Minor Keys
Many songs are written in a minor key. Songs in a minor key use notes taken from a minor scale. There are three types of minor scale — the natural minor scale, the harmonic minor scale and the melodic minor scale. The following diagrams illustrate the three A minor scales, each with their own pattern of tones and semitones.
A Natural Minor
A Harmonic Minor
A Melodic Minor
In the A melodic minor scale, the 6th and 7th notes are sharpened when ascending and returned to natural when descending.
The most common minor scale in popular music styles is the natural minor scale.
If you compare the A natural minor scale with the C major scale, you will notice that they contain the same notes (except that they start on different notes). Because of this, these two scales are referred to as being "relatives"; A minor is the relative minor of C major and vice versa.
For every major scale (and every major chord) there is a relative minor, as listed in the following table.
To determine whether a song is in a major key or the relative minor key, look at the last note or chord of the song. Songs often finish on the root note or the root chord. E.g., if the key signature contained one sharp, and the last chord of the song was Em, the key would probably be E minor, not G major.
