C minor

This article does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (July 2009)

C minor

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

Also see: C major, or C-sharp minor.

C minor (abbreviated c or cm) is a minor scale based on C, consisting of the pitches C, D, E♭, F, G, A♭, and B♭. The harmonic minor raises the B♭ to B♮.

Its key signature consists of three flats (see below: Scales and keys).

Ascending and descending C minor scale.

In the Baroque period, music in C minor was usually written with a two-flat key signature, and some modern editions of that repertoire retain that convention.

Its relative major is E-flat major, and its parallel major is C major.

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

Of the two piano concertos that Mozart wrote in a minor key, one of them is in C minor, No. 24, K. 491.

C minor has been associated with heroic struggle since Beethoven's time, with the quintessential work in the key being his Symphony No. 5; see Beethoven and C minor. The fact that Brahms's Symphony No. 1 is in C minor contributed to it being nicknamed "Beethoven's Tenth" (Beethoven's actual unfinished Symphony No. 10 in E flat major may have had a significant central C minor section in the first movement). Three of Anton Bruckner's ten numbered symphonies are in C minor.

Well-known classical compositions in this key

• Great Mass in C minor (Mozart) - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
• Piano Concerto No. 24 - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
• Piano Concerto No. 3 - Ludwig van Beethoven
• Symphony No. 5 (Beethoven), op. 67 (1804-8)
• “Choral Fantasy” in C minor, op. 80 (1808), Beethoven
• Piano Sonata No. 8 in C minor (Pathétique) - Ludwig van Beethoven
• Piano Sonata No. 32 (Beethoven) - Ludwig van Beethoven
• Symphony No. 2 (Tchaikovsky) “Little Russian” in C minor, op. 17 (1872)
• Symphony No. 8 - Anton Bruckner
• Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor - Sergei Rachmaninov
• Étude Op. 10, No. 12 - Fryderyk Chopin
• Prélude No. 20, Op. 28 - Fryderyk Chopin
• Nocturne in C minor Op. 48, No.1 - Fryderyk Chopin
• Symphony No. 4 - Dmitri Shostakovich
• Symphony No. 8 - Dmitri Shostakovich
• Passacaglia and Fugue in C minor - Bach

See also: List of symphonies in C 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.

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: C minor

• List of symphonies in C minor

Notes