C major explained

C major
Relative:A minor
Parallel:C minor
Dominant:G major
Subdominant:F major
First Pitch:C
Second Pitch:D
Third Pitch:E
Fourth Pitch:F
Fifth Pitch:G
Sixth Pitch:A
Seventh Pitch:B

C major (or the key of C) is a major scale based on C, consisting of the pitches C, D, E, F, G, A, and B. C major is one of the most common keys used in music. Its key signature has no flats or sharps. Its relative minor is A minor and its parallel minor is C minor.

The C major scale is:

On the piano, the C major scale can be played by playing only the white keys starting on C.

Scale degree chords

The scale-degree chords of C major are:

Compositions

Twenty of Joseph Haydn's 106 symphonies are in C major, making it his second most-used key, second to D major. Of the 134 symphonies mistakenly attributed to Haydn that H. C. Robbins Landon lists in his catalog, 33 are in C major, more than any other key. Before the invention of the valves, Haydn did not write trumpet and timpani parts in his symphonies, except those in C major. 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." Most of Haydn's symphonies in C major are labelled "festive" and are of a primarily celebratory mood.[1] Wilfrid Mellers believed that Mozart's Symphony No. 41, written in 'white' C major, "represented the triumph of light".[2] (See also List of symphonies in C major.)

Many masses and settings of the Te Deum in the Classical era were in C major. Mozart and Haydn wrote most of their masses in C major.[3] Gounod (in a review of Sibelius' Third Symphony) said that "only God composes in C major". Six of his own masses are written in C.[4]

Of Franz Schubert's two symphonies in the key, the first is nicknamed the "Little C major" and the second the "Great C major".

Scott Joplin's "The Entertainer" is written in C major.

Many musicians have pointed out that every musical key conjures up specific feelings.[5] This idea is further explored in a radio program called The Signature Series. American popular songwriter Bob Dylan claimed the key of C major to "be the key of strength, but also the key of regret".[6] Sibelius's Symphony No. 7 is in C major and that key was of great importance in his previous symphonies.[7]

Notable examples

See also: List of symphonies in C major.

See also

Further reading

External links

Notes and References

  1. [H. C. Robbins Landon]
  2. https://newhumanist.org.uk/articles/1268/triumph-of-light Triumph of Light
  3. [James Webster (musicologist)|James Webster]
  4. 932894. 10.2307/932894. Fanning. David. David Fanning (musicologist). Shostakovich: The Present-Day Master of the C Major Key. Acta Musicologica. 73. 2. 2001. 101–140. This essay includes an extensive survey of classical works in C major
  5. https://www.wmich.edu/mus-theo/courses/keys.html "Affective Musical Key Characteristics"
  6. Book: Bob Dylan: The Essential Interviews. Simon & Schuster. Jonathan Cott. 2017. 978-1501173196. New York. 237. 975135582.
  7. Philip Coad, "Sibelius" in A Guide to the Symphony, edited by Robert Layton. Oxford University Press. Sibelius's Seventh "is in C major, and a look back at the previous four symphonies [by Sibelius] will reveal how great the domination of C major has been [in his music]. It is the key of the Third, the relative major of the Fourth and the important 'neutral agent' in its Finale, the key which first forces away the tonic in the Fifth's Finale, and the principal opposition – the key of the brass – in the Sixth. Although it is now the tonic key, C major is also strongly associated with brass in the Seventh Symphony."

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