G sharp minor

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G♯ minor
Image:B_Major_key_signature.png
Relative key B major
Parallel key A♭ major
Component pitches
G♯, A♯, B, C♯, D♯, E, F♯, G♯

G sharp minor is a minor scale based on G sharp, consisting of the pitches G sharp, A sharp, B, C sharp, D sharp, E, F double sharp and G sharp (harmonic minor scale). Its key signature consists of five sharps.

Its relative major is B major, and its parallel major is A flat major, since G sharp major, which would have eight sharps, is not normally used. Its enharmonic equivalent is A flat minor.

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

Few symphonies are written in G sharp minor; among them are Nikolai Myaskovsky's Seventeenth Symphony, Christopher Schlegel's Fifth Symphony, and an abandoned work of juvenilia by Marc Blitzstein.

Despite the key rarely being used in orchestral music other than to modulate, it is not entirely uncommon in keyboard music, from Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier to the sonatas of Scriabin. For orchestration of piano music, some theorists recommend transposing the music to G minor or A minor. If G sharp minor must absolutely be used, one should take care that B flat wind instruments be notated in B flat minor, rather than A sharp minor.

[edit] Well known works in this key

Diatonic Scales and Keys
Circle of fifths
Flats Sharps
Major minor Major minor
0 C (Major), a (minor)
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♯
lower case letters are minor

the table indicates the number of sharps or flats in each scale

[edit] References

  • A. Morris, "Symphonies, Numbers And Keys" in Bob's Poetry Magazine, III.3, 2006