Major and its relative minor

[cyberfrenzy]

How do you know if a song is in a major key, or in its relative minor? I mean they use the same notes right

[deekay911]

The root is different - so for C major, the relative minor is A. To be technical, the tonic is a minor third lower for the minor key. And of course listen - a song in a major should be obviously different to a one in minor.

[BassChuck]

Check the cadence points, in minor you'll generally see more accidentals. In your example of A minor, you'll probably see some G#'s so that the E chord (dominat) will be major.

Best bet is to listen. Minor does sound different... not only from the notes used, but from the quality of the chords (minor vs. major) and from the chords used in the progression... depending on the style.

This is a very general question, so its fair that the answers are general.

[MarkTAW]

Non-musicians can identify minor-key tunes, but only when labeled "sad"