G-sharp minor is a minor scale based on G, consisting of the pitches G, A, B, C, D, E, and F. Its key signature has five sharps. Its

relative major 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 ...

B major B major (or the key of B) is a major scale based on B. The pitches B, C, D, E, F, G, and A are all part of the B major scale. Its key signature has five sharps. Its relative minor is G-sharp minor, its parallel minor is B minor, and its ...

. Its

parallel major 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 ...

, G-sharp major, is usually replaced by its

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 ...

equivalent of

A-flat major A-flat major (or the key of A-flat) is a major scale based on A, with the pitches A, B, C, D, E, F, and G. Its key signature has four flats. The A-flat major scale is: : Its relative minor is F minor. Its parallel minor, A-flat minor, ...

, since G-sharp major has an F in its key signature, making it impractical to use. A-flat minor, its enharmonic, with seven flats, has a similar problem, thus G-sharp minor is optionally used as the parallel minor for

. (The same enharmonic situation occurs with the keys of D-flat major and C-sharp minor). The G-sharp natural minor scale is: : Changes needed for the melodic and harmonic versions of the scale are written in with accidentals as necessary. The G-sharp harmonic minor and melodic minor scales are: : :

Music in G-sharp minor

Despite the key rarely being used in orchestral music other than to modulate, it is not entirely uncommon in keyboard music, as in Piano Sonata No. 2 by

Alexander 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 ...

, who actually seemed to prefer writing in it.

Dmitri Shostakovich Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich, , group=n (9 August 1975) was a Soviet-era Russian composer and pianist who became internationally known after the premiere of his Symphony No. 1 (Shostakovich), First Symphony in 1926 and was regarded throug ...

used the key in the second movement of his 8th String Quartet, and the slow fourth movement of his 8th Symphony is also in this key. If G-sharp minor is used in orchestral music, composers generally write B wind instruments in the enharmonic B-flat minor, rather than A-sharp minor to facilitate reading the music (or A instruments are used instead, giving a transposed key of B minor). Few

symphonies A symphony is an extended musical composition in Western classical music, most often for orchestra. Although the term has had many meanings from its origins in the ancient Greek era, by the late 18th century the word had taken on the meaning com ...

are written in G-sharp minor; among them are Nikolai Myaskovsky's 17th Symphony, Elliot Goldenthal's Symphony in G-sharp minor (2014) and an abandoned work of

juvenilia Juvenilia are literary, musical or artistic works produced by authors during their youth. Written juvenilia, if published at all, usually appears as a retrospective publication, some time after the author has become well known for later works. ...

Marc Blitzstein Marcus Samuel Blitzstein (March 2, 1905January 22, 1964), was an American composer, lyricist, and librettist. He won national attention in 1937 when his pro-union musical ''The Cradle Will Rock'', directed by Orson Welles, was shut down by the Wo ...

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 ...

composed a Polonaise in G-sharp minor, Op. posth., in 1822. His Étude No. 6 and his 12th prelude from the 24 Preludes, Op. 28, are in G-sharp minor as well. Modest Mussorgsky wrote the movements, "The Old Castle" and "Bydło" (Cattle), from ''

Pictures at an Exhibition ''Pictures at an Exhibition'', french: Tableaux d'une exposition, link=no is a suite (music), suite of ten piano pieces, plus a recurring, varied Promenade theme, composed by Russian composer Modest Mussorgsky in 1874. The piece is Mussorgsky's ...

'' in G-sharp minor. Liszt's " La campanella" from his '' Grandes études de Paganini'' is in G-sharp minor.

's Second Piano Sonata "Sonata-Fantasy", Op. 19, is in G-sharp minor.

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 "Scarbo" from '' Gaspard de la nuit'' (1908), is in G-sharp minor. Sibelius wrote the

slow movement Slow movement may refer to: *Slow movement (music) *Slow movement (culture) *Bradykinesia Hypokinesia is one of the classifications of movement disorders, and refers to decreased bodily movement. Hypokinesia is characterized by a partial or comp ...

of his Third Symphony in G-sharp minor. Bach also wrote the movements, "Prelude and Fugue No. 18", from both books of '' The Well-Tempered Clavier'' which is also in G-sharp minor; both movements from Book 1 end with a Picardy third, requiring a B-sharp in the final G-sharp major chord.

Music in G-sharp minor

See also