B-flat major

B major
Relative key G minor
Parallel key B minor
Dominant key F major
Subdominant E major
Component pitches
B, C, D, E, F, G, A, B

The B (B-flat) major scale consists of the pitches B, C, D, E, F, G, and A. Its key signature has two flats.

Its relative minor is G minor, and its parallel minor is B minor.

Many transposing instruments are pitched in B-flat major, including the clarinet, trumpet, tenor saxophone, and soprano saxophone. As a result, B-flat major is a popular key for concert band compositions.

Ascending and descending B-flat major scale.  Play in just intonation 

History

Joseph Haydn's Symphony No. 98 is credited as the first symphony he (or anyone else) wrote in that key in which he included trumpet and timpani parts. Actually, his brother Michael Haydn had written one such symphony earlier, No. 36, though Joseph Haydn still gets credit for writing the timpani part at actual pitch with an F major key signature (instead of transposing with a C major key signature), a procedure that made sense since he limited that instrument to the tonic and dominant pitches.[1] Many editions of the work, however, use no key signature and specify the instrument as "Timpani in B-flat–F".

Five of Mozart's piano concertos are in B-flat major.

Notable classical compositions

References

  1. H. C. Robbins Landon, Haydn Symphonies, London: British Broadcasting Corporation (1966): 57

External links

Media related to B-flat major at Wikimedia Commons

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