Question about transposition for minor key in Tenor

[Michael]

😎 Hi Johnny,
If I have a backing track in C#m, that would mean the sheet music for Tenor needs to be transposed to D#m–it’s the same as the major key of F#?
Gorgeous upload of Baker Street 🙂 I love the way you combined the Alto and Tenor for Baker Street and Careless Whisper, haven’t seen anyone do that on youtube at all. Now I gotta learn that fabulous Saxophone arrangement played over the guitar solo, it’s perfect for the Saxophone. That never even occured to me! WOW. Adds a lot of sugar and spice for sure. 😎

[john]

Thanks Michael, as for the C# to D# transposition you are correct. As for the F#, you are not correct…not sure what you’re thinking there.

[Michael]

I was just thinking how the key signatures used to represent major keys are also used to represent minor keys. From what I recall, isn’t a minor scale based on the same notes as a major scale, only that a minor scale starts on the sixth note of a major scale? The scale of A minor uses the same notes and the same key signature as C Major? Then I was thinking that D#m would be based on the same notes and same key signature as F# Major, because it starts on the 6th note of the F# Major scale.
I think another great song, if it’s worth your time financially to do, how you combined Alto and Tenor into one video would be Phil Collin’s song of “One More Night”. Gorgeous Sax solo in it!

[john]

right. you’re talking about a major key’s relative minor. Every key has one…
the way to figure it out is really easy:
C major is relative to A minor
if you look at a piano keyboard you’ll count 3 semi tones from C to A
this means a major key’s relative minor is the one that is a minor 3rd down from it.
F# major = D# minor

This theory works also as you said a major 6th above, which is the same as a minor 3rd below.

[Author]

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