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Learn how to find the relative major and minor of any key signature, and how to remember the minor 3rd. See examples, diagrams and tips for minor key signatures with sharps and flats.
Learn how to identify and write music in minor keys using key signatures and accidentals. Find out the relative major and minor scales and key signatures for A minor, D minor and E minor.
While there are three minor scales, minor keys and minor key signatures are always identified as simply “minor” (“A minor,” “D minor,” etc.) and are based on the natural minor scale. Scale degrees in minor are the same as those in major.
Minor key signatures agree with the notes of the natural minor scale. Since the \(\text{C}\) natural minor scale had \(\text{E}^♭\), \(\text{A}^♭\), and \(\text{B}^♭\), the key signature of C minor has three flats, written in the order of flats— \(\text{B}^♭\), \(\text{E}^♭\), \(\text{A}^♭\).
While there are three minor scales, minor keys and minor key signatures are always identified as simply “minor” (“A minor,” “D minor,” etc.) and are based on the natural minor scale. Scale degrees in minor are the same as those in major.
While there are three minor scales, minor keys and minor key signatures are always identified as simply “minor” (“A minor,” “D minor,” etc.) and are based on the natural minor scale. Scale degrees in minor are the same as those in major.
Minor Key Signatures. Minor key signatures, like major key signatures, go after a clef but before a time signature. Each major key has a corresponding relative minor key signature; therefore, the orders of the sharps and flats are the same in minor key signatures as they are in major key signatures, placed on the same lines and spaces.
