Parallel key - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

In music

Music

Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...

, parallel keys are the major

Major scale

In music theory, the major scale or Ionian scale is one of the diatonic scales. It is made up of seven distinct notes, plus an eighth which duplicates the first an octave higher. In solfege these notes correspond to the syllables "Do, Re, Mi, Fa, Sol, La, Ti/Si, ", the "Do" in the parenthesis at...

and minor scale

Minor scale

A minor scale in Western music theory includes any scale that contains, in its tonic triad, at least three essential scale degrees: 1) the tonic , 2) a minor-third, or an interval of a minor third above the tonic, and 3) a perfect-fifth, or an interval of a perfect fifth above the tonic, altogether...

s that have the same tonic

Tonic (music)

In music, the tonic is the first scale degree of the diatonic scale and the tonal center or final resolution tone. The triad formed on the tonic note, the tonic chord, is thus the most significant chord...

. A major and minor scale sharing the same tonic are said to be in a parallel relationship. The parallel minor or tonic minor of a particular major key

Key (music)

In music theory, the term key is used in many different and sometimes contradictory ways. A common use is to speak of music as being "in" a specific key, such as in the key of C major or in the key of F-sharp. Sometimes the terms "major" or "minor" are appended, as in the key of A minor or in the...

is the minor key based on the same tonic

Tonic (music)

; similarly the parallel major has the same tonic as the minor key, as opposed to relative minor

Relative key

In music, relative keys are the major and minor scales that have the same key signatures. A major and minor scale sharing the same key signature are said to be in a relative relationship...

(or major, where appropriate) which shares the same key signature. 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 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

Relative key

In music, relative keys are the major and minor scales that have the same key signatures. A major and minor scale sharing the same key signature are said to be in a relative relationship...

. Classical pieces in sonata allegro form in a minor key have their second theme in the relative major in the exposition, but the second theme comes back in the original minor key in the recapitulation. This is unique to the form, and allows the composer to state a given theme in both major and minor modes.

In rock

Rock music

Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...

and popular music

Popular music

Popular music belongs to any of a number of musical genres "having wide appeal" and is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. It stands in contrast to both art music and traditional music, which are typically disseminated academically or orally to smaller, local...

examples, "emphasizing parallel keys," include Grass Roots

The Grass Roots

The Grass Roots is an American rock band that charted between 1966 and 1975 as the brainchild of songwriting duo P. F. Sloan and Steve Barri.In their career, The Grass Roots achieved two gold albums, one gold single and charted singles a total of 21 times. Among their charting singles, they...

' "Temptation Eyes" and Lipps Inc

Lipps Inc

Lipps Inc. was a studio band that achieved two significant hits, "Funkytown", in 1980 and "Designer Music", in 1981.The group was formed in Minneapolis, Minnesota by Steven Greenberg, who wrote and produced all of the group's music, and who also played several musical instruments...

's "Funkytown

Funkytown

"Funkytown" is a 1980 disco hit song by the disco band Lipps Inc. The song expresses the singer's pining for a metaphorical place that will "keep me movin', keeps me groovin' with some energy". It reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and Dance charts in 1980, also reaching number 1 in Germany,...

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 opposite order F-C-G-D-A-E-B.

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

To find the parallel minor of a major key, add three flats to the key signature (or remove three sharps).

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

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

To find the parallel major of a minor key, add three sharps (or remove three flats).

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 F major's key signature. Since sharps cancel out flats, one is left with only 1 flat (B).

In practice, sometimes the enharmonic

Enharmonic

In modern musical notation and tuning, an enharmonic equivalent is a note , interval , or key signature which is equivalent to some other note, interval, or key signature, but "spelled", or named, differently...

parallel major or minor is used instead. For example, Chopin's Fantaisie-Impromptu

Fantaisie-Impromptu

Frédéric Chopin's Fantaisie-Impromptu in C-sharp minor, Op. posth. 66, is a solo piano composition and one of his best-known pieces. It was composed in 1834 and dedicated to Julian Fontana, who published the piece in spite of Chopin's request not to do so....

switches from C minor to its parallel major. This could be notated as C major with 7 sharps, but is written as D major, with 5 flats, instead.

An example of switching from minor to major key is at the 20:06 marker of Keith Jarrett's Koln Part 1. The first portion of the song is exclusively a vamp in A minor and then an abrupt switch to A major for the remaining 5:52.

Parallel chord

In music

Music

Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...

, a parallel chord is an auxiliary chord derived from one of the primary triad

Primary triad

In music, a primary triad is a one of the three triads, or three note chord built from thirds, most important in tonal and diatonic music, as opposed to an auxiliary triad or secondary triad....

s and sharing its function

Diatonic function

In tonal music theory, a diatonic function is the specific, recognized role of each of the 7 notes and their chords in relation to the diatonic key...

: subdominant

Subdominant

In music, the subdominant is the technical name for the fourth tonal degree of the diatonic scale. It is so called because it is the same distance "below" the tonic as the dominant is above the tonic - in other words, the tonic is the dominant of the subdominant. It is also the note immediately...

, dominant

Dominant (music)

In music, the dominant is the fifth scale degree of the diatonic scale, called "dominant" because it is next in importance to the tonic,and a dominant chord is any chord built upon that pitch, using the notes of the same diatonic scale...

and tonic

Tonic (music)

and subdominant parallel

Subdominant parallel

In music theory, the subdominant parallel is the relative to the subdominant and is thus considered to have or fulfill the function of the subdominant. The term is derived from German theory and the writings of Hugo Riemann....

, dominant parallel

Dominant parallel

In music theory, the dominant parallel is terminology used in German theory derived mainly from Hugo Riemann. The dominant parallel is abbreviated Dp, in major, and dP, in minor, where a capital letter denotes a major chord and a lowercase letter denotes a minor chord...

, and tonic parallel

Tonic parallel

In music theory, the tonic parallel is a diatonic function and chord, relative to the tonic, and thus considered to have or fulfill the function of the tonic. The term is used in German theory and derives from the work of Hugo Riemann. It is abbreviated "Tp" in major and "tP" in minor.In C major:*...

.

For example the major and and minor and .

Major			Minor
Parallel	Note letter in C	US name	Parallel	Note letter in C	US name
Tp	A minor	Submediant	tP	Eb major	Mediant
Sp	D minor	Supertonic	sP	Ab major	Submediant
Dp	E minor	Mediant	dP	Bb major	Subtonic

The tonic, subdominant, and dominant chords, in root

Root (chord)

In music theory, the root of a chord is the note or pitch upon which a triadic chord is built. For example, the root of the major triad C-E-G is C....

position, each followed by its parallel. The parallel is formed by raising the fifth

Fifth (chord)

In music, the fifth factor of a chord is the note or pitch five scale degrees above the root or tonal center. When the fifth is the bass note, or lowest note, of the expressed chord, the chord is in second inversion ....

a whole tone.

The minor tonic, subdominant, dominant, and their parallels, created by lowering the fifth (German)/root (US) a whole tone.

Calculating the key signature of the parallel major or minor key

Parallel chord

See also