A minor

A minor

Relative key	C major
Parallel key	A major
Component pitches
A, B, C, D, E, F, G, A

A minor (abbreviated Am) is a minor scale based on A, consisting of the pitches A, B, C, D, E, F, and G. The harmonic minor scale raises the G to G♯. Its key signature has no flats or sharps (see below: Scales and keys).

Its relative major is C major, and its parallel major is A major.

Changes needed for the melodic and harmonic versions of the scale are written in with accidentals as necessary.

Johann Joachim Quantz considered A minor, along with C minor, much more suitable for expressing "the sad effect" than other minor keys (Versuch einer Anweisung die Flöte traversiere zu spielen).

Whereas traditionally key signatures were cancelled whenever the new key signature had fewer sharps or flats than the old key signature, in modern popular and commercial music, cancellation is only done when C major or A minor replaces another key.^[1]

Well-known classical compositions in this key

• Violin Concerto in A minor BWV1041 - Johann Sebastian Bach
• Piano Sonata in A minor, K. 310 - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
• Bagatelle in A minor "Für Elise" - Ludwig van Beethoven
• Violin Sonata No. 4 Op.23 - Ludwig van Beethoven
• String Quartet No. 15 Op.132 - Ludwig van Beethoven
• Caprice No. 24 (Paganini) - Niccolo Paganini
• Prelude #2 in A minor, Op. 28 #2 - Frédéric Chopin
• Piano Concerto in A Minor, Op. 54 - Robert Schumann
• Variations on a Theme by Paganini, Op. 35 - Johannes Brahms
• Piano Concerto in A Minor, Op. 16 - Edvard Grieg
• Oboe Concerto in A Minor - Ralph Vaughan Williams
• Symphony No. 4 - Jean Sibelius
• Rhapsody on a Theme by Paganini - Sergei Rachmaninoff

See also: List of symphonies in A minor

References

1. ^ Matthew Nicholl & Richard Grudzinski, Music Notation: Preparing Scores and Parts, ed. Jonathan Feist. Boston: Berklee Press (2007): 56. "In popular and commercial music, the old key signature is cancelled only if the new key is C major or A minor."

Scales and keys

v • d • e Diatonic Scales and Keys
	Flats Sharps Major minor Major minor 0 C, a 1 F d G e 2 B♭ g D b 3 E♭ c A f♯ 4 A♭ f E c♯ 5 D♭ b♭ B g♯ 6 G♭ e♭ F♯ d♯ 7 C♭ a♭ C♯ a♯ 8 F♭ d♭ G♯ e♯
The table indicates the number of sharps or flats in each scale. Minor scales are written in lower case.