music Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise expressive content. Exact definitions of music vary considerably around the world, though it is an aspect ...

, a closely related key (or close key) is one sharing many common tones with an original

key Key or The Key may refer to: Common meanings * Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm * Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock * Key (map ...

, as opposed to a distantly related key (or distant key). In music

harmony In music, harmony is the process by which individual sounds are joined together or composed into whole units or compositions. Often, the term harmony refers to simultaneously occurring frequencies, pitches ( tones, notes), or chords. However ...

, there are six of them: five share all, or all except one, pitches with a key with which it is being compared, and is adjacent to it on the circle of fifths and its

relative major or minor In music, relative keys are the major and minor scales that have the same key signatures ( enharmonically equivalent), meaning that they share all the same notes but are arranged in a different order of whole steps and half steps. A pair of major ...

, and one shares the same tonic. Such keys are the most commonly used destinations or transpositions in a

modulation In electronics and telecommunications, modulation is the process of varying one or more properties of a periodic waveform, called the ''carrier signal'', with a separate signal called the ''modulation signal'' that typically contains informatio ...

,Schonbrun, Marc (2006). ''The Everything Music Theory Book'', p.76. . because of their strong structural links with the home key. Distant keys may be reached sequentially through closely related keys by chain modulation, for example, C to G to D. For example, "One principle that every composer of Haydn's day

Classical music era The Classical period was an era of classical music between roughly 1750 and 1820. The Classical period falls between the Baroque and the Romantic periods. Classical music has a lighter, clearer texture than Baroque music, but a more sophistic ...

] kept in mind was over-all unity of tonality. No piece dared wander too far from its tonic (music), tonic key, and no piece in a four-movement form dared to present a tonality not closely related to the key of the whole series." For example, the first movement of Mozart's Piano Sonata No. 7, K. 309, modulates only to closely related keys (the dominant, supertonic, and submediant).Benward & Saker (2009). ''Music in Theory and Practice: Volume II'', p.155. Eighth Edition. . Given a major key tonic (I), the related keys are: * ii ( supertonic, the relative minor of the subdominant) *iii (

mediant In music, the mediant (''Latin'': to be in the middle) is the third scale degree () of a diatonic scale, being the note halfway between the tonic and the dominant.Benward & Saker (2003), p.32. In the movable do solfège system, the mediant note i ...

, the relative minor of the dominant) *IV (

subdominant In music, the subdominant is 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 tonicin other words, the tonic is the dominant of the subdomina ...

Jones (1994), p.35-36.): one less

sharp Sharp or SHARP may refer to: Acronyms * SHARP (helmet ratings) (Safety Helmet Assessment and Rating Programme), a British motorcycle helmet safety rating scheme * Self Help Addiction Recovery Program, a charitable organisation founded in 199 ...

(or one more

flat Flat or flats may refer to: Architecture * Flat (housing), an apartment in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia and other Commonwealth countries Arts and entertainment * Flat (music), a symbol () which denotes a lower pitch * Flat (soldier), ...

) around circle of fifths *V ( dominant): one more sharp (or one fewer flat) around circle of fifths *vi ( submediant or relative minorBarry, Barbara R. (2000). ''The Philosopher's Stone: Essays in the Transformation of Musical Structure'', p.19. .Benward & Saker (2003). ''Music: In Theory and Practice, Vol. I'', p.243. 7th edition. McGraw-Hill. . "Most modulations occur between ''closely related keys'', which are those keys that differ by no more than one accidental in the key signature."): different tonic, same key signature *i ( parallel minor): same tonic, different key signature Closely keys in C major

Specifically: : Starting from a minor key (i), the closely related keys are the mediant or relative major (III), the subdominant (iv), the minor dominant (v), the submediant (VI), the subtonic (VII), and the parallel major (I). In the key of

A minor A minor is a minor scale based on A, with the pitches A, B, C, D, E, F, and G. Its key signature has no flats and no sharps. Its relative major is C major and its parallel major is A major. The A natural minor scale is: : Changes ...

, when we translate them to keys, we get: *

C major C major (or the key of C) is a major scale based on C, consisting of the pitches C, D, E, F, G, A, and B. C major is one of the most common keys used in music. Its key signature has no flats or sharps. Its relative minor is A minor and ...

D minor D minor is a minor scale based on D, consisting of the pitches D, E, F, G, A, B, and C. Its key signature has one flat. Its relative major is F major and its parallel major is D major. The D natural minor scale is: Changes needed for t ...

* E minor *

F major F major (or the key of F) is a major scale based on F, with the pitches F, G, A, B, C, D, and E. Its key signature has one flat. Its relative minor is D minor and its parallel minor is F minor F minor is a minor scale based on F, consis ...

G major G major (or the key of G) is a major scale based on G, with the pitches G, A, B, C, D, E, and F. Its key signature has one sharp. Its relative minor is E minor and its parallel minor is G minor. The G major scale is: Notable compositi ...

A major A major (or the key of A) is a major scale based on A, with the pitches A, B, C, D, E, F, and G. Its key signature has three sharps. Its relative minor is F-sharp minor and its parallel minor is A minor. The key of A major is the only k ...

Another view of closely related keys is that there are six closely related keys, based on the tonic and the remaining triads of the

diatonic scale In music theory, a diatonic scale is any heptatonic scale that includes five whole steps (whole tones) and two half steps (semitones) in each octave, in which the two half steps are separated from each other by either two or three whole steps, ...

, excluding the

dissonant In music, consonance and dissonance are categorizations of simultaneous or successive Sound, sounds. Within the Western tradition, some listeners associate consonance with sweetness, pleasantness, and acceptability, and dissonance with harshness ...

diminished triads. Four of the five differ by one accidental, one has the same key signature, and one uses the parallel modal form. In the key of

, these would be:

, E minor,

, and C minor. Despite being three sharps or flats away from the original key in the circle of fifths, parallel keys are also considered as closely related keys as the tonal center is the same, and this makes this key have an affinity with the original key. In modern music, the closeness of a relation between any two keys or sets of pitches may be determined by the number of tones they share in common, which allows one to consider modulations not occurring in standard major-minor tonality. For example, in music based on the pentatonic scale containing pitches C, D, E, G, and A, modulating a fifth higher gives the collection of pitches G, A, B, D, and E, having four of five tones in common. However, modulating up a tritone would produce F, G, A, C, D, which shares no common tones with the original scale. Thus the scale a fifth higher is very closely related, while the scale a tritone higher is not. Other modulations may be placed in order from closest to most distant depending upon the number of common tones. Another view in modern music, notably in Bartók, a common tonic produces closely related keys, the other scales being the six other modes. This usage can be found in several of the Mikrokosmos piano pieces. When modulation causes the new key to traverse the bottom of the circle of fifths this may give rise to a

theoretical key In music theory, a theoretical key is a key whose key signature would have at least one double-flat () or double-sharp (). Double-flats and double-sharps are often used as accidentals, but placing them in the key signature (in music that use ...

, containing eight (or more) sharps or flats in its notated key signature; in such a case, notational conventions require recasting the new section in its

enharmonically equivalent In modern musical notation and tuning, an enharmonic equivalent is a note, interval, or key signature that is equivalent to some other note, interval, or key signature but "spelled", or named differently. The enharmonic spelling of a written no ...

key. Andranik Tangian suggests 3D and 2D visualizations of key/chord proximity for both all major and all minor keys/chords by locating them along a single subdominant-dominant axis, which wraps a torus that is then unfolded.

See also

References

Further reading