C major. These were written for a keyboard tuned to ‘well-temperament’ which sounds
well in all keys. Although each key had a slightly different character none sounded out
of tune.
Bach’s Two-part Inventions and Three-part Inventions each consisted of fifteen pieces in
the keys of C major, C minor, D major, D minor, E flat major, E major, E minor F major,
F minor, G major, G minor, A major, A minor, B flat major and B minor. These were the
usable keys which sounded well on the keyboards of the time tuned to one of the mean
tone temperaments which preceded well-temperament. Other keys sounded out of tune.
Chopin’s opus 26 consisted of 24 preludes, one in each of the major and minor keys. In
addition to the fact that there were no fugues, Chopin’s scheme differed from Bach’s.
Chopin’s first prelude was in C major, the second was in A minor (the relative minor of C
major). They thereafter ascended in a cycle of fifths, each major key being followed by
its relative minor. The result of the scheme was preludes in the following keys: C major,
A minor, G major, E minor, D major, B minor, A major, F sharp minor, E major, C sharp
minor, B major, G sharp minor, F sharp major, E flat minor, D flat major, B flat minor, A
flat major, F minor, E flat major, C minor, B flat major, G minor, F major, D minor.
Shostakovich wrote a set of 24 preludes and fuguesin all the major and minor keys.
C major
The key signature of C major has no sharps or flats. Its relative minor is A minor. Its
tonic minor is C minor. The key of C major is one of the most commonly used key
signatures in music. The scale of C major consists of the notes C, D, E, F, G, A, B and C
which are all white notes on the piano. A piano is always tuned in C. C major is often
regarded as the easiest key owing to its lack of sharps or flats. Beginners are usually
started off with scales, arpeggios and pieces in C major. Chopin regarded C major as the
most difficult scale to play with complete evenness and he tended to give it last to his
pupils. He recognised B major as the easiest scale to play on the piano because the
position of the black and white notes best fitted the natural position of the fingers and so
he often had his pupils start with this scale. In musical catalogues that sort musical
pieces by key, whether they go by semitones or along the circle of fifths, they always
start with pieces in C major.
Some piano pieces in C major:
Mozart: Sonata K 545
Beethoven: Sonata opus 53 ‘Waldstein’
Beethoven: ‘Diabelli’ Variations opus 120
Schubert: ‘Wanderer’ Fantasy opus 15 D 760