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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]
[9] [10] The key note or tonic of a piece in a major key is a semitone above the last sharp in the signature. [11] For example, the key of D major has a key signature of F ♯ and C ♯, and the tonic (D) is a semitone above C ♯. Each scale starting on the fifth scale degree of the previous scale has one new sharp, added in the order shown. [10]
In the key of C major, these would be: D minor, E minor, F major, G major, A minor, and C minor. Despite being three sharps or flats away from the original key in the circle of fifths, parallel keys are also considered as closely related keys as the tonal center is the same, and this makes this key have an affinity with the original key.
However, Johann Sebastian Bach chose C-sharp major for Prelude and Fugue No. 3 in both books of The Well-Tempered Clavier. In Hungarian Rhapsody No. 6, Franz Liszt takes the unusual step of changing the key from D-flat major to C-sharp major near the start of the piece, and then back again to B-flat minor.
In the Classical period, C major was the key most often chosen for symphonies with trumpets and timpani. Even in the Romantic period, with its greater use of minor keys and the ability to use trumpets and timpani in any key, C major remained a very popular choice of key for a symphony. The following list includes only the most famous examples.
C or Do is the first note of the C major scale, the third note of the A minor scale (the relative minor of C major), and the fourth note (G, A, B, C) of the Guidonian hand, commonly pitched around 261.63 Hz. The actual frequency has depended on historical pitch standards, and for transposing instruments a distinction is made between written and ...
C-flat major is the home key of the harp, with all its pedals in the top position, and it is considered the most resonant key for the instrument.Thus, in Richard Strauss's Ein Heldenleben, the first cue for the harps is written in C-flat major even though the rest of the orchestra, having previously played in E-flat major, retains a 3-flat key signature and is now playing in B major, marked ...
The notes A ♭ and F serve as upper leading-tones back to G and E (when the chord moves to the tonic, C major), respectively, rather than B ♮ and F serving as the lower and upper leading-tones to C and E in a conventional G7-C major (V7-I) cadence. A backdoor IV-V is also possible, moving from ♭ VI M7 to ♭ VII 7 to I. This is also ...