Fundamentals
Relative and Parallel Keys Explained: Major and Minor Partners
A major key has two close minor partners. The relative minor shares its key signature, the parallel minor shares its tonic, and each pair connects keys in a different way.
Parallel key
The major or minor key with the same tonic, such as C major and C minor, which differ in key signature and third.
Also called: parallel major, parallel minor
A parallel key shares its tonic with a key of the opposite mode. C major and C minor are parallel keys: both are built on C, but C minor has three flats in its key signature and a minor third above C. Relative keys share a key signature, while parallel keys share a tonic. A passage can move between parallel keys by changing the third and the other scale degrees. Borrowing chords from the parallel minor is called modal mixture, as when a C major passage uses an E♭ or A♭ chord from C minor.
Related terms
- Relative keyThe major or minor key that shares the same key signature, with its tonic a minor third above or below.
- KeyThe tonic and scale that a passage centres on, against which its notes and chords are heard.
- Key signatureThe sharps or flats written after the clef that set which notes are altered throughout a piece unless cancelled.
- TonalityA system in which pitches are organised around a tonic and a key, so that some notes and chords sound more stable than others.
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Harmony
Borrowed Chords: Modal Mixture in Practice
Mixture borrows chords from the parallel mode. What the common borrowed chords do to a phrase, how they resolve, and where labelling fails.