Relative Majors and Minors.

The relative minor is a minor third (three frets) below the major. If you take any major chord, move down 3 frets and do the minor with the same chord form, you've got the relative.

Naming is just a little more complicated - the relative minor is always two letter names below the major - so if you want to move from A to the relative minor, you get F#m (not Gbm)

And if you're just counting out the notes on the scale and can't visualize the fretboard or don't have a guitar handy, the relative minor begins on the sixth note of the scale.

well.. i just memorised what goes together, i personally think its better to see scales.. (a poster that you look at every day) and relative scales from plain scales.. only if you know all the notes on the fretboard would it be easy to do it that way.

:? What I do to find the relative Minor for each key is to take the V note of the scale, which will be your dominate major note on all keys and then go up 2 frets or one whole step and that will be your relative minor for that key works in all keys, so if you use the key of G, you have the following, I = G ii = Am iii = Bm IV = C V =D(Dominate) VI = Em VII = F# (Diminished) VI = Em is your Relative Minor for the key of G.

If you take the fith note V=D and go up 2 frets ( Whole step ) you will get E, aways remember the 6th note of the scale is a Minor so you have Em , which is the Relative Minor of G.

:)

well.. i just memorised what goes together, i personally think its better to see scales.. (a poster that you look at every day) and relative scales from plain scales.. only if you know all the notes on the fretboard would it be easy to do it that way.
I agree. Learning the circle of fifths/fourths in major and natural minor can be very helpful (even for pointing out ii-V7-I progressions, etc.).
C G D A E B F# Db Ab Eb Bb F C
Am Em Bm F#m C#m G#m D#m Bbm Fm Cm Gm Dm Am

Going left would be reading fourths and going right reading fifths. Oh and as for pointing out ii-V7-I: the root of V7 is a fourth apart from ii's root and I is a fourth apart from ii. Eg Am-D7-Gmaj7.

Code:
C G D A E B F# Db Ab Eb Bb F C
Am Em Bm F#m C#m G#m D#m Bbm Fm Cm Gm Dm Am

traditionally in scales you never mix sharps and flats, i know its not really a "scale" but the way a lot of people would right it would be..

C G D A E B F# C# G# D# A# E# C

remmembering E# is enharmonic to F, and C is the dominant of F.

So you would use 11 sharps (key signature of E#) to express F (one flat)? You are right, it's NOT a scale it's different key signatures. The only key where you would use either sharps or flats would be F#/Gb. The names Db,Ab,Eb,Bb & F make it easier to read and understand the circle and are the standard symbols for these keys......

Code:
C G D A E B F# Db Ab Eb Bb F C
Am Em Bm F#m C#m G#m D#m Bbm Fm Cm Gm Dm Am

traditionally in scales you never mix sharps and flats, i know its not really a "scale" but the way a lot of people would right it would be..

C G D A E B F# C# G# D# A# E# C

remmembering E# is enharmonic to F, and C is the dominant of F.

Yes, scales do not normally mix sharps and flats. However, the table above represents Key signatures - ie running around the circle of 5ths. "traditionally", we refer to the key of F - not E#, Bb instead of A#, Eb instead of D#, Ab instead of G#, B instead of Cb. (although either would be correct). The keys of F#, Db are frequently interchanged with Gb and C#

Since a scale only has seven different notes, you can't have one with more than seven accidentals. You CAN create a scale with double sharps or flats (and even show those in the key signature) to create something like Ex - which would have three sharps and four double sharps - but it's extremely rare.

I've only seen pieces with doubled accidentals in the key signature in music written in the 1700-1800s, and only in pieces where there is a modulation to a tonic minor key. It was apparantly done in an effort to stress the modulation - if you start out in Db major, for example, the tonic of Db minor requires a six flats and one double flat (on B).

In modern practice, the minor section would be written in the enharmonic key of C# minor, and it's left to the performer to realize that these are enharmonic:

Db Eb Fb Gb Ab Bbb Cb
C# D# E F# G# A B

In a way, the 'old' style has some advantages... it's easier to see the change on the tonic. It's more of a mental strain, though, and when you sight read you're not usually doing harmonic analysis at the same time. I guess each has its place - new style for performance, old style for study.