Talk:C-sharp major

Are key signatures with double sharps unheard-of-as-of-2004?? Georgia guy 20:38, 9 Jun 2005 (UTC)


 * I'm sure they've been heard of, it's just that they have no practical value. Single flats and sharps can be confusing enough when you're trying to sight read a piece. Anton Mravcek 19:39, 10 Jun 2005 (UTC)

C# Maj scale discrepancy

I'm wondering if anyone can indulge a quick question from someone in the midst of teaching themselves basic music theory with the help of wikipedia and a text book. In an effort to grasp the concept of scale composition and tetrachords, I am constructing the major scales using the basic formula for their foundation and then checking my answers here. But with this particular scale, I ran into a brief problem it seems. My original idea was that to follow the Tone-Tone-Semitone-Tone-Tone-Tone-Semitone pattern, C# Maj would need to look like this:

C# - D# - F - F# - G# - A# - C - C#

But in the article, my F and C are replaced by E# and B# respectively, which I was under the impression did not jhjhjhjhhjkkjkjkk"guess" be correct as well as the scale as listed here? If not, which weird quirks have I failed to take account for?


 * Yes, your guess (C# -fgtghbjh D# - F - F# ...) is correct, at least in theory. If you try to apply it to practical situations, you might run into trouble, however.


 * Suppose you write a piece in C# major (can't imagine why, though). Your piece begins with a scale run upwards, notated C# - D# - F - F# - G# - A# - C - C#. A harpist tells you she'd like to play your piece but could you please transpose it C major? No problem, just flat every note. The scale run upwards with which your piece begins would become C - D - Fb - F - G - A - Cb - C. If instead you had notated it C# - D# - E# - F# - G# - A# - B# - C#, you might be able to achieve the transposition by merely deleting the key signature, your scale run becomes C - D - E - F - G - A - B - C. Anton Mravcek 21:20, 31 January 2006 (UTC)


 * If you write a piece in C# major, the most frequently used pitches will be the seven notes of the scale, though of course chromatic pitches may occur. If you write them as C#, D#, E#, F#, G#, A# and B# then you just need to write a key signature of seven sharps. If you write E# as F and B# as C then you have to write natural signs before every note, and sharp signs when you want F# and C#. Much more tedious to write and much more confusing to read. 91.107.151.155 (talk) 22:44, 26 September 2010 (UTC)

Bartok and Bach
I deleted this line: Béla Bartók's String Quartet No. 3 is one of the few in C sharp major. I've been trying to figure out this quartet, and while I can't claim to understand it very well I can say it definitely isn't in C#. There's no key signatures at all, and the harmony seems to be polymodal at best, and more in C than C# if anything.

Also, the line: Although most composers prefer to use the enharmonic equivalent D-flat major because it has just five flats as opposed to the seven sharps of C-sharp major, Johann Sebastian Bach actually chose C sharp major for Prelude and Fugue No. 3 in both books of the Well-Tempered Clavier. --this seems a bit misleading since Bach was working in Well temperament, in which D-flat major and C-sharp major are not enharmonic equivalents as far as I know. Given the form of the work and the tuning used, it should be not surprise that Bach used C-sharp major. This sentence gives the impression that it is surprising. If I get more time I'll see if I can phrase it better. Pfly 22:03, 9 November 2007 (UTC)