Questions: Identifying Relative Major and Minor Keys

Question 1

What is the relative minor of G major?

• A. B minor
• B. D minor
• C. E minor
• D. C minor

Answer: (C)

The relative minor is found on the sixth scale degree of the major key. G major: G(1) A(2) B(3) C(4) D(5) E(6) F#(7). The sixth degree is E, so E minor is the relative minor of G major. Both share the same one-sharp key signature (F#). B minor is the relative minor of D major; D minor has one flat; C minor has three flats — none match G major's key signature.

Question 2

A piece has one flat in its key signature. In the final measures, the pitch D sounds unmistakably like 'home' — the resting point everything resolves to. What key is this piece most likely in?

• A. F major — one flat is the F major key signature
• B. D minor — one flat is also D minor's key signature, and D is the tonic
• C. D major — D sounds like home so D must be the major key
• D. B♭ major — one flat signals B♭ as the tonic

Answer: (B)

One flat (B♭) is shared by both F major and D minor — they are relative keys. The pitch that sounds like 'home' (the tonic) determines which one we're in. Since D sounds like home, this is D minor, not F major. Option C is wrong because D major has two sharps, not one flat. Option D is wrong because B♭ major has two flats. This is the core skill relative key identification enables: the key signature alone doesn't tell you whether you're in a major or minor key — you need to hear which pitch functions as the gravitational center.

Question 3

C minor and E♭ major are relative keys — they share the same key signature.

• T. True
• F. False

Answer: True

Both C minor and E♭ major use three flats (B♭, E♭, A♭). To verify: the relative minor of E♭ major is found on the sixth scale degree — E♭(1) F(2) G(3) A♭(4) B♭(5) C(6) — so C minor is correct. Conversely, from C minor, the relative major is up a minor third (three semitones): C → D → E♭. Both keys share identical pitch collections, just with different tonics.

Question 4

Relative major and minor keys share the same tonic (root) note but use different sets of pitches.

• T. True
• F. False

Answer: False

This describes *parallel* keys, not relative keys. Relative keys share the same collection of pitches (and therefore the same key signature) but have *different* tonics. For example, C major and A minor share all seven pitches but center on different notes. C major and C minor, by contrast, share the same tonic (C) but have different pitches and different key signatures — those are parallel keys. Confusing relative and parallel is one of the most common errors in music theory.

Question 5

How do you find the relative minor of any major key, and why do relative keys share the same key signature?

Model answer: Count up to the sixth scale degree of the major key — that pitch is the tonic of the relative minor. They share the same key signature because they use exactly the same seven pitches, just arranged with a different starting point and gravitational center.

The key signature encodes which pitches are raised or lowered from the natural notes. Since relative keys use an identical pitch collection, no new sharps or flats are needed when shifting from one to the other. The change from major to relative minor is purely about which pitch sounds like 'home' — not about adding or removing any notes. This is why composers can move between a major key and its relative minor without changing the key signature, just by emphasizing different pitches harmonically.