C major

C major (or the key of C) 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:



On the piano, the C major scale can be played by playing 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.

Many musicians have pointed out that every musical key conjures up specific feelings. This idea 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

 * Johann Sebastian Bach
 * Toccata, Adagio and Fugue in C major, BWV 564
 * Prelude and Fugue in C major, BWV 846
 * Sonata No. 3 in C major, BWV 1005
 * Cello Suite No. 3, BWV 1009
 * Joseph Haydn
 * Cello Concerto No. 1 (1761–65)
 * Symphony No. 7, Le Midi (1761)
 * Symphony No. 60, Il distratto (1774)
 * Symphony No. 82, The Bear (1786)
 * String Quartet No. 32, The Bird (1781)
 * String Quartet No. 62, Emperor (1797–98)
 * Mass No. 10, Missa in tempore belli (1796)
 * Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
 * 12 Variations in C major on the French song "Ah, vous dirai-je, Maman", KV 265
 * Concerto for flute and harp, KV 299/297c
 * Piano Concerto No. 8, KV 246 ("Lützow")
 * Piano Concerto No. 13, KV 415
 * Piano Concerto No. 21, KV 467
 * Piano Concerto No. 25, KV 503
 * Piano Sonata No. 1, KV 279
 * Piano Sonata No. 7, KV 309
 * Piano Sonata No. 10, KV 330
 * Piano Sonata No. 16, KV 545
 * String Quartet No. 19, KV 465 ("Dissonance")
 * Symphony No. 16, KV 128
 * Symphony No. 22, KV 162
 * Symphony No. 28, KV 200
 * Symphony No. 34, KV 338
 * Symphony No. 36, KV 425 ("Linz")
 * Symphony No. 41, KV 551 ("Jupiter")
 * Ludwig van Beethoven
 * Piano Sonata No. 3, Op. 2, No. 3
 * Piano Concerto No. 1, Op. 15
 * Symphony No. 1, Op. 21
 * Rondo Op. 51, No. 1
 * Piano Sonata No. 21, Op. 53 ("Waldstein")
 * Triple Concerto for violin, cello, and piano in C major, Op. 56
 * String Quartet No. 7, Op. 59/1 ("Rasumovsky")
 * Mass in C major, Op. 86
 * Franz Schubert
 * Wanderer Fantasy, Op. 15 D. 760
 * Sonata for 4-hands, D. 812 (Grand Duo)
 * Symphony No. 6 (Little)
 * Symphony No. 9, D. 944 ("Great")
 * String Quintet in C major, D. 956
 * Felix Mendelssohn
 * Wedding March from A Midsummer Night's Dream
 * Frédéric Chopin
 * Introduction and Polonaise brillante for cello and piano, Op. 3
 * Etude Op. 10 No. 1 "Waterfall"
 * Etude Op. 10 No. 7 "Toccata"
 * Mazurka Op. 67 No. 3
 * Robert Schumann
 * Toccata, Op. 7
 * Fantasie in C, Op. 17
 * Arabeske, Op. 18
 * Symphony No. 2, Op. 61
 * Georges Bizet
 * Symphony in C
 * Souvenirs de Rome
 * Jean Sibelius
 * Symphony No. 3, Op. 52 (1907)
 * Symphony No. 7, Op. 105 (1924)
 * Maurice Ravel: Boléro
 * Igor Stravinsky: Symphony in C (1940)
 * Sergei Prokofiev
 * Piano Concerto No. 3, Op. 26 (1921)
 * Symphony No. 4 (original version), Op. 47 (1930)
 * Symphony No. 4 (revised version), Op. 112 (1947)
 * Dmitri Shostakovich: Symphony No. 7, Op. 60 ("Leningrad")
 * Terry Riley: In C
 * Duke Ellington: "C Jam Blues"