theory tips.
  • A holistic approach to understanding the principles of music theory.

If you can’t wait and would like to get started straight away with a quick course in basic notation and music theory, you can purchase my e-book, The Tiny Music Theory Book: How to Read and Talk Music in 16 Tiny Chapters, either as an EPUB or PDF, from my Shop page.

NOTE: my blog is entirely based on Western music theory. Many other cultures use different modes or even different tuning systems and are beyond the scope of this blog.

Erik Kowarski