C minor

Infobox Scale


scale_name=C minor
relative=Emusic|flat major
parallel=C major
first_pitch=C
second_pitch=D
third_pitch=Emusic|flat
fourth_pitch=F
fifth_pitch=G
sixth_pitch=Amusic|flat
seventh_pitch=Bmusic|flat: "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 Emusic|flat, F, G, Amusic|flat, and Bmusic|flat. The harmonic minor raises the Bmusic|flat to Bmusic|natural.

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

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

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. 3" - Ludwig van Beethoven
*"Symphony No. 5 in C Minor" - Ludwig van Beethoven
*"Piano Sonata No. 8 in C minor (Pathétique)" - Ludwig van Beethoven
*"Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor" - Sergei RachmaninoffSee also: List of symphonies in C minor

Well-known popular songs in this key

*"...Baby One More Time" - Britney Spears
*"Could You Be Loved" - Bob Marley
*"Crazy (Gnarls Barkley song)"- Gnarls Barkley
*"Desert Rose" - Sting
*"Get Up, Stand Up" - Bob Marley
*"Holy Diver" - Dio
*"It's My Life" - Bon Jovi
*"Lonely Days" - The Bee Gees
*"Spanish Castle Magic" - The Jimi Hendrix Experience
*"Parallel Universe" - Red Hot Chili Peppers
*"Say It Ain't So" - Weezer
*"Seven Day Fool" - Jully Black
*"That's the Way I Like It" - KC and the Sunshine Band
*"The Power of Love" - Huey Lewis and the News (also in C major)
*"The Way You Move" - Outkast (also in D minor)
*"This Love" - Maroon 5
*"To the Moon and Back" - Savage Garden
*"Tragedy" - The Bee Gees (Concert version only)
*"High Hopes" - Pink Floyd
*"Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This) - Eurythmics
*"My Favourite Game" - The Cardigans

cales and keys

See also

List of symphonies in C minor

Notes