Dec 2025
All About Relative Minor: A Complete Guide
Every major key has a corresponding **relative minor** key
Key Takeaways
- Every major key has a corresponding relative minor key
- Find the relative minor by going down 3 frets from the major root
- C major's relative minor is A minor (same notes, different tonic)
- D major's relative minor is B minor
- This relationship applies to all major/minor keys
Transcription
Here's something fundamental to playing music that's been really useful for me and my students: the concept of the relative minor.
The basic idea is anytime we have a major key, it also has a corresponding relative minor key.
For example, in the key of C major, playing a C major scale like this... Now what I do is go down three frets from C to A. That gives me my relative minor.
A minor is the same notes as C major. I'm just starting and ending on a different tonic. C major and A minor are three frets apart.
This applies for any major or minor key. If I'm up here in D major, down three frets is going to be the relative minor: B minor.
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