Which tonal relationship shares the same tonic pitch as the major key but uses a different key signature?

• A. Parallel minor
• B. Relative minor
• C. Relative major
• D. Enharmonic

Answer: (A)

Think about major keys and their minor counterparts that start on the same pitch. The parallel minor uses the same tonic as the major key but a different key signature. For example, C major and C minor both begin on C, but C major has no sharps or flats while C natural minor has Bb, Eb, and Ab in the signature (and the minor scale alters the third, sixth, and seventh degrees). That combination—same tonic, different signature—is exactly what this relationship describes. The other options don’t fit: the relative minor shares the major key’s signature but starts on a different tonic, the relative major also keeps the same signature but has a different tonic, and enharmonic refers to pitch spelling, not to a same-tonic/different-signature pair.