As with any key, you should simply look at the note it starts on and count back 3 semi tones. For example... I am in the key of G Major
G, Gb. F, E
The relative minor of G Major is e minor. For further assistance I would suggest that you take a look at
Piston/DeVoto Harmony 5e. Its what we use at Harvard.
"That would be A minor. Go a minor third below the tonic of the major scale to find the relative minor." Technically, there is no relative harmonic major to the key of C Major. The relative minor scale of C Major would the natural minor scale of A. A harmonic minor scale raises the 7th note of the scale a half step, giving us G#, which is not in the key of C Major.
Bb. B flat has two flats, the first two flats on the staff: Bb, and Eb. Also, the relative minor to Bb, G minor, also contains two flats in the key signature; Bb, and Eb. To find the relative minor to a major key, simply count down 2 and one half steps. ie: Bb, Ab, G, making the relative minor to Bb "G minor", which also has the same key signature.
The key signature can be found at the beginning of a staff right after the clef. There are a couple shortcuts one can take to determine the key of a peice based on how many sharps or flats there are in a given key signature. If the key signature is composed of sharps, then one can determine the key based on the position of the last sharp (the rightmost sharp). Using the solfege scale (Do, Re, Mi, etc... --think "Sound of Music") The Key of the song will be on Do. i.e, if a song is in the key of C, then Do will be on C. Key of G, do will be on G. In a key signature composed of sharps, the last sharp will be on Ti, which is one note below Do. So, if the last sharp is an F#, then the key will be G. If the last sharp is a C#, then the key will be D. If the last sharp is a G#, then the key will be A. if the last sharp is a D#, then the Key will be E. If a key signature is composed of flats, one can determine the key based on the position of the second to last flat. One can find this by first finding the last flat (the rightmost flat) and then finding the flat imediately previous. The second to last flat will be the key. If there are two flats, then the last flat will be Eb, the flat previous to the last will be Bb. The song will be in the key of Bb. If there are three flats. The last flat is Ab, the second to last is Eb, the Key is Eb. Four flats, last flat is Db, second to last is Ab. The key is Ab. If there is one flat. The song is in the key of F. If there are no sharps or flats, the song is in the key of C. This is the easy method to determine a key signature. One can also use a chart called the Circle of Fifths. One can find this by typing "Circle of Fifths" into an internet search engine. Starting at the Key of C, every sharp moves the key up a fifth, every flat moves the key down a fifth. If there is one sharp, the key will be one fifth above C, which is the Key of G. A second sharp will move the key up one fifth from G, which is the Key of D. If there is one flat, the hey will be one fifth below C, which is the key of F. A second flat will move the key one fifth below F, which is the Key of Bb. Please Note, these methods are for finding MAJOR keys. Another popular scale is the MINOR scale. Each key signature will have a major and minor scale. Keys are frequently named by their major scale. i.e., the key of F, refers to an F major scale. To find a minor key, first find it's correspinding major key. If there are no flats or sharps, then one knows that the Key is C Major. To find the correspinding minor key of C Major, count three half- steps down from C. Three half-steps down from C is the note A. If there are no sharps or flats, then the Key is either C Major or a minor. Minor chords and keys are frequently notated with a lowercase letter, while major chords and keys are frequently notated by an Uppercase letter. If there is one sharp, one knows that the key is G Major. Three half-steps down from G is E. So the key is either G Major or e minor. One flat is the key of F Major. Three half-steps down from F is D. So the key is either F Major or d minor. The major scale, and minor scale are the two most popular scales. So a song will usually either be in a major or minor key. To determine whether the key of a song is major or minor, one must analyze the tonal center of the song. If the song seems to resovle to a minor chord, then it is mostly likely in a minor key. If the song seems to resolve to a major chord, then the song is most likely in a major key. In a three-note major chord, the first interval will be a Major 3rd. The second interval will be a minor 3rd. In a three-note minor chord, the first interval will be a minor 3rd, and the second interval will be a Major 3rd.
3. There's one between scale degrees 2 and 3, one between 5 and 6, and one between the leading tone and tonic.
well.... first off you have to find the scale factor...
To determine the relative minor of a major key, you can find the sixth note of the major scale. This note is the starting point for the relative minor scale.
To find a minor scale, start with the natural major scale and lower the 3rd, 6th, and 7th notes by a half step. This will give you the relative minor scale.
"That would be A minor. Go a minor third below the tonic of the major scale to find the relative minor." Technically, there is no relative harmonic major to the key of C Major. The relative minor scale of C Major would the natural minor scale of A. A harmonic minor scale raises the 7th note of the scale a half step, giving us G#, which is not in the key of C Major.
To determine the relative minor of a major key in music theory, you can find the sixth note of the major scale. This note is the starting point for the relative minor scale.
To find minor scales, you can start by identifying the key signature of the major scale and then lowering the third, sixth, and seventh notes by a half step. This will give you the relative minor scale. You can also use the natural minor scale formula (whole step, half step pattern) to construct minor scales starting from any note.
To find the relative major of a minor key, you can go up three half steps from the minor key. For example, the relative major of A minor is C major.
To find the minor scale, start with the major scale of the same key and lower the 3rd, 6th, and 7th notes by a half step. This will give you the natural minor scale.
How do you memorize relative minors? Learn the major scales (key signatures, sharps, and flats). Get accustomed to thinking of scale degrees simultaneously by note and number. To convert to relative minor, I find it easier to count backwards 8-7-6 (C-B-A) from the octave root (8th degree), and then add sharps or flats as I know them to be in the relative major. I play guitar so it's easy to recover from mistakes by using it as a chromatic approach or a slow bend.
To find the relative minor of a major key, you can count down three half steps from the major key's root note. This will give you the relative minor key.
To find the minor scale from a major scale, you can start on the sixth note of the major scale. This note becomes the first note of the minor scale. Then, follow the same pattern of whole and half steps as the major scale, but starting from the new first note. This will give you the natural minor scale.
The relative key is the one with the same key signature. For C major, it's A minor.
To determine the relative minor of a major key, you can count down three half steps from the major key's root note. For example, the relative minor of C major is A minor. To find the relative major of a minor key, you can count up three half steps from the minor key's root note.