C major
 |
||
| Relative key | A minor | |
|---|---|---|
| Parallel key | C minor | |
| Component pitches | ||
| C, D, E, F, G, A, B, C | ||
- See also: C minor and C sharp minor
C major (often just C or key of C) is a musical major scale based on C, with pitches C, D, E, F, G, A, B and C. Its key signature has no flats/sharps (see below: Diatonic Scales and Keys).
Its relative minor is A minor, and its parallel minor is C minor. Some instruments, such as the piano, are tuned in C.
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 (however, some electronic keyboards are in B flat). A harp tuned to C major has all its pedals in the middle position.
.svg){kind=small}
19 of Joseph Haydn's 104 symphonies are in C major, making it his second most often used main key, second only to D major. 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 Dea 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 that 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." Ralph Vaughan Williams was impressed by Sibelius's Symphony No. 7 in C major and remarked that only Sibelius could make the key sound fresh. However, C major was a key of great importance in Sibelius's previous symphonies.[1] 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.
Most slot machines sounds are in C-major to avoid sounding dark or sinister.[2]
The default new document in most music notation software (like Finale and Sibelius) is in C major.
Well-known classical compositions in this key
- Bach: Invention No. 1
- Bach: Prelude No. 1 from The Well-Tempered Clavier
- Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 21 "Waldstein", Op.53
- Mozart: Rondo for Violin and Orchestra No. 2, K.373
- Schubert: Wanderer Fantasy, D.760
- Mozart: Oboe Concerto in C Major
See also List of symphonies in C major.
Well-known contemporary music in this key
- All The Small Things - Blink 182
- Birdhouse In Your Soul - They Might Be Giants
- Common People - Pulp
- Great Balls of Fire - Jerry Lee Lewis
- Hallelujah - Leonard Cohen
- Heart and Soul - T'Pau
- I Am a Rock - Simon and Garfunkel
- I Guess That's Why They Call It the Blues - Elton John
- Imagine - John Lennon
- Indiana Jones theme - John Williams
- It's Not Unusual - Tom Jones
- Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye - Steam
- Jump - Van Halen
- Let It Be - The Beatles
- Like a Rolling Stone - Bob Dylan
- Merrily We Roll Along (Merrie Melodies theme) - Eddie Cantor
- Philosophy - Ben Folds Five
- Piano Man - Billy Joel
- Rockin' the Suburbs - Ben Folds
- Sesame Street theme
- Sherry - Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons
- Solsbury Hill - Peter Gabriel
- Stop - Spice Girls
- Superman theme - John Williams
- Super Mario Theme - Koji Kondo
- Take Me Out to the Ballgame
Take the A Train - Duke Ellington- The Heart of Rock 'N Roll - Huey Lewis and the News
- Tiny Dancer - Elton John
- True Love - Glenn Frey
- Unchained Melody - The Righteous Brothers
- Who Let the Dogs Out? - Baha Men
- Written in the Stars - Elton John and LeAnn Rimes
References
- ^ 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."
- ^ Doesn't money sound great? http://www.video-poker-pages.com/articles/soundofmoney.html
- 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
| Diatonic Scales and Keys | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| lower case letters are
minor [redisplay] the table indicates the number of sharps or flats in each scale |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
