Musical Relative Minor

Relative Minor

We've already seen how the Ionian mode with it's intervals of TTSTTTS gave us the modern major scale, and how the Aeolian mode with intervals of TSTTTTS gave us the modern minor scales. Well there's something else:

If we take the scale of C Major:

A B | C D E F G A B C | D E F G A

It ascends from C to octave C by the intervals of the major scale (TTSTTTS). But if you were to position the minor scale intervals against the C major scale, and adjust them to fit, you would find that they did so at one position starting on A:

A B | C D E F G A B C | D E F G A

So there is a minor key with no sharps or flats, and it is A minor ( or Am ). Because it has no sharps or flats, it is similar to the major scale of C and so it is known as the relative minor of C. Note that the starting note of a relative minor is always 3 semitones below the major tonic (staring note), so we have C and Am, G and Em, D and Bm etc.

In chord progressions, going from the Root to the relative minor is a pleasing effect and used in many tunes. e.g. From the G major chord to the E minor chord.