BazzLow
ENIT
Module 6 · Lesson 3

Parallel major and minor

Compare major and minor on the same tonic and know their key signatures.

Before this lesson: 6.2 Relative minor and relative major

Relative keys share their notes. Parallel keys share their home. Both relationships change the colour of music, in different ways.

Same tonic, different notes

Parallel keys share the same tonic but use different scales: C major and C minor. The parallel minor of a major key is its parallel minor; the parallel major of a minor key is its parallel major. They differ in three notes (3, 6 and 7).

Bass neck, frets 0–12C major from the root at fret 3 on the A string. The notes that change in minor are in color: E (3), A (6), B (7); the others are grey.GDA123456CDEFGABC
C major from the root at fret 3 on the A string. The notes that change in minor are in color: E (3), A (6), B (7); the others are grey.
Bass neck, frets 0–12C minor from the same root. The three changed notes are in color: E♭ (♭3, fret 6 on the A string), A♭ (♭6, fret 6 on the D string), B♭ (♭7, fret 3 on the G string).GDA123456CDE♭FGA♭B♭C
C minor from the same root. The three changed notes are in color: E♭ (♭3, fret 6 on the A string), A♭ (♭6, fret 6 on the D string), B♭ (♭7, fret 3 on the G string).

Key signatures

Because three notes change, the signatures differ by three accidentals: the parallel minor has 3 more flats, or 3 fewer sharps.

  • C major (none) → C minor (3 ♭);
  • A major (3 ♯) → A minor (none);
  • D major (2 ♯) → D minor (1 ♭).

The parallel minor’s signature is the one of its relative major: C minor uses the signature of E♭ major.

Relative means “same notes, different tonic”. Parallel means “same tonic, different notes”.

Both relationships are used to change colour within a song. Borrowing chords from the parallel key is covered in Module 14.

Try it

Play C major and then C minor from the same root, one after the other, and listen to the change of mood. Then do the same from G.

New terms