C major 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:
These are less common and mostly used in jazz. Changes needed for the melodic and harmonic versions of the scale are notated with accidentals as necessary. The C harmonic major and melodic major scales are:
On the piano, the C major scale can be played using only the white keys starting on C.
Scale degree chords The scale degree chords of C major are: Tonic – C major Supertonic – D minor Mediant – E minor Subdominant – F major Dominant – G major Submediant – A minor Leading-tone – B diminished
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.H. C. Robbins Landon, The Symphonies of Joseph Haydn. London: Universal Edition & Rockliff (1955): 227. "In the course of composing his first symphonies, the tonality of C major became indelibly impressed on Haydn's mind as the key of pomp, the key of C alto horns, trumpets and timpani, the vehicle for composing brilliant and festive music, although at least during this period [the 1760s] he did not always reserve the tonality of C major for this particular kind of symphony: Nos. 2, 7 and 9, and possibly Nos. 25 and 30 ... are C major symphonies without the psychological manifestations inherent in most of the later works in this key. For the rest, however, the C major path is astonishingly clear; it can be traced from its inception, in Nos. 20, 32 and 37, through No. 33 and the more mature Nos. 38 and 41 to its synthesis in the Maria Theresia (No. 48) and No. 56. It continues with No. 50 and proceeds through Nos. 60, 63, 69, 82 and 90, reaching its final culmination in No. 97." Wilfrid Mellers believed that Mozart's Symphony No. 41, written in 'white' C major, "represented the triumph of light".Triumph of Light, Wilfrid Mellers (2005) (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.James Webster & Georg Feder, The New Grove Haydn. New York: Macmillan (2002): 55. "The Missa in tempora belli ... in C features the bright, trumpet-dominated sound typical of masses in this key." 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. This essay includes an extensive survey of classical works in C major
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.
The idea that musical keys can conjure up specific feelings has been discussed in some instances."Affective Musical Key Characteristics", Western Michigan University This notion 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". Sibelius's Symphony No. 7 is in C major and that key was of great importance in his previous symphonies.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."
Notable examples
Johann Sebastian Bach Toccata, Adagio and Fugue in C major, BWV 564 Prelude and Fugue in C major, BWV 846 Sonata No. 3 in C major, BWV 1005 Cello Suite No. 3, BWV 1009 Joseph Haydn Cello Concerto No. 1 (1761–65) Symphony No. 7, Le Midi (1761) Symphony No. 60, Il distratto (1774) Symphony No. 82, The Bear (1786) String Quartet No. 32, The Bird (1781) String Quartet No. 62, Emperor (1797–98) Mass No. 10, Missa in tempore belli (1796) Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart 12 Variations in C major on the French song "Ah, vous dirai-je, Maman", KV 265 Concerto for flute and harp, KV 299/297c Piano Concerto No. 8, KV 246 ("Lützow") Piano Concerto No. 13, KV 415 Piano Concerto No. 21, KV 467 Piano Concerto No. 25, KV 503 Piano Sonata No. 1, KV 279 Piano Sonata No. 7, KV 309 Piano Sonata No. 10, KV 330 Piano Sonata No. 16, KV 545 String Quartet No. 19, KV 465 ("Dissonance") Symphony No. 16, KV 128 Symphony No. 22, KV 162 Symphony No. 28, KV 200 Symphony No. 34, KV 338 Symphony No. 36, KV 425 ("Linz") Symphony No. 41, KV 551 ("Jupiter") Ludwig van Beethoven Piano Sonata No. 3, Op. 2, No. 3 Piano Concerto No. 1, Op. 15 Symphony No. 1, Op. 21 Rondo Op. 51, No. 1 Piano Sonata No. 21, Op. 53 ("Waldstein") Triple Concerto for violin, cello, and piano in C major, Op. 56 String Quartet No. 9, Op. 59/3 ("Rasumovsky") Mass in C major, Op. 86 Franz Schubert Wanderer Fantasy, Op. 15 D. 760 Fantasy for violin and piano, D. 934 Sonata for 4-hands, D. 812 (Grand Duo) Symphony No. 6 (Little) Symphony No. 9, D. 944 ("Great") String Quintet in C major, D. 956 Felix Mendelssohn Wedding March from A Midsummer Night's Dream Frédéric Chopin Introduction and Polonaise brillante for cello and piano, Op. 3 Etude Op. 10 No. 1 "Waterfall" Etude Op. 10 No. 7 "Toccata" Mazurka Op. 67 No. 3 Robert Schumann Toccata, Op. 7 Fantasie in C, Op. 17 Arabeske, Op. 18 Symphony No. 2, Op. 61 Anton Bruckner Te Deum Georges Bizet Symphony in C Souvenirs de Rome Jean Sibelius Symphony No. 3, Op. 52 (1907) Symphony No. 7, Op. 105 (1924) Maurice Ravel: Boléro Igor Stravinsky: Symphony in C (1940) Sergei Prokofiev Piano Concerto No. 3, Op. 26 (1921) Symphony No. 4 (original version), Op. 47 (1930) Symphony No. 4 (revised version), Op. 112 (1947) Dmitri Shostakovich: Symphony No. 7, Op. 60 ("Leningrad") Terry Riley: In C Duke Ellington: "C Jam Blues"
See also Key (music) Major and minor Chord (music) Chord notation
References
Further reading David Wyn Jones, "The Beginning of the Symphony", in A Guide to the Symphony edited by Robert Layton. Oxford University Press. H. C. Robbins Landon, Haydn Symphonies, BBC Music Guides 1986
External links
"Interactive piano and guitar reference to the C major scale", muted.io "Learn to play C major scale on Guitar with notes and scale position", musicmaster.in