Natural Minor Scale
You can use MusicWheels™ to discover all the other natural minor scales and their notes.
Relative Keys
Each major key has a relative minor key.
The 6th note of a major scale is
the root note of the relative minor scale.
For example, the notes of the C major scale are:
C D E F G A B C. The 6th note of the C major scale is A.
A is the root note of the A (natural) minor scale. The notes of the A (natural) minor scale are:
A B C D E F G A. These are the same notes as the C major scale.
The C major scale and A minor scale have the same relative keys, and they both have the same key signature.
The A (natural) minor scale is the relative minor of C major, and the C major scale is the relative major of A (natural) minor.
C major scale
A natural minor scale
Guitar Diagrams
Natural Minor Scale Patterns Across the Fretboard
The diagrams below show generic patterns for the natural minor scale.
The indigo note is the root note of the scale, for example:
– if you wish to play the A natural minor scale then the indigo root note will be the note of A
– if you wish to play the E natural minor scale then the indigo root note will be the note of E and so on.
Keyboard Diagrams
