A major

A major

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

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

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

Its relative minor is F-sharp minor and its parallel minor is A minor. The key of A-major is the only key where a Neapolitan sixth chord on ${\hat {2}}$ requires both a flat and a natural accidental.

Although not as rare in the symphonic literature as sharper keys, examples of symphonies in A major are not as numerous as for D major or G major. Beethoven's Symphony No. 7, Bruckner's Symphony No. 6 and Mendelssohn's Symphony No. 4 comprise a nearly complete list of symphonies in this key in the Romantic era. Mozart's Clarinet Concerto and Clarinet Quintet are both in A major.

Ascending and descending A major scale.

In chamber music, A major occurs more often. Both Brahms and Franck wrote violin sonatas in A major.

According to Christian Friedrich Daniel Schubart, A major is a key suitable for "declarations of innocent love, ... hope of seeing one's beloved again when parting; youthful cheerfulness and trust in God."

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

Well-known classical music in this key

• Symphony no. 7 - Ludwig van Beethoven
• Roman Carnival Overture - Hector Berlioz
• Carmen Prelude - Georges Bizet
• Carnival Overture - Antonín Dvořák
• Violin sonata - César Franck
• Symphony no. 4 - Felix Mendelssohn
• Clarinet Concerto - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
• Clarinet Quintet - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
• Piano Concerto no. 23 - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
• Piano Sonata No. 11 - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
• Symphony no. 29 - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
• Capriccio espagnol - Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov
• Festive Overture - Dmitri Shostakovich
• An der schönen blauen Donau - Johann Strauss II
• Capriccio Italien - Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
• Waltz from Swan Lake - Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
• Prelude to Act I of Lohengrin - Richard Wagner

Well-known contemporary music in this key

• ABC News theme song
• Achy Breaky Heart - Billy Ray Cyrus
• Bad Day - Fuel
• Barrytown - Steely Dan
• Cars - Gary Numan
• Catch Up with the End - Naked Brothers Band
• Chuck E's in Love - Rickie Lee Jones
• Closer to the Heart - Rush
• Cory in the House theme
• Crazy - Aerosmith
• Dancing Queen - ABBA
• Do It for Me Now - Angels & Airwaves
• Don't Matter - Akon
• Friends in Low Places - Garth Brooks
• Get Back - The Beatles
• I Want It That Way - Backstreet Boys (Also in B major)
• If I Had A Million Dollars - The Barenaked Ladies
• I'll Be There for You - The Rembrandts
• I'm with You - Avril Lavigne
• In My Life - The Beatles
• In the Light - Led Zeppelin
• Just Like Heaven - The Cure
• Kodachrome - Paul Simon
• Look After You - The Fray
• Put Your Records On - Corrine Bailey Ray
• 1973 - James Blunt
• Reelin' In the Years - Steely Dan
• Rock Around the Clock - Bill Haley
• Runnin' On Empty - Jackson Browne
• Sailing - Christopher Cross
• Stand by Me - Ben E. King
• Take Me Home, Country Roads - John Denver
• Take on Me - a-ha
• Tears in Heaven - Eric Clapton
• The Rock Show - Blink 182
• They Dance Along - Sting
• Under the Bridge - Red Hot Chili Peppers (also in C sharp minor)
• Valerie - Steve Winwood
• What I've Been Looking For - High School Musical
• Who Knew - Pink
• You May Be Right - Billy Joel
• My Immortal - Evanescence

References

• Colin Lawson, Mozart: Clarinet Concerto, A Cambridge Music Handbook, Cambridge University Press, 1996.