F minor

F minor
Relative key A♭ major
Parallel key F major
Dominant key C minor
Subdominant B♭ minor
Component pitches
F, G, A♭, B♭, C, D♭, E♭
F natural minor scale ascending and descending.  Play 
F harmonic minor scale ascending and descending.  Play 
F melodic minor scale ascending and descending.  Play 

F minor is a minor scale based on F, consisting of the pitches F, G, A♭, B♭, C, D♭, and E♭. The harmonic minor raises the E♭ to E♮. Its key signature has four flats.

Its relative major is A-flat major, and its parallel major is F major.

Three famous pieces in the key of F minor are Beethoven's Appassionata Sonata, Chopin's Piano Concerto No. 2 and Haydn's Symphony No. 49, La Passione.

Glenn Gould once said if he could be any key, he would be F minor, because "it's rather dour, halfway between complex and stable, between upright and lascivious, between gray and highly tinted...There is a certain obliqueness."[1]

Helmholtz once described F minor as harrowing and melancholy. Schubart described this key as "Deep depression, funereal lament, groans of misery and longing for the grave".

Notable compositions

E-sharp minor

E♯ minor
Relative key G♯ major
enharmonic: A♭ major
Parallel key E♯ major
enharmonic: F major
Dominant key B♯ minor
enharmonic: C minor
Subdominant A♯ minor
enharmonic: B♭ minor
Enharmonic F minor
Component pitches
E♯, F, G♯, A♯, B♯, C♯, D♯

E-sharp minor is a theoretical key based on the musical note E-sharp (E♯) and consisting of the pitches E♯, F, G♯, A♯, B♯, C♯ and D♯. In the harmonic minor, the D♯ is raised to D. Its key signature has six sharps and one double sharp.

Its relative major is G♯ major, usually replaced by A♭ major, while its parallel major is E♯ major, usually replaced by F major, due to the presence of 4 double-sharps in the E♯ major scale causing it to be one of the more impractical key signatures in music to use. Although E♯ minor is usually notated as F minor, it could be used on a local level, such as a brief passage in Johann Sebastian Bach's The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 1, Prelude and Fugue No. 3 in C-sharp major. (E♯ minor is the mediant minor key of C♯ major.)

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Cathering Meng, Tonight's the Night (Apostrophe Books, 2007): 21
Flats Sharps
Major minor Major minor
0 C a C a
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♯
8 F♭ d♭ G♯ e♯
The table indicates the number of sharps or flats in each scale. Minor scales are written in lower case.
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