Theory question - relative minor of Em? Confused!

[dbeanerz]

Working on something here, and for some reason found myself confused at this - the relative minor of Em? Is that C# minor?

I thought that relative minors had the same key signature - anyways, any help is appreciated. I have an exercise that roots at the relative minor of Em, so pleaes help if you can! Thank you.

[WinterPerfect]

'Em' stands for minor.. Did you mean relative minor of 'E major'? If that's the case, the relative minor to 'E major' is 'Dbm'. The triad (plus 7th) of 'Dbm' would be Db - Fb- Ab and C (the 7th).

The notes of Db minor are: Db - Eb - F - Gb - Ab - Bb.

Relative minors do not have the same keysignatures. 'E major' has 4 sharps but 'Db minor' has 5 flats. There are a few ways to learn the sharps and flats.. I recomend just googling for "The cycle of fifths" and learning them by heart.

Hope that helps!

[famous beagle]

Originally Posted by WinterPerfect

'Em' stands for minor.. Did you mean relative minor of 'E major'? If that's the case, the relative minor to 'E major' is 'Dbm'. The triad (plus 7th) of 'Dbm' would be Db - Fb- Ab and C (the 7th).

The notes of Db minor are: Db - Eb - F - Gb - Ab - Bb.

Relative minors do not have the same keysignatures. 'E major' has 4 sharps but 'Db minor' has 5 flats. There are a few ways to learn the sharps and flats.. I recomend just googling for "The cycle of fifths" and learning them by heart.

Hope that helps!

Whoah! Don't confuse the guy!

If he were trying to say the relative minor of E major, it would be C# minor, not Db minor. Granted, they are enharmonic spellings of the same triad, but the key signature for E major is four sharps (F#, C#, G#, and D#). So you'd call it a C#m and definitely not Dbm.


In regards to the original post, minors have relative majors, and vice versa. Minors don't have relative minors.

To find the relative minor of a major key, you count up to the 6th degree of the major scale. For example, to find the relative minor of G major, count up to the 6th degree of the G major scale: G (1) A (2) B (3) C (4) D (5) E (6). Em is the relative minor of G major.

Relative majors and minors always share the same key signature. Please don't pay attention to the second post. I don't know why he called Db minor the relative of E major. This is wrong.

Pretty much everything he said about the "key of Dbm" is wrong. He said the scale was Db Eb F Gb Ab Bb. These are notes from a Db MAJOR scale (and it's incomplete; it's missing the 7th.) He also said the key of Dbm has 5 flats. This is wrong. Db MAJOR has 5 flats.

So, anyway ... yes relative keys will always share the same key sig.

[mx_mx]

I never say flat. Am I naughty?

[WinterPerfect]

politically correct.. Well played sir. Hope that helps though.

Still wouldn't want a missus in the cooker jar, as they say here across the pond :O

[reverieman]

Like The guy up there mentioned... you take a major scale pattern.. WWHWWWH and right out any major scale.. your 6th note will be your relative minor. C D E F G A B C... relative minor A.. an A minor scale is a C major scale started off the sixth note.. hence why they are relative. Here is a quick chart

C/Am
G/Em
D/Bm
A/F#m
E/C#m
B/G#m
F#/D#m etc....

So if it was E the relative is C#.. if it was Eminor the relative is G major... the triad of E major is E G# B... and the C#minor triad is C# E G#.. a one note difference... play around with substituting one for the other in different progressions.

[dbeanerz]

Thanks for all of you replies.

The thing is, the exercise starts out with Em (E-minor) and ask for Em relative minor, which is why I was confused. I also thought that Em does not have a relative minor, b/c it's in the G scale. So you guys affirmed that.

Thanks for your time - I think my prof either meant to start me at E-major or is giving me a trick question!

[mx_mx]

Originally Posted by dbeanerz

Thanks for all of you replies.

The thing is, the exercise starts out with Em (E-minor) and ask for Em relative minor, which is why I was confused. I also thought that Em does not have a relative minor, b/c it's in the G scale. So you guys affirmed that.

Thanks for your time - I think my prof either meant to start me at E-major or is giving me a trick question!

Or he wants you to find the relative major of Em

[gtr_guy26]

Originally Posted by WinterPerfect

'Em' stands for minor.. Did you mean relative minor of 'E major'? If that's the case, the relative minor to 'E major' is 'Dbm'. The triad (plus 7th) of 'Dbm' would be Db - Fb- Ab and C (the 7th).

The notes of Db minor are: Db - Eb - F - Gb - Ab - Bb.

Relative minors do not have the same keysignatures. 'E major' has 4 sharps but 'Db minor' has 5 flats. There are a few ways to learn the sharps and flats.. I recomend just googling for "The cycle of fifths" and learning them by heart.

Hope that helps!

I hate to tell you winter but your wrong the relative minor of any major key has the same key signature hence the term relative. You do have it right in a way it's just C#min. Yours ins enharmonically correct.

An easy way to find the realtive minor of any key signature is to count down 3 whole steps from the 1st scale degree of the major key. or count left on your keyboard. For example 3 whole steps down from C is A. So the relative minor of Cmaj is Amin.

Now to the poster of this thread I hope you did mean Emaj because Minor keys don't have relative Minors they have relative Majors (not trying to insult your intelligence).

hope this helps

[famous beagle]

Originally Posted by gtr_guy26

An easy way to find the realtive minor of any key signature is to count down 3 whole steps from the 1st scale degree of the major key. or count left on your keyboard. For example 3 whole steps down from C is A. So the relative minor of Cmaj is Amin.

This is incorrect. Three whole steps down from C would be Gb (a tritone!), not A. You must have meant to say three half steps (or a minor 3rd) down from the tonic. That will get you the relative minor.

[dbeanerz]

Its okay no one is insulting my intelligence; when it comes to theory, I'm at a 2nd grade level in all honesty.

I think he either gave me a trick question with Em (no relative minor to a minor) or did in fact mean to start me off with the relative major of Em in the exercise.

So thanks for your help.

[gtr_guy26]

Originally Posted by famous beagle

This is incorrect. Three whole steps down from C would be Gb (a tritone!), not A. You must have meant to say three half steps (or a minor 3rd) down from the tonic. That will get you the relative minor.

ahhh your right sorry it was extremely late when written thank you.