G-flat major (or the key of G-flat) is a
major scale
The major scale (or Ionian mode) is one of the most commonly used musical scales, especially in Western music. It is one of the diatonic scales. Like many musical scales, it is made up of seven notes: the eighth duplicates the first at double i ...
based on
G, consisting of the pitches G,
A,
B,
C,
D,
E, and
F. Its
key signature
In Western musical notation, a key signature is a set of sharp (), flat (), or rarely, natural () symbols placed on the staff at the beginning of a section of music. The initial key signature in a piece is placed immediately after the clef at ...
has six
flats
Flat or flats may refer to:
Architecture
* Flat (housing), an apartment in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia and other Commonwealth countries
Arts and entertainment
* Flat (music), a symbol () which denotes a lower pitch
* Flat (soldier), ...
.
Its
relative minor
In music, relative keys are the major and minor scales that have the same key signatures (enharmonically equivalent), meaning that they share all the same notes but are arranged in a different order of whole steps and half steps. A pair of major an ...
is
E-flat minor
E-flat minor is a minor scale based on E, consisting of the pitches E, F, G, A, B, C, and D. Its key signature consists of six flats. Its relative key is G-flat major (or enharmonically F-sharp major) and its parallel key is E-flat major. I ...
(or
enharmonic
In modern musical notation and tuning, an enharmonic equivalent is a note, interval, or key signature that is equivalent to some other note, interval, or key signature but "spelled", or named differently. The enharmonic spelling of a written n ...
ally
D-sharp minor
D-sharp minor is a minor scale based on D, consisting of the pitches D, E, F, G, A, B, and C. Its key signature has six sharps.
Its relative major is F-sharp major (or enharmonically G-flat major), and its parallel major is D-sharp majo ...
), and its
parallel minor
In music theory, a major scale and a minor scale that have the same tonic note are called parallel keys and are said to be in a parallel relationship. Forte, Allen (1979). ''Tonal Harmony'', p.9. 3rd edition. Holt, Rinehart, and Wilson. . "When ...
is G-flat minor, which is usually replaced by
F-sharp minor
F-sharp minor is a minor scale based on F, consisting of the pitches F, G, A, B, C, D, and E. Its key signature has three sharps. Its relative major is A major and its parallel major is F-sharp major (or enharmonically G-flat major).
T ...
, since G-flat minor's two
double-flats make it generally impractical to use. Its direct enharmonic equivalent,
F-sharp major
F-sharp major (or the key of F) is a major scale based on F, consisting of the pitches F, G, A, B, C, D, and E. Its key signature has six sharps.
The F-sharp major scale is:
:
Its relative minor is D-sharp minor (or enharmonically E-f ...
, contains the same number of sharps as the G-flat major key does flats.
The G-flat major scale is:
:
Characteristics
Like F-sharp major, G-flat major is rarely chosen as the main key for orchestral works. It is more often used as a main key for piano works, such as the impromptus of
Chopin and
Schubert
Franz Peter Schubert (; 31 January 179719 November 1828) was an Austrian composer of the late Classical and early Romantic eras. Despite his short lifetime, Schubert left behind a vast ''oeuvre'', including more than 600 secular vocal wor ...
. It is the predominant key of
Maurice Ravel
Joseph Maurice Ravel (7 March 1875 – 28 December 1937) was a French composer, pianist and conductor. He is often associated with Impressionism along with his elder contemporary Claude Debussy, although both composers rejected the term. In ...
's
''Introduction and Allegro'' for harp, flute, clarinet and string quartet.
A striking use of G-flat major can be found in the love duet "Tu l'as dit" that concludes the fourth act of
Giacomo Meyerbeer
Giacomo Meyerbeer (born Jakob Liebmann Beer; 5 September 1791 – 2 May 1864) was a German opera composer, "the most frequently performed opera composer during the nineteenth century, linking Mozart and Wagner". With his 1831 opera ''Robert le di ...
's opera ''
Les Huguenots
() is an opera by Giacomo Meyerbeer and is one of the most popular and spectacular examples of grand opera. In five acts, to a libretto
A libretto (Italian for "booklet") is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work suc ...
''.
When writing works in
all 24 major and minor keys,
Alkan Alkan may refer to:
Places Iran
* Alkan, Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad
* Alkan, Qom
Turkey
* Alkan, Gülşehir, in Gülşehir, Gülşehir district
Given name
* Alkan Chaglar (born 1981), Turkish Cypriot journalist and columnist
Surname
* Ahmet Alk ...
,
Rachmaninoff
Sergei Vasilyevich Rachmaninoff; in Russian pre-revolutionary script. (28 March 1943) was a Russian composer, virtuoso pianist, and conductor. Rachmaninoff is widely considered one of the finest pianists of his day and, as a composer, one o ...
,
Scriabin
Alexander Nikolayevich Scriabin (; russian: Александр Николаевич Скрябин ; – ) was a Russian composer and virtuoso pianist. Before 1903, Scriabin was greatly influenced by the music of Frédéric Chopin and composed ...
