Hey Friend,

Now that we've established what the scale pattern is for the minor keys, let's talk more about the relationship between major and minor keys.

You saw yesterday how the major scale pattern and the minor scale pattern are the same, just shifted a bit. It comes down to the note you start the scale with.

What you'll find is that for every major key, there is a minor key that relates to it. You can think of it like a big and little brother. Both keys have the same notes, just different starting points.

For example, let's go back to the beginning - the key of C major. Here it is again for review:

C major is like the perfect key because you don't have to mess around with any sharps or flats (accidental notes). All notes in C major are natural.

Now C major has a minor key hidden within it. That minor key has the identical notes as C major, but instead of starting with the C note, we're going to start with C's relative minor note, which is A. Look at the A minor scale notes:

See, same notes as C major, but with a different starting point (A).

So A minor is the relative minor key to C major. Conversely, C major is the relative major key to A minor. And that will be the case for every other major and minor key. 

There is a really easy way to determine what the relative minor key is for any key, and that is to count backwards two notes. If you look back up to the scale, if you count back two notes from C, you get A.

It's really easy on your guitar, too. You just move down the fingerboard three frets to get to the relative minor key root note. Try it for yourself...

You can play a C major scale starting on the sixth string at the eighth fret. If you slide your index finger down three frets to the fifth, you are now on the A note. You can play the same notes as the  C major scale, but it has a different sound and feel because of your starting place - the A note. 

This minor scale is also known as the natural minor scale, as well as the Aeolian mode. It's designated as "natural" because it uses the same notes as its relative major scale. There are other minor scales we can play (melodic minor and harmonic minor), so it's good to know which one relates directly to the major scale.

Anyway, chew on that today and let me know if you have any questions. 

Peace~

Dave