C major
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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| Relative key | A minor | |
|---|---|---|
| Parallel key | C minor | |
| Component pitches | ||
| C, D, E, F, G, A, B, C | ||
C major (often just C) is a musical major scale based on C, consisting of the pitches C, D, E, F, G, A, B and C. Its key signature contains no flats or sharps.
Its relative minor is A minor, and its parallel minor is C minor. C major is one of the most commonly used key signatures in music. Most transposing instruments playing in their home key are notated in C major; for example, a clarinet in B flat sounding a B flat major scale is notated as playing a C major scale. The white keys of the piano correspond to the C major scale. A harp tuned to C major has all its pedals in the middle position.
19 of Joseph Haydn's 104 symphonies are in C major, making it his second most often used main key. Of the 134 symphonies mistakenly attributed to Haydn that H.C. Robbins Landon lists in his catalog, 33 of them are in C major, more than any other key. Before the invention of the valve trumpet, Haydn did not write trumpet and timpani parts in his symphonies, except those in C major. H.C. Robbins Landon writes that it wasn't "until 1774 that Haydn uses trumpets and timpani in a key other than C major ... and then only sparingly."
Many Masses and Te Deums in the Classical era were in C major. Mozart wrote most of his Masses in C major.
Of Franz Schubert's two symphonies in the key, the first is called the "Little C major" and the second the "Great C major."
Although not terribly difficult for a guitar, C major is not considered ideal for the instrument. The three notes of the dominant chord (G, B & D) are available as open strings, but the root of the tonic chord is not.
French composers such as Marc-Antoine Charpentier and Rameau generally thought of C major as a key for happy music, but Hector Berlioz in 1856 described it as "serious but deaf and dull." Vaughan Williams was impressed by Sibelius's Symphony No. 7 in C major and remarked that only Sibelius could make the key sound fresh. Claude Debussy, noted for composing music that avoided a particular key center, once said, "I do not believe in the supremacy of the C major scale."
In musical catalogs that sort the musical pieces by key, whether they go by semitones or along the circle of fifths, they almost always begin with those pieces in C major.
A notable modern use of the key is Terry Riley's In C, often considered to be the first minimalist composition.
The default new document in the Finale notation program, without the setup wizard, is in C major.
The attention signal of the Emergency Alert System is also in C major.
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[edit] Well-known classical compositions in this key
- Bach: Invention No. 1
- Bach: Prelude No. 1 from The Well-Tempered Clavier
- Beethoven: Symphony No. 1, Op.21
- Beethoven: The fourth movement of Symphony No. 5, Op.67
- Georges Bizet: Symphony in C
- Mozart: Rondo for Violin and Orchestra No. 2, K.373
- Mozart: Symphony No. 41 "Jupiter", K.551
- Schubert: Symphony No. 9 "Great", D.944
- Schubert: Wanderer Fantasy, D.760
- Schumann: Symphony No. 2, Op. 61
- Shostakovich: Symphony No. 7, op.60 "Leningrad"
- Sibelius: Symphony No. 3, Op.52
- Sibelius: Symphony No. 7, Op.105
- Stravinsky: Symphony in C
- Mozart: Oboe Concerto in C Major
[edit] Well-known contemporary music in this key
- After Midnight - Eric Clapton
- All The Small Things - Blink 182
- Breakaway - Kelly Clarkson
- Can't Buy Me Love - The Beatles
- Come Away with Me - Norah Jones
- Dammit - Blink 182
- Don't Look Back in Anger - Oasis
- For a Dancer - Jackson Browne
- Great Balls of Fire - Jerry Lee Lewis
- Hallelujah - Leonard Cohen
- He-Man and the Masters of the Universe theme (also in A minor) - Saban/Levy
- I Am a Rock - Simon and Garfunkel
- I Love to See You Smile - Randy Newman
- Into My Arms - Nick Cave
- I Will Follow Him - Little Peggy March
- I'll Tumble 4 Ya - Culture Club
- Imagine - John Lennon
- Indiana Jones theme (AKA: the "Raiders March") - John Williams
- Interlude/tribute to Adam Lambie in the key of a minor - Blonde Sunshine
- It's Not Unusual - Tom Jones
- Jive Talkin' - Bee Gees
- Jump - Van Halen
- Let It Be - The Beatles
- Like a Rolling Stone - Bob Dylan
- Love Train - The O'Jays
- Lullaby of London - The Pogues & Shane McGowan
- The Name Game - Shirley Ellis
- Olympic Theme (1984) - John Williams
- One - U2
- Piano Man - Billy Joel
- Theme to Salute Your Shorts
- Satin Doll - Duke Ellington
- Sesame Street theme
- Sheena Is a Punk Rocker - Ramones
- Sherry - The Four Seasons
- Super Mario Bros. theme - Koji Kondo
- Superman theme - John Williams
- Thank U - Alanis Morissette
- Top Gun Anthem - Harold Faltermeyer and Steve Stevens
- Unchained Melody - The Righteous Brothers
- Take the A Train - Duke Ellington
- You're The One That I Want - Olivia Newton John (also in A minor)
[edit] References
- David Wyn Jones, "The Beginning of the Symphony", chapter in A Guide to the Symphony edited by Robert Layton. Oxford University Press.
- H. C. Robbins Landon, Haydn: The Symphonies BBC Music Guides
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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
