C major

C major (often just C) is a major scale based on C, consisting of the pitches C, D, E, F, G, A, B and C. Its key signature consists of no flats and no sharps.

Related Topics:
Major scale - Key signature

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Its relative minor is A minor, and its parallel minor is C minor. C major is one of the most commonly used key signatures in music.

Related Topics:
Relative minor - A minor - Parallel minor - C minor

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Most transposing instruments playing in their home key are notated in C major, for example, a clarinet in B-flat playing a B-flat major scale is notated as playing a C major scale.

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19 of Joseph Haydn's 104 Symphonies are in C major, making it the second most often used main key in Haydn's Symphonies. Before the invention of the valve trumpet, Haydn did not write trumpet and timpani parts in his Symphonies, except those in C major.

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The white keys of the piano correspond to the C major scale. A harp tuned to C major has all its pedals in the middle position.

Related Topics:
Piano - Harp

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Although not terribly difficult for a guitar, C major is not considered ideal for the instrument. The three notes of the dominant chord (G, B & D) are available as open strings, but the root of the tonic chord is not.

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Most national anthems are in C major.

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French composers such as Charpentier and Rameau generally thought of C major as a key for happy music, but Hector Berlioz in 1856 described it as "serious but deaf and dull."

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