question???

[Vasrely Derian]

When trying to figure out the key of Almost Easy, I found the notes to be in the E major key. I searched it online and it said the key is in C#m. I played it and voila, the notes match. Am I missing something here? can someone explain what this means?

 

[Charlie Erickson]

C# minor is the relative minor of E major so they share the same notes.

 

[idssdi]

Any minor scale is basically an aelian(not sure whether I spelled it right) which is basically the 6th position of the scale. In the case of the E major scale the 6th position is C# therefore c#m aelian(minor)

 

[Kevin Welton]

Once you think you have found the key for a song, take some time looking at the chord progression and specifically which notes are being emphasised through out the song! That’s what will tell you if it is Major, relative minor or another mode from within the key

 

[Guest]

Just to add, in the key of E major you have E F# G# A B C# D# which in formula is 1 2 3 4 5 6 7. If you see in the scale the C# is the 6th note in this case. The 6th degree is always the relative minor of the major scale – whatever it is! The relative minor is known as Aeolian. Rooting from the 6th degree you get C# D# E F# G A# B which in formula is 1 2 b3 4 5 b6 b7. So though we have the same notes, our formula says otherwise. The E major scale would work in terms of soloing, but it would be more like a substitution. So you are right in terms of home key, but the correct key or mode would be C# Aeolian.

 

[Vasrely Derian]

Thanks for the explanation guys!