24: Minor Scales
to write it out but I guarantee that if you checked the whole and half step
pattern from e to e with one sharp, it’ll also be whwwhww.
If you have a sharp key with only one or two sharps (keys of G and D
Major), adding three flats will cancel out the sharps and you’ll be left
with two or one flat, respectively (keys of g and d minor).How Do You Tell the Difference?
You may be wondering that a key signature can be either Major or minor
(as in the example above: e minor, or G Major). There is an easy way to
tell. Your first signal should be the beginning and ending note, especially
the ending one. It is almost always the tonic, or the note which gives the
key its name. For example, in a song with one sharp, if it’s in G Major,
the last note (and likely the first note, too) will be G. If the piece is in e
minor, the last note (and likely the first note, too) will be e. If you
actually hear the song, you can tell by the way it sounds: sad is minor,
happy is Major.Parallel and Relative Minor Scales
You may hear the above terms. They aren’t different types of minor
scales but are different ways of finding out which notes to play in the
minor scale.Parallel Minor
The way you have just learned—adding 3 flats to the key—is how to
find the parallel minor scale. It’s called parallel because it begins on
the same note as the Major scale equivalent.Relative Minor
I pointed out above that a minor key signature can also be a major key
signature, but what makes it minor is the starting note.
Take a look at example 24.3 above, the key signatures for E Major and
e minor. The key of e minor has only one sharp, right? This is also the
key signature for G Major. These two keys are related (hence the term
“relative minor”). The key signatures are exactly the same, but the
difference is the starting note.