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How are parallel major and minor keys related?
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scale
The universality and innate nature of music, and the pentatonic scale, as demonstrated by singer Bobby McFerrin.
In music theory, parallel major and minor keys are related by their shared tonic (or initial) note.1
Because they begin on the same pitch, they serve as two different ways to organize a scale around the same central tone. For example, C major and C minor are considered parallel keys because both are built upon the tonic note of C.1
This relationship is distinct from that of relative keys, which share the same key signature and set of notes but start on different pitches. While parallel keys share a starting point, they differ in their internal interval structures, which gives each its unique tonal character.12