questians about relative minor chords

[Ashoke kumar Das]

I want to know that how many types of relative minor chords can be found??for eg C=Aminor or C6=Aminor7....
I also want to know about its theory....

[Peter den Hartogh]

The following applies to Western Music:(click the link):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Relative_key

If you get lost with certain terms like "tonic" or "root", just use Wiki or Google.

To give an extremely oversimplified answer:
C major scale and A minor scale share the same notes,
but the C major scale starts with the C note
and A minor scale starts with the A note.
Like this:
Cm-scale=ABCDEFGABCDEFGABC
Am-scale=ABCDEFGABCDEFGA

If you combine the C chord with the A minor chord(relative minor)
you get a C6 chord (or relative Am7).
So CEG (C-chord) plus ACE (Am chord) becomes CEGA (C6/Am7).

[Rockne Riddlebarger]

Tunings that include a 6th scale tone can all be considered to contain two chords: the root chord and its relative minor. Look at this as a 6 string C6 tuning that uses (from low to high) C E G A C E and in scale numbers reads as 1 3 5 6 1 3. Strum that chord and you playing what can be called the root chord. If you call the A the 1 you have changed the chord to what is known as the relative minor chord, which would be Am7. The scale numbers spelled out using the same tuning but for Am7 read: b3 5 b7 1 b3 b7. What makes this "relative" is these two chord contain exactly the same notes and are simply inversions of each other. This works the same in any tuning with a 6th tone, what ever that tone is names the "relative minor" of that root chord, i.e.: E = C#m, C = Am, A = F#m, etc. The practical application of this is that when using these tunings you have a nice fat chord, either major or minor, in a straight bar position and over the same fret and you use it by shifting that 1 to designate either chord.

[chris ivey]

there is only one relative minor for each key.

[chris ivey]

there are many ways to play the same minor chord on a steel guitar.

could you be a little more clear or specific with your question?

[George Piburn]

Hello from GeorgeBoards

On the C6 Tuning , every fret is a Major and It's Relative Minor Chord.

C6 = Am7 CEGA = GACE CEGACE = Both Relatives. Straight Across each Fret.


You do need to play the correct stings for this to work.



To quickly get the Minor of a Major Go up 3 Frets to get the Minor.

C major open C minor 3 rd fret .

[Robert Allen]

The Nashville Number System makes it easy for determining the related minors. Choose the major key, number 6 is the first related minor and number 2 is the 2nd related minor. The 2nd related minor isn't used as often but it does show up in some songs. The 2nd related minor is the fourth of the first related minor. Here's the number system link:
http://www.yourguitarsage.com/wp-conten ... -Chart.pdf

[Jim Cohen]

... number 2 is the 2nd related minor. The 2nd related minor isn't used as often but it does show up in some songs.

Whoa! I wouldn't say that at all. The 2m chord is one of THE MOST PLAYED chords in all of jazz and standards music, as part of the famous 2m/57/1 (or iim7/V7/IMaj7) sequence. It is not at all rare.

[Robert Allen]

I didn't mean to indicate that it was rare and didn't think I said it was rare, only that it isn't used as often and I'll qualify that by saying not as often in the genres I'm familiar with playing (Country and Bluegrass). Someone had said there was only one related minor to each major key and I wanted to point out there there is more than one related minor. I accept that a 2nd minor is used more in other genres than the 50's country which popularized the steel guitar.

[Andy Henriksen]

I think "relative minor" and "related minor" don't mean the same thing. There is indeed only one relative minor for each major chord.

[Jim Cohen]

Robert, if we're talking about 50's country, trad bluegrass and even 50's rock, then I do agree with you: a lot more 6m than 2m.

I also agree with Andy H.: there is a specific musical term of "relative minor" which refers only to the 6m chord. There are indeed other minor chords that are related to a key (2m, 3m, 7mb5) though I don't think they are formally called "related" minors; I believe they are formally called "diatonic" minors (which would also include the 6m).

[Mike Neer]

Relative minor refers to the Major Scale and its relative minor, or the Natural Minor scale, which, as said above, begins on the sixth degree of the Major scale. Only the vi chord is a relative minor, although they are all (the ii, iii and vi) related diatonically.

[Robert Allen]

You sent me scurrying for my Harvard Musical Dictionary and you are indeed correct. There is only one relative minor scale to each major scale. The 2nd minor often heard and sometimes referred to as a 2nd relative minor is actually a related minor. My Idiots Complete Guide to Music Theory also confirms I was wrong. I probably learned all of this in my music classes 50 years ago but time has a way of fogging the brain.

[Mark van Allen]

If you want to think in terms of the related chords, you can view the entire scale as sets of related major/minor chords. The I and vi are the "relative" chords as mentioned previously... but the ii relates to the IV in the same way (i.e.: they are the relative I and vi in the key of the IV chord), as do the iii and V chords.
Look at G major:
G A B C D E F# G
GBD= G major, EGB= E minor EGBD= Em7
CEG= C major, ACE= A minor, ACEG= Am7
DF#A= D major, BDF#= B minor, BDF#A= Bm7

True of course for every major scale, so each scale contains three sets of related major/minor chords, that all substitute for each other.

If you look at the chord built from the 7th scale tone, in G, F#AC, that's an F#m b5 chord, but looking at the D chord, you can see that DF#AC= D7. So there's another great relative substitution. In shorthand, I=vi IV= ii V= iii or vii

The number system rules!

[chris ivey]

there is only one relative minor for each key.

that's what i said, robert allen....not what you said i said!

[chris ivey]

it's a moot point , at any rate. trying to answer ashoke kumar das' somewhat unclear question is as much a guessing game as it was trying to figure out what kind of 12 string instrument he is trying to find a tuning for.

but carry on endlessly if you must.

[Robert Allen]

it's a moot point , at any rate. trying to answer ashoke kumar das' somewhat unclear question is as much a guessing game as it was trying to figure out what kind of 12 string instrument he is trying to find a tuning for.

but carry on endlessly if you must.

My apologies Chris, I stated in a previous post that what I said was in error. Your posts were correct. I had confused the terms "relative minor" and "related minor" and some nice folks corrected me and I quickly 'fessed up to my mistake.