Hey Friend,
So let's get started with the study of the key of A minor.
This key is the relative minor of the key of C major. In case you missed any of last week's info, every major key has a relative minor key associated with it, and vice versa. They are relative keys because they share the same scale and chords.
In fact, the scale notes and chords occur in the same order. The only difference is your starting point.
If you are playing in a major key, the relative minor key root note (tonic) is three half steps lower than the root of the major key. It is also know as the major sixth interval of the major scale.
A is the sixth note in the key of C, and it is the major sixth interval in the scale.
In terms of the chord, the VIm chord becomes the root chord of the relative minor key - A minor (Im) in this case. We notate it with a Roman numeral one and an 'm' to denote that it's a minor chord.
Because we've already covered each of these chords during the study of the major keys, I hope to move a bit faster through the minor keys.
Since we're looking at a minor key, we have to first lay out minor scale so we know which notes will act as the root notes for each chord. The A minor scale looks like this:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 (8) A B C D E F G (A)
We still build chords the same way, so we want to combine the first, third and fifth notes from this scale to create an A minor triad. That gives us the notes A, C and E (1 3 5).
Also remember that each of these notes has a specific interval (space) between them and the pattern I showed you is:
W H W W H W W
There's a whole step between an A and B note (two frets), a half space between a B and C note (one fret), and so one. That is the pattern for natural minor scales, and it's very important to remember that pattern (just as it is to remember the major scale pattern)!
I've got to do a little revamping of some of the exercise files before I give them to you, so stand by. For today, just make sure you have a good handle on what I covered in this email If you don't, drop me a line so I can clear up your questions. Have a great one!
Peace~
Dave | 
