Part 7: Make a minor key feel like home · Lesson 061 / 117
Relative keys share notes, not their home
Compare C major and A minor as different organisations of the same collection.
Relative major and natural minor share a set of note names. C major and A natural minor both use A, B, C, D, E, F and G. They differ in which note acts as tonic and how the music supports it.
Over a C-centred backing, C–E–G can outline home. Over an Am-centred backing, A–C–E can do that job instead. The same C is degree 1 in C major but the minor third above A in A minor.
This is different from the previous parallel comparison. Parallel keeps the tonic and changes some notes; relative keeps the note collection and changes the tonic. Learn the two definitions in separate sentences.
A note list alone cannot prove which relative key a passage is in. Listen to bass emphasis, chord returns and phrase endings. Some passages remain ambiguous, and that is a musical observation rather than a problem to hide.
Hear it
Relative
Audio fileFour-beat count-in · 60 BPM · Warm sampled electric guitar. Listen once before playing along.
A concrete example
C major and A minor share seven note names. C-major home chord: C–E–G. A-minor home chord: A–C–E.
Try it, slowly
- Play a C-centred phrase with C backing.
- Play an A-centred phrase with Am backing.
- Describe C's relationship to each tonic separately.
Check one idea
Does starting C-major notes on A automatically establish A minor?
Show the explanation
No. A must function as the tonal centre through musical context. A scale run's first note by itself does not establish a key.
A good place to stop
You can distinguish relative and parallel without merging their two different comparisons.
Return to the example after a short break. A clear explanation matters more than speed.