B minor

Infobox Scale


scale_name=B minor
relative=D major
parallel=B major
first_pitch=B
second_pitch=C^#
third_pitch=D
fourth_pitch=E
fifth_pitch=F^#
sixth_pitch=G
seventh_pitch=A

B minor is a minor scale based on B, consisting of the pitches B, Cmusic|sharp, D, E, Fmusic|sharp, G, and A. The harmonic minor raises the A to Amusic|sharp. Its key signature has two sharps linked Scales/keys below ("see below:" Scales and keys). In German Scales, it is referred to as "h-moll".

Its relative major is D major, and its parallel major is B major.

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

In Baroque times, B minor was regarded as the key of passive suffering. [ [http://www.its.caltech.edu/~tan/bachbminor/balanc.html Xinh's JS Bach B-Minor Mass Balance] . Retrieved January 20, 2007.] The theorist Christian Friedrich Daniel Schubart (1739-1791) regarded B minor as a key expressing a quiet acceptance of fate and very gentle complaint, something commentators find to be in line with Bach's use of the key in the St. John's Passion. [Michael C. Tusa, "Beethoven's "C-Minor Mood": Some Thoughts on the Structural Implications of Key Choice" in "Beethoven Forum 2", Christoph Reynolds, ed. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press (1993): 2 - 3, n. 5] By Beethoven's time, however, the perception of B minor had changed considerably: Francesco Galeazzi wrote that B minor was not suitable for music in good taste, and Beethoven labelled a B minor melodic idea in one of his sketchbooks as a "black key". [Ibid, 2, n. 3]

It is a common key used in rock, folk, country and other guitaristic styles because the standard tuning of a guitar causes all the open strings to be scale degrees of B minor. The second movement of Rodrigo's Concierto de Aranjuez, one of the most famous compositions for the classical guitar, is in B minor.

Well-known Classical pieces in this key

*"Violin Concerto No. 3 (Saint-Saens) - Camille Saint-Saens
*"Mass in B minor - Johann Sebastian Bach
*"Piano Sonata in B minor - Franz Liszt
* Piano Sonata No. 3 in B Minor, Op. 58 - Frederic Chopin
* Violin Concerto No. 2 in B Minor (La Campanella) - Niccolo Paganini
* Symphony No. 6 in B Minor, Op. 74 (Pathetique) - Pyotr Ilich Tchaikovsky
*E lucevan le stelle from "Tosca" - Giacomo PucciniSee also: List of symphonies in B minor

Well-known Popular music in this key

*"If You Had My Love" - Jennifer Lopez
*"Exit Music (For a Film)" - Radiohead
*"Getting Jiggy With It" - Will Smith
*"Hotel California" - The Eagles
*"Makes Me Wonder" - Maroon 5
*"Comfortably Numb" - Pink Floyd (chorus in D major)
*"Trouble" - Coldplay
*"Live in the Sky" - T.I. featuring Jamie Foxx
*"My Happy Ending" - Avril Lavigne

References