F minor

F minor

Relative key	A♭ major
Parallel key	F major
Component pitches
F, G, A♭, B♭, C, D♭, E♭, F
Qualities

F natural minor scale ascending and descending.  Play

F harmonic minor scale ascending and descending.  Play

F melodic minor scale ascending and descending.  Play

F minor is a minor scale based on F, consisting of the pitches F, G, A♭, B♭, C, D♭, and E♭. The harmonic minor raises the E♭ to E♮. Its key signature has four flats (see below: Scales and keys).

Its relative major is A-flat major, and its parallel major is F major.

F minor is a key often associated with passion. Two famous pieces in the key of F minor are Beethoven's Appassionata Sonata, and Haydn's Symphony No. 49 in F minor, La Passione.

Glenn Gould once said if he could be any key, he would be F minor, because "it's rather dour, halfway between complex and stable, between upright and lascivious, between gray and highly tinted...There is a certain obliqueness."

In the Baroque period, music in F minor was usually written with a three-flat key signature,^{[citation needed]} and some modern editions of that repertoire retain that convention.

Notable compositions

See also: List of symphonies in F minor

• String Quartet No. 11, Op. 95 "Serioso" – Ludwig van Beethoven
• Violin Concerto L'inverno, RV 297, Op. 8, No. 4 – Antonio Vivaldi
• Piano Sonata No. 23, Op. 57 (Appassionata) – Ludwig van Beethoven
• Fantasia in F minor – Franz Schubert
• Fantaisie in F minor, Op. 49 – Frédéric Chopin
• Harpsichord Concerto No. 5, BWV 1056 – Johann Sebastian Bach
• Ballade No. 4, Op. 52 – Chopin
• Piano Quintet, Op. 34 – Johannes Brahms
• Piano Concerto No. 2, Op. 21 – Chopin

Notable songs

• "Bust Your Windows" – Jazmine Sullivan
• "I'm So Afraid" – Fleetwood Mac
• "Dream On" – Aerosmith
• "Valleri" – The Monkees
• "Stayin' Alive" – Bee Gees
• "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" – Green Day
• "Pick Up the Pieces" – Average White Band
• "Smells Like Teen Spirit" – Nirvana

E-sharp minor

E♯ minor

Relative key	G♯ major enharmonic: A♭ major
Parallel key	E♯ major enharmonic: F major
Enharmonic	F minor
Component pitches
E♯, F, G♯, A♯, B♯, C♯, D♯, E♯
Qualities

Enharmonic with F minor is E-sharp minor, based on the musical note E-sharp and consisting of the pitches E♯, F, G♯, A♯, B♯, C♯ and D♯. In the harmonic minor, the D♯ is raised to D. Its key signature has six sharps and one double sharp.

For clarity and simplicity, E-sharp minor is usually notated as F minor. However, E-sharp minor could be used on a local level, such as a brief passage in Johann Sebastian Bach's The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 1, Prelude and Fugue No. 3 in C-sharp major. (E♯ minor is the mediant minor key of C♯ major.)