G-sharp minor

G♯ minor

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

G-sharp natural minor scale ascending and descending.  Play

G-sharp harmonic minor scale ascending and descending.  Play

G-sharp melodic minor scale ascending and descending.  Play

G-sharp minor is a minor scale based on G♯, consisting of the pitches G♯, A♯, B, C♯, D♯, E, and F♯. For the harmonic minor, the F♯ is raised to F.

Its key signature has five sharps.

Its relative major is B major, and its parallel major is G-sharp major, usually replaced by A-flat major, its enharmonic equivalent.

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

Few symphonies are written in G♯ minor; among them are Nikolai Myaskovsky's 17th Symphony, Christopher Schlegel's 5th Symphony, and an abandoned work of juvenilia by Marc Blitzstein.

A well-known song in this key is "Brothers in Arms" by Dire Straits. More recently, New York by Paloma Faith was also written 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 the sonatas of Scriabin. For orchestration of piano music, some theorists recommend transposing the music to G minor or A minor. If G-sharp minor must absolutely be used, one should take care that B-flat wind instruments be notated in B-flat minor, rather than A-sharp minor.

In a few scores, 5-sharp key signatures in the bass clef are written with the sharp for the A on the top line.

References

• A. Morris, "Symphonies, Numbers and Keys" in Bob's Poetry Magazine, III.3, 2006.