It’s not a crazy distance, but it’s still big enough that listeners will take notice!Īn example of a half step jump is moving from the key of Eb major to the key of E major, or from the key of B major to the key of C major. The half step is the most common interval for a direct key change like this. In the example above, Em or G major would be effective pivot chords since they sound so similar and are shared by both the key of G and the key of Em. To easily switch from one key to its relative major or minor key, all you really need is a shared chord – called a pivot chord – that transitions between them smoothly. This gets back to what I was saying before about the tonal center – it’s the tonic note or chord that all other notes and chords in the key sound in relation to. For the relative major, locate the 3rd scale degree in the minor key.) (You can find the relative minor at the 6th degree of the major key, or count down three semitones from the tonic. Notice, they both consist of the EXACT same notes, just shuffled around a little! In the case of E minor, it simply starts on the note E instead of G. The magic thing about them is, any relative major and minor key both contain ALL of the same seven notes and chords.įor example, the key of G Major has the following notes:Īnd its relative minor key of E minor? That one contains the following notes: I guarantee you’ve done this before without even thinking twice about it! Every major key has a closely related key called the relative minor – they’re kind of like cousins or siblings.

1) Switch to the Relative Major or Minor Key

Music keys and chords