Article 7 of 9

Major, minor, relative keys and modes

The same keys don't necessarily share the same centre.

Major and natural minor

Major's steps are whole, whole, half, whole, whole, whole, half. Natural minor's are whole, half, whole, whole, half, whole, whole — written against the parallel major as 1, 2, ♭3, 4, 5, ♭6, ♭7. C natural minor is C D E♭ F G A♭ B♭.

Relative and parallel keys

C major and A natural minor use the same notes with different tonics — they're relative keys. C major and C minor share a tonic but have different scales — they're parallel keys. When you practise C major and A minor here, establish C and A as separate centres.

Harmonic and melodic minor

Harmonic minor raises the 7th degree of natural minor: C harmonic minor contains B natural, which gives a stronger leading tone. Classical melodic minor often raises 6 and 7 going up and returns to natural minor coming down; in jazz, melodic minor usually keeps the raised 6 and 7 both ways. Follow the description of the current mode.

Other modes

Dorian, Mixolydian and the others have their own scale structures. Don't think of them merely as “starting on a different white key” — really hear that note as the centre. Here you practise a few characteristic notes first, then expand to the whole scale and other keys.

References: Functional Ear Trainer · Miles.be · Puget Sound · Music Theory for the 21st-Century Classroom · musictheory.net · Lessons