A minor

A minor

Relative key	C major
Parallel key	A major
Dominant key	E minor
Subdominant	D minor
Component pitches
A, B, C, D, E, F, G, A

A natural minor scale ascending and descending.  Play 

A harmonic minor scale ascending and descending.  Play 

A melodic minor scale ascending and descending.  Play 

A melodic minor scale in just intonation ascending and descending.  Play 

A minor (abbreviated Am) is a minor scale based on A, with the pitches A, B, C, D, E, F, and G. Its key signature has no flats and no sharps (see below: Scales and keys). However the harmonic minor scale raises the G to G♯.

A minor's relative major is C major, and its parallel major is A major.

Changes needed for the melodic and harmonic versions of the scale are written in with accidentals as necessary.

Johann Joachim Quantz considered A minor, along with C minor, much more suitable for expressing "the sad effect" than other minor keys (Versuch einer Anweisung die Flöte traversiere zu spielen).

Change from A major to A minor with naturals to cancel out the sharps.

Whereas traditionally key signatures were cancelled with naturals whenever the new key signature had fewer sharps or flats than the old key signature, or had flats instead of sharps or vice versa (so, for example, D major changing to D minor would be notated with a key signature of F♮, C♮, and B♭ at the change), in modern popular and commercial music, cancellation is only done when C major or A minor replaces another key.^[1]

Well-known compositions in this key

• Violin Concerto in A minor, BWV1041 – Johann Sebastian Bach
• Violin Sonata No. 4, Op. 23 – Ludwig van Beethoven
• String Quartet No. 15, Op. 132 – Ludwig van Beethoven
• Bagatelle in A minor "Für Elise" – Ludwig van Beethoven
• Double Concerto in A minor, Op. 102 – Johannes Brahms
• Variations on a Theme by Paganini, Op. 35 – Johannes Brahms
• Etude 'Winter Wind' - Frederic Chopin
• Prelude No. 2 in A minor, Op. 28/2 – Frederic Chopin
• Piano Concerto in A minor, Op. 16 – Edvard Grieg
• Piano Concerto No. 2, Op. 85 – Johann Nepomuk Hummel
• Symphony No. 6 in A minor – Gustav Mahler
• Symphony No. 3 – Felix Mendelssohn
• Piano Sonata No. 8 in A minor, K. 310 – Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
• Piano Sonata No. 4 in A minor, D. 537 – Franz Schubert
• Piano Sonata No. 14 in A minor, D. 784 – Franz Schubert
• Piano Sonata No. 16 in A minor, D. 845 – Franz Schubert
• String Quartet Op. 41/1 – Robert Schumann
• Violin Sonata No. 1, Op. 105 – Robert Schumann
• Piano Concerto in A minor, Op. 54 – Robert Schumann
• Caprice No. 24 (Paganini) – Niccolò Paganini
• Grandes Etude de Paganini no.6 - Franz Liszt
• Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini – Sergei Rachmaninoff
• Symphony No. 4 – Jean Sibelius
• Oboe Concerto in A minor – Ralph Vaughan Williams
• Violin Concerto in A Minor from L'Estro Armonico, Op. 3 No. 6, RV 356 – Antonio Vivaldi

See also

• Key (music)
• Major and minor
• Chord (music)
• Chord names and symbols (popular music)
• List of symphonies in A minor

References

1. ↑ Matthew Nicholl & Richard Grudzinski, Music Notation: Preparing Scores and Parts, ed. Jonathan Feist. Boston: Berklee Press (2007): 56. "In popular and commercial music, the old key signature is cancelled only if the new key is C major or A minor."

External links

• Media related to A minor at Wikimedia Commons

Diatonic scales and keys
	Flats Sharps Major minor Major minor 0 C a C a 1 F d G e 2 B♭ g D b 3 E♭ c A f♯ 4 A♭ f E c♯ 5 D♭ b♭ B g♯ 6 G♭ e♭ F♯ d♯ 7 C♭ a♭ C♯ a♯ 8 F♭ d♭ G♯ e♯
The table indicates the number of sharps or flats in each scale. Minor scales are written in lower case.