Natural minor scale

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A natural minor scale is known as the relative minor scale. It contains the same notes as a major scale starting on the 6th degree. So for C major, if we start on the 6th note which is A, we get the A minor scale. The scale is A, B, C, D, E, F, G and the intervals are root, major 2nd, minor 3rd, perfect fourth, perfect fifth, minor sixth and minor 7th. If we compare this to the major scale, we can see that the 3rd, 6th and 7th notes have been flattened (lowered a half step).

I remember thinking a while back ‘If the natural minor scale has the same notes as the relative major scale, then isn’t it the same thing?’. The thing to remember is that the sound of a scale is based on the intervals between the root and the other notes of the scale. When a song is in a particular key, the melodies and chord progressions will focus on the root note by playing it more often, for longer durations and usually the song with end on the root note/chord.