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A major

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A major
Relative keyF# minor
Parallel keyA 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-sharp, D, E, F-sharp, G-sharp, and A. 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. A-major key is the only key where a Neapolitan sixth chord on requires both a flat & 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

Well-known contemporary music in this key

References

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

Scales and keys

Wikimedia Commons has media related to A major.
Wikiquote has quotations related to A major.
  • A Major - Free A Major Scale Print Out with Arpeggios and Broken Chords for Piano with Fingering
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