F major
Relative key | D minor | |
---|---|---|
Parallel key | F minor | |
Dominant key | ||
Subdominant | ||
Notes in this scale | ||
F, G, A, B♭, C, D, E, F |
F major (or the key of F) is a musical major scale starting on F. Its key signature has one flat.
Its relative minor is D minor and its parallel minor is F minor.
F major is the home key of the English horn, the basset horn, the horn in F, the trumpet in F and the bass Wagner tuba. This means that if you want these instruments to sound in F major, you have to write in C major. Most of these sound a perfect fifth lower than written, except the trumpet in F which sounds a perfect fourth higher. (The basset horn also often sounds an octave and a fifth lower.)
Of the six Overtures Francesco Maria Veracini wrote for Prince Friedrich Augustus in Dresden, most are in either F major or B-flat major because the prince's orchestra had a lot of wind instruments that played best in these keys.
List of compositions in F Major
[change | change source]- Brandenburg Concertos Nos 1 & 2 - Johann Sebastian Bach
- Piano Concerto No. 19 - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
- Symphony No. 6 in F Major, Op. 68, "Pastoral" - Ludwig van Beethoven
- Symphony No. 3 in F Major, Op. 90 - Johannes Brahms
- Piano Concerto No. 2 (Shostakovich) - Dimitri Shostakovich
- Concerto No. 3 in F major, Op. 8, RV 293, "L'autunno" - Antonio Vivaldi
Scales and keys
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The table shows the number of sharps or flats in each scale. Minor scales are written in lower case. |