A major
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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| Relative key | F♯ minor | |
|---|---|---|
| Parallel key | A minor | |
| Component pitches | ||
| A, B, C♯, D, E, F♯, G♯, A | ||
A major is a major scale based on A, consisting of the pitches A, B, C♯, D, E, F♯, G♯, and A. Its key signature consists of three sharps.
Its relative minor is F-sharp minor and its parallel minor is A minor. A major is the only key in which a Neapolitan sixth chord on 
requires both a flat and a natural accidental.
Although not as rare in the symphonic literature as sharper keys, examples of symphonies in A major are not as numerous as for D major or G major. Beethoven's Symphony No. 7, Bruckner's Symphony No. 6 and Mendelssohn's Symphony No. 4 comprise a nearly complete list of symphonies in this key in the Romantic era. Mozart's Clarinet Concerto and Clarinet Quintet are both in A major.
In chamber music, A major occurs more often. Both Brahms and Franck wrote violin sonatas in A major.
According to Christian Friedrich Daniel Schubart, A major is a key suitable for "declarations of innocent love, ... hope of seeing one's beloved again when parting; youthful cheerfulness and trust in God."
For orchestral works in A major, the timpani are typically set to A and E a fifth apart, rather than a fourth apart as for most other keys.
[edit] Well-known music in this key
- 3rd Rock From The Sun theme
- ABC News theme song
- A Kind of Magic - Queen
- Beautiful Soul - Jesse McCartney
- Bohemian Rhapsody - Queen (in pseudo-operatic section)
- Can't Fight This Feeling - REO Speedwagon
- Cars - Gary Numan
- Champagne Supernova - Oasis
- Clifford the Big Red Dog TV Theme - Mark Mothersbaugh
- Country House - Blur
- Crazy - Aerosmith
- Dancing Queen - ABBA
- Dawn (Go Away) - The Four Seasons
- Dig In - Lenny Kravitz
- Friends in Low Places - Garth Brooks
- Get Back - The Beatles
- Gloria - Laura Branigan
- Here Comes the Sun - The Beatles
- Hey! Baby - Bruce Channel
- Highway To Hell - AC/DC
- I Want You to Want Me - Cheap Trick
- I Will Always Love You - Dolly Parton
- I'll Be There For You - Rembrandts (Friends theme)
- Is This The Way To Amarillo - Neil Sedaka/Howard Greenfield
- It's All in the Game - Tommy Edwards, based on "Melody in A Major" by Charles Gates Dawes
- It's My Party - Lesley Gore
- Jaded - Aerosmith
- Jesus, Take the Wheel - Carrie Underwood
- Jump (For My Love) - Pointer Sisters (last verse in F major)
- MMMBop - Hanson
- Mother and Child Reunion - Paul Simon
- Never Be The Same - Christopher Cross
- Our House- Crosby, Stills & Nash
- Rescue Me - Fontella Bass
- Rock Around the Clock - Bill Haley
- Sailing - Christopher Cross
- Short People - Randy Newman
- Shout to the Lord - Darlene Zschech (also in B major)
- Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own - U2
- Stand By Me - Ben E. King
- A Summer Song - Chad & Jeremy
- Take Me Home, Country Roads - John Denver
- Tears In Heaven - Eric Clapton
- Upside Down - A-Teens
- We Are Family - Sister Sledge
- We Have All the Time in the World - Louis Armstrong
[edit] Reference
- Colin Lawson, Mozart: Clarinet Concerto, A Cambridge Music Handbook, Cambridge University Press, 1996
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| lower case letters are minor the table indicates the number of sharps or flats in each scale |
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[edit] External links
- A Major - Free A Major Scale Print Out with Arpeggios and Broken Chords for Piano with Fingering
