B minor:
B minor is a minor scale based on B, consisting of the pitches B, C♯, D, E, F♯, G, and A. The harmonic minor raises the A to A♯. Its key signature has two sharps linked Scales/keys below (see below: Scales and keys). In German Scales, it is referred to as "h-moll".
Its relative major is D major, and its parallel major is B major.
Changes needed for the melodic and harmonic versions of the scale are written in with accidentals as necessary.
In Baroque times, B minor was regarded as the key of passive suffering.[1] The theorist Christian Friedrich Daniel Schubart (1739-1791) regarded B minor as a key expressing a quiet acceptance of fate and very gentle complaint, something commentators find to be in line with Bach's use of the key in the St. John's Passion.[2] By Beethoven's time, however, the perception of B minor had changed considerably: Francesco Galeazzi wrote that B minor was not suitable for music in good taste, and Beethoven labelled a B minor melodic idea in one of his sketchbooks as a "black key".[3]
It is a common key used in rock, folk, country and other guitaristic styles because the standard tuning of a guitar causes all the open strings to be scale degrees of B minor. The second movement of Rodrigo's Concierto de Aranjuez, one of the most famous compositions for the classical guitar, is in B minor.
[edit] Well-known Classical pieces in this key
See also: List of symphonies in B minor
[edit] Well-known Popular music in this key
[edit] References
- ^ Xinh's JS Bach B-Minor Mass Balance. Retrieved January 20, 2007.
- ^ Michael C. Tusa, "Beethoven's "C-Minor Mood": Some Thoughts on the Structural Implications of Key Choice" in Beethoven Forum 2, Christoph Reynolds, ed. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press (1993): 2 - 3, n. 5
- ^ Ibid, 2, n. 3
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Diatonic Scales and Keys |
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lower case letters are minor
the table indicates the number of sharps or flats in each scale |
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