 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: janlynn
Date: 2008-04-24 14:26
I just started learning this and thought i understood until i tried to explain it to someone last night when i realized i couldnt remember the parallel minor.
the relative minor of C Major is A minor and they share the same key sig.
the harmonic minor you raise the 7th on the way up and way down.
the melodic minor you raise the 6th and 7th on the way up but not on the way down.
the parallel to C Major is C minor??? do they share a key sig?
like - for G major the relative minor is E.
is the parallel minor G? I'm confused.
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Author: bahamutofskycon
Date: 2008-04-24 14:38
Parallel minor means that the letter name of the scale is the same, but the key signature is different.
The parallel to C Major (no sharps/flats) is C minor (3 flats).
The parallel to G Major (1 sharp) is G minor (2 flats).
To get the parallel you take the Major key signature, lower the 3rd, 6th and 7th scale degrees.
A trick is to add 3 flats (in G Major one flat cancels the one sharp then you add 2 more flats). I hope that makes sense.
Steve
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Author: Mark G Simon
Date: 2008-04-24 15:18
Rmember: relative minor and parallel minor are two different things. I suspect you're confusing the two.
Clarinetist, composer, arranger of music for clarinet ensemble
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Author: mrn
Date: 2008-04-24 15:43
Janlynn--
Here's a summary of how major and minor scales/keys work:
There is always a minor third (three semitones) difference between the starting notes of a major scale and its relative minor. You go down a minor third from the name of the major key to find the relative minor. So the relative minor of C Major is A minor (minor third down--i.e., three semitones down).
A major scale and its *relative* minor scale share the same key signature (that's what makes them "relative" to each other). So, C Major and A minor have the same key signature. The same relationship is true of G Major and E minor, Eb Major and C minor, F Major and D minor, etc.
The parallel minor to a given major key has the same tonic note, i.e., C Major and C minor are parallel minors. They do not share the same key signature.
Now...To find the key signature of the parallel minor, you simply figure out what major key the minor key you're in is the relative minor of--i.e., you find the relative major key to your minor key. This means you go up a minor third from the name of the key (the reverse process of finding a relative minor).
Example:
C Major's parallel minor is C minor.
C minor is the relative minor of Eb Major (three semitones up from C)
Therefore, C minor's key signature has three flats (same as Eb Major).
To play a melodic minor scale you raise the 6th & 7th ascending, and the descending scale you simply play according to the key signature (i.e., same notes as relative major)
So for A melodic minor your key signature has no sharps or flats (because it's the same as its relative major, C Major), but you play
A B C D E F# G# A G F E D C B A
because you raise the 6th and 7th on the way up.
For the harmonic minor scale you raise the 7th both ascending and descending but leave the 6th alone--e.g., A B C D E F G# A G# F E D C B A
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Author: clarnibass
Date: 2008-04-24 15:46
It is strange. In English a parallel scale is the one with the same tonic (for example C major and C minor). In my country/language we call C major and A minor parallel scales, while in English these are called relative scales. IMO the local way makes much more sense, think of geometry. Parallel lines move in identical directions (similar to same sharps/flats) and it doesn't matter where they begin or end (or if they begin or end at all). Same tonic major and minor scales start and end at the same point but the road is completely different, which is exactly not parallel. It is like two lines starting and ending in the same place but get there in different non parallel ways. But I guess the terminology is not going to change.
Post Edited (2008-04-24 15:48)
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Author: bahamutofskycon
Date: 2008-04-24 16:11
That's a very interesting point clarnibass. What you describe makes sense to me.
The English definitions also make sense if you think about it in a different way.
Below are two (very poor) diagrams;
Parallel:
A A
B B
C --- C
D D
Relative:
A /-A
B / B
C-/ C
D D
You can see in the Parallel diagram that the letter names are next to, or parallel to each other. In the relative diagram the letter names of the scale are not next to each other, but the scales are related to one another by key signature.
I can see how the terms could work both ways.
Steve
EDIT - sorry, my diagrams didn't convert as well as I was hoping for once I posted them. I hope they still make sense.
Post Edited (2008-04-24 17:27)
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