G flat major
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| Relative key | E♭ minor | |
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| Parallel key | G♭ minor enharmonic: F♯ minor |
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| Component pitches | ||
| G♭, A♭, B♭, C♭, D♭, E♭, F, G♭ | ||
G flat major is a major scale based on G flat, consisting of the pitches G flat, A flat, B flat, C flat (enharmonic to B natural,) D flat, E flat, F, and G flat. Its key signature consists of six flats.
Its relative minor is E flat minor, and its parallel minor is G flat minor, usually replaced by F sharp minor, since G flat minor, which would have nine flats, is not normally used. Its enharmonic equivalent is F sharp major, whose key signature has as many sharps as G flat major has flats. In writing music in E major for B flat instruments, it is preferable to use a G flat rather an F sharp key signature.
Hardly chosen as the main key for orchestral works, G flat major is more often used as a main key for piano works, such as the impromptus of Chopin and Schubert.
Austrian composer Gustav Mahler was fond of using G flat major in key passages of his symphonies; examples include: The choral entry during the finale of his Second Symphony,[1] during the first movement of his Third Symphony,[2] the modulatory section of the Adagietto from his Fifth Symphony,[3] and during the Rondo-Finale of his Seventh Symphony.[4] Mahler's Tenth Symphony was composed in the enharmonic key of F sharp major.
[edit] Well-known music in this key
- Lithium - Evanescence
- Knockin' on Heaven's Door - Bob Dylan and the cover by Guns N' Roses
- Impromptu D. 899 No. 3 by Schubert
- The Winner Takes It All - ABBA
- Tailgunner by Iron Maiden
- Good Vibrations – The Beach Boys
- Humoresques, Op. 101: No. 7 – Antonín Dvořák
- "I Just Can't Wait To Be King" from the film The Lion King
- Un Bel Dì Vendremo, aria from the Puccini opera Madame Butterfly
- Several movements in "Trial of Tears" by Dream Theater
- Mister Cladwell from the musical Urinetown
- What Sweeter Music and Candlelight Carol by John Rutter
- Crystal - New Order
- "Gravity Man" theme song (Mega Man 5)
- Etude Op. 10, No. 5 "Black Keys" by Frederic Chopin
- When I Come Around - Green Day
- Yellow Submarine - The Beatles
[edit] Notes
- ^ Mahler, Gustav. Symphonies Nos. 1 and 2 in Full Score, Dover, ISBN 0-486-25473-9 (1987) p. 354.
- ^ Mahler, Gustav. Symphonies Nos. 3 and 4 in Full Score, Dover, ISBN 0-486-26166-2 (1989), p. 53.
- ^ Mahler, Gustav. Symphonies Nos. 5 and 6 in Full Score, Dover, ISBN 0-486-26888-8 (1991), p. 175.
- ^ Mahler, Gustav. Symphony No. 7 in Full Score, Dover, ISBN 0-486-27339-3 (1992), p. 223.
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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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