| Relative key | F-sharp minor |
|---|---|
| Parallel key | A minor |
| Dominant key | E major |
| Subdominant | D major |
| Component pitches | |
| A, B, C♯, D, E, F♯, G♯ | |
A major is amajor scale based onA, with the pitches A,B,C♯,D,E,F♯, andG♯. Itskey signature has threesharps. Itsrelative minor isF-sharp minor and itsparallel minor isA minor.
The A major scale is:
Changes needed for the melodic and harmonic versions of the scale are written in with accidentals as necessary. The Aharmonic major andmelodic major scales are:
In the treble, alto, and bass clefs, the G♯ in the key signature is placed higher than C♯. However, in thetenor clef, it would require aledger line and so G♯ is placed lower than C♯.
Thescale degree chords of A major are:
Although not as rare in the symphonic literature as sharper keys (those containing more than three sharps), symphonies in A major are less common than in keys with fewer sharps such asD major orG major.Beethoven'sSymphony No. 7,Bruckner'sSymphony No. 6 andMendelssohn'sSymphony No. 4 comprise a nearly complete list of symphonies in this key in the Romantic era.Mozart'sClarinet Concerto andClarinet Quintet are both in A major, along with his23rd Piano Concerto, and generally Mozart was more likely to use clarinets in A major than in any other key besidesE-flat major.[1] Moreover, the climax part ofTchaikovsky'sViolin Concerto is also in A major.
The key of A occurs frequently inchamber music and other music forstrings, which favor sharp keys.Franz Schubert'sTrout Quintet andAntonín Dvořák'sPiano Quintet No. 2 are both in A major.Johannes Brahms,César Franck, andGabriel Fauré wrote violin sonatas in A major. In connection to Beethoven'sKreutzer Sonata, Peter Cropper said that A major "is the fullest sounding key for the violin."[2]
According toChristian Friedrich Daniel Schubart, A major is a key suitable for "declarations of innocent love, ... hope of seeing one's beloved again when parting; youthful cheerfulness and trust in God."[3]
For orchestral works in A major, thetimpani are typically set to A and E a fifth apart, rather than a fourth apart as for most other keys.Hector Berlioz complained about the custom of his day in which timpani tuned to A and E a fifth apart were notated C and G a fourth apart, a custom which survived as late as the music ofFranz Berwald.[4]
Media related toA major at Wikimedia Commons
