Parallel key - Citizendia

In music, the parallel minor or tonic minor of a particular major key is the minor key with the same tonic; similarly the parallel major has the same tonic as the minor key. Music is an Art form in which the medium is Sound organized in Time. In Music theory, the term key is used in many different and sometimes contradictory ways The tonic is the first note of a musical scale in the tonal method of Musical composition. For example, G major and G minor have different modes but both have the same tonic, G; so we say that G minor is the parallel minor of G major. In Music, a scale is an ordered series of Musical intervals which along with the key or tonic, define the pitches However mode

In the early nineteenth century, composers began to experiment with freely borrowing chords from the parallel key.

To the Western ear, the switch from a major key to its parallel minor sounds like a fairly simplistic "saddening" of the mood (while the opposite sounds like a "brightening"). This change is quite distinct from a switch to the relative minor. In Music, the relative minor of a particular major key (or the Relative major of a minor key is the key which has the same Key signature but

Calculating the key signature of the parallel major or minor key

Flats always appear in the order B-E-A-D-G-C-F. Sharps always appear in the order F-C-G-D-A-E-B.

For example, if there are 3 flats in the key signature, those flats would be B, E, and A. If there are 2 sharps in the key signature, they would be F and C.

To find the parallel minor of a key, add 3 flats to the key signature.

For example, F major has 1 flat (B). Adding 3 flats would yield 4 flats, meaning F minor consists of B, E, A, and D flat.

B major has 5 sharps (F, C, G, D, A). To find B minor, add 3 flats. Since flats cancel out sharps, one is left with 2 sharps (F and C).

To find the parallel major, add 3 sharps.

E minor to E major: E minor has 1 sharp (F). Add 3 to get 4 sharps (F, C, G, D).

F minor to F major: F minor has 4 flats (B, E, A, D). Add 3 sharps to get 1 flat (B).

Calculating the key signature of the parallel major or minor key

See also