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Relative key facts for kids

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When a piece of music is in a major key, the relative minor means the minor key which has the same key signature. It can be found by taking the sixth note of the first scale and playing a minor scale starting on that note. For example: in C major the sixth note is an A. Therefore, A minor is the relative minor of C major (C major and A minor share the same key signature: no sharps or flats). C major is called the relative major of A minor.

A complete list of relative minor/major pairs in order of the circle of fifths is:

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

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Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Tonalidad relativa para niños

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