The chord chart below lists all the common triads and four note extended chords belonging to the key of C major. Roman numerals indicate each chord’s position relative to the scale.. C major is a major scale based on C, consisting of the pitches C, D, E, F, G, A, and B. C major is one of the most common keys used in music. Its key signature has no flats or sharps.
C major is a major scale based on C, consisting of the pitches C, D, E, F, G, A, and B. C major is one of the most common keys used in music. Its key signature has no flats or sharps. Its relative minor is A minor and its parallel minor is C minor.
The C major scale is:
These are less common and mostly used in jazz. Changes needed for the melodic and harmonic versions of the scale are notated with accidentals as necessary. The C harmonic major and melodic major scales are:
On the piano, the C major scale can be played using only the white keys starting on C.
Scale degree chords
The scale degree chords of C major are:
- Tonic – C major
- Supertonic – D minor
- Mediant – E minor
- Subdominant – F major
- Dominant – G major
- Submediant – A minor
- Leading-tone – B diminished
Compositions
Twenty of Joseph Haydn’s 106 symphonies are in C major, making it his second most-used key, second to D major. Of the 134 symphonies mistakenly attributed to Haydn that H. C. Robbins Landon lists in his catalog, 33 are in C major, more than any other key. Before the invention of the valves, Haydn did not write trumpet and timpani parts in his symphonies, except those in C major. Landon writes that it wasn’t “until 1774 that Haydn uses trumpets and timpani in a key other than C major… and then only sparingly.” Most of Haydn’s symphonies in C major are labelled “festive” and are of a primarily celebratory mood. Wilfrid Mellers believed that Mozart’s Symphony No. 41, written in ‘white’ C major, “represented the triumph of light”. (See also List of symphonies in C major.)
Many masses and settings of the Te Deum in the Classical era were in C major. Mozart and Haydn wrote most of their masses in C major. Gounod (in a review of Sibelius’ Third Symphony) said that “only God composes in C major”. Six of his own masses are written in C.
Of Franz Schubert’s two symphonies in the key, the first is nicknamed the “Little C major” and the second the “Great C major”.
Scott Joplin’s “The Entertainer” is written in C major.
The idea that musical keys can conjure up specific feelings has been discussed in some instances. This notion 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”. Sibelius’s Symphony No. 7 is in C major and that key was of great importance in his previous symphonies.
Notable examples
See also
- Key (music)
- Major and minor
- Chord (music)
- Chord notation
References
Further reading
- David Wyn Jones, “The Beginning of the Symphony”, in A Guide to the Symphony edited by Robert Layton. Oxford University Press.
- H. C. Robbins Landon, Haydn Symphonies, BBC Music Guides 1986 [1966] ISBN 9780563205159 OCLC 317594202
External links
- Media related to C major at Wikimedia Commons
- “Interactive piano and guitar reference to the C major scale”, muted.io
- “Learn to play C major scale on Guitar with notes and scale position”, musicmaster.in
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Chords in C Major (Free Chart) Download this Free Chord Chart for the Key of C Major. You can choose if you want to print it out, or if you prefer to bookmark this page for reference. You will learn all the main triad chords, as well as the 7th chords and suspended chords on each scale degree.. Chords in the key of C major. C major scale, key signature, common chord progressions and piano key chord charts.
