G major

G major

Relative key	E minor
Parallel key	G minor
Component pitches
G, A, B, C, D, E, F#

Also see: G minor, or G-sharp minor.

G major (or the key of G) is a major scale based on G, with the pitches G, A, B, C, D, E, F-sharp and G. Its key signature has one sharp, F (see below: Scales and keys).

Its relative minor is E minor, and its parallel minor is G minor.

In the treble clef, the sharp-symbol for F is usually placed on the first line from the top, though in some Baroque music it is placed on the first space from the bottom (a lower-octave F note).

In the music of Johann Sebastian Bach, "G major is often a key of 6/8 chain rhythms," according to Alfred Einstein, and in the Baroque era, G major was regarded as the "key of benediction."

File:G Major Scale.PNG

Ascending and descending G-Major scale.

Of Domenico Scarlatti's 555 keyboard sonatas, 69 are in G major, and 12 of Joseph Haydn's 104 Symphonies are in G major. Beethoven, on the other hand, hardly used G major as the main key of a work, his only major orchestral work in the key being his Piano Concerto No. 4 in G major.

For orchestral works in G major, the timpani are typically set to G and D a fifth apart, rather than a fourth apart as for most other keys.

G is one of the most frequently-employed keys across classical and popular music. This is in part because of its relative ease of playing on both keyboard and string instruments.

Well-known classical compositions in this key

• Eine Kleine Nachtmusik - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
• "Dalla Sua Pace" (from Don Giovanni) - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
• Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 - Johann Sebastian Bach
• Goldberg Variations - Johann Sebastian Bach
• Trepak - Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

See also List of symphonies in G major.

Well-known contemporary music in this key

• 100 Years - Five for Fighting
• All You Need Is Love - The Beatles
• American Pie - Don McLean
• Brown Eyed Girl - Van Morrison
• Closing Time - Semisonic
• Creep - Radiohead
• Don't Let's Start - They Might Be Giants
• Free Bird - Lynyrd Skynyrd
• Good Riddance (Time of Your Life) - Green Day
• Grace Kelly (song) - Mika
• Hard Day's Night - The Beatles
• Hey Ya! - Outkast
• I Want to Hold Your Hand - The Beatles
• Live and Let Die - Paul McCartney & Wings
• Lyin' Eyes - The Eagles
• More Today Than Yesterday - Spiral Starecase
• My Sharona - The Knack
• It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine) - R.E.M.
• The Sign - Ace of Base
• Semi-Charmed Life - Third Eye Blind
• Sitting on the Dock of the Bay - Otis Redding
• Think for Yourself - The Beatles
• Wish You Were Here - Pink Floyd
• Wake Me Up When September Ends - Green Day
• The Way It Is - Bruce Hornsby and the Range
• Yakety Yak - The Coasters
• You Shook Me All Night Long - AC/DC
• You Make Me Feel Brand New - The Stylistics (first half of each verse is in E major with the rest of the song in G major)

Reference

• Alfred Einstein, Mozart, His Character, His Work, Chapter 10, "Mozart's Choice Of Keys"

External links

• G Major - Free G Major Scale Print Out with Arpeggios and Broken Chords for Piano