,
Shchedrin and
Winding
An electromagnetic coil is an electrical conductor such as a wire in the shape of a coil (spiral or helix). Electromagnetic coils are used in electrical engineering, in applications where electric currents interact with magnetic fields, in de ...
used G-flat major over F-sharp major.
Muzio Clementi
Muzio Filippo Vincenzo Francesco Saverio Clementi (23 January 1752 – 10 March 1832) was an Italian composer, virtuoso pianist, pedagogue, conductor, music publisher, editor, and piano manufacturer, who was mostly active in England.
Encourag ...
chose F-sharp in his set for the prelude, but G-flat for the final "Grande Exercice" which modulates through all the keys.
Antonín Dvořák
Antonín Leopold Dvořák ( ; ; 8 September 1841 – 1 May 1904) was a Czechs, Czech composer. Dvořák frequently employed rhythms and other aspects of the folk music of Moravian traditional music, Moravia and his native Bohemia, following t ...
composed
Humoresque No. 7 in G-flat major, while its middle section is in the parallel key (F-sharp minor, enharmonic equivalent to the theoretical G-flat minor).
Gustav Mahler
Gustav Mahler (; 7 July 1860 – 18 May 1911) was an Austro-Bohemian Romantic composer, and one of the leading conductors of his generation. As a composer he acted as a bridge between the 19th-century Austro-German tradition and the modernism ...
was fond of using G-flat major in key passages of his symphonies. Examples include: the choral entry during the finale of his
Second Symphony, during the first movement of his
Third Symphony, the
modulatory section of the
Adagietto from his
Fifth Symphony, and during the Rondo–Finale of his
Seventh Symphony.
[Mahler, Gustav. ''Symphony No. 7 in Full Score'', Dover, (1992), p. 223.] Mahler's
Tenth Symphony was composed in the
enharmonic
In modern musical notation and tuning, an enharmonic equivalent is a note, interval, or key signature that is equivalent to some other note, interval, or key signature but "spelled", or named differently. The enharmonic spelling of a written n ...
key of F-sharp major.
This key is more often found in piano music, as the use of all five black keys allows an easier conformity to the player's hands, despite the numerous flats. In particular, the black keys G, A, B, D, and E correspond to the 5 notes of the G-flat
pentatonic scale
A pentatonic scale is a musical scale with five notes per octave, in contrast to the heptatonic scale, which has seven notes per octave (such as the major scale and minor scale).
Pentatonic scales were developed independently by many ancien ...
. Austrian composer
Franz Schubert
Franz Peter Schubert (; 31 January 179719 November 1828) was an Austrian composer of the late Classical and early Romantic eras. Despite his short lifetime, Schubert left behind a vast ''oeuvre'', including more than 600 secular vocal wor ...
chose this key for his third
impromptu
An impromptu (, , loosely meaning "offhand") is a free-form musical composition with the character of an ''ex tempore'' improvisation as if prompted by the spirit of the moment, usually for a solo instrument, such as piano. According to ''Allgeme ...
from his
first collection of impromptus (1827). Polish composer
Frédéric Chopin
Frédéric François Chopin (born Fryderyk Franciszek Chopin; 1 March 181017 October 1849) was a Polish composer and virtuoso pianist of the Romantic period, who wrote primarily for solo piano. He has maintained worldwide renown as a leadin ...
wrote two
études in the key of G-flat major:
Étude Op. 10, No. 5 "Black Key" and
Étude Op. 25, No. 9 "Butterfly". French composer
Claude Debussy
(Achille) Claude Debussy (; 22 August 1862 – 25 March 1918) was a French composer. He is sometimes seen as the first Impressionist composer, although he vigorously rejected the term. He was among the most influential composers of the ...
used this key for one of his most popular compositions, ''
La fille aux cheveux de lin
''La fille aux cheveux de lin'' () is a musical composition for solo piano by French composer Claude Debussy. It is the eighth piece in the composer's first book of ''Préludes'', written between late 1909 and early 1910. The title is in ...
'', the eighth prélude from his ''
Préludes, Book I'' (1909–1910). The
Flohwalzer can be played in G-flat major, or F-sharp major, for its easy fingering.
John Rutter
John Milford Rutter (born 24 September 1945) is an English composer, conductor, editor, arranger, and record producer, mainly of choral music.
Biography
Born on 24 September 1945 in London, the son of an industrial chemist and his wife, Rutte ...
has chosen G-flat major for a number of his compositions, including "Mary's Lullaby" and "What sweeter music".
In a charity interview
he explained several of the reasons that drew him to this key. In many soprano voices there is a break round about E (a tenth above middle C) with the result that it is not their best note, bypassed in the key of G-flat major. It is thus, he claims, a very vocal key. Additionally, writing for strings, there are no open strings in this key, so that vibrato can be used on any note, making it a warm and expressive key. He also cites its facility on a piano keyboard.
References
External links
List of instrumental music in G-flat major
{{Circle of fifths
Musical keys
Major scales