G-sharp major

G-sharp major
${ \magnifyStaff #3/2 \omit Score.TimeSignature \key gis \major s16 \clef F \key gis \major s^"" }$

Alternative notation
${ \magnifyStaff #3/2 \omit Score.TimeSignature \set Staff.keyAlterations = #`((3 . ,SHARP)(0 . ,SHARP)(4 . ,SHARP)(1 . ,SHARP)(-2 . ,SHARP)(2 . ,SHARP)(-1 . ,SHARP)(3 . ,DOUBLE-SHARP)) s^"" }$
Relative key	E-sharp minor (theoretical); →enharmonic: F minor
Parallel key	G-sharp minor
Dominant key	D-sharp major (theoretical); →enharmonic: E-flat major
Subdominant key	C-sharp major
Enharmonic key	A-flat major
Component pitches
	G♯, A♯, B♯, C♯, D♯, E♯, F

G-sharp major is a musical key based on G♯, consisting of the pitches G♯, A♯, B♯, C♯, D♯, E♯, and F. Its key signature has eight sharps, requiring one double sharp and six single sharps.^[1] Because the same pitches can be indicated by the enharmonically equivalent key of A-flat major (with four flats), a G-sharp major key signature is extremely rare.

Its relative minor is E-sharp minor, which would be replaced by F minor. Its parallel minor is G-sharp minor.

The G-sharp major scale is:

$\header { tagline = ##f } scale = \relative a { \key gis \major \omit Score.TimeSignature gis'^"G♯ natural major scale" ais bis cis dis eis fisis gis fisis eis dis cis bis ais gis2 \clef F \key gis \major } \score { { << \cadenzaOn \scale \context NoteNames \scale >> } \layout { } \midi { } }$

Changes needed for the melodic and harmonic versions of the scale are written in with accidentals as necessary. The G-sharp harmonic major and melodic major scales are:

$\header { tagline = ##f } scale = \relative a { \key gis \major \omit Score.TimeSignature gis'^"G♯ harmonic major scale" ais bis cis dis e fisis gis fisis e! dis cis bis ais gis2 } \score { { << \cadenzaOn \scale \context NoteNames \scale >> } \layout { } \midi { } }$

$\header { tagline = ##f } scale = \relative a { \accidentalStyle modern \key gis \major \omit Score.TimeSignature gis'^"G♯ melodic major scale" ais bis cis dis eis fisis gis fis e dis cis bis ais gis2 } \score { { << \cadenzaOn \scale \context NoteNames \scale >> } \layout { } \midi { } }$

Although the enharmonic key of A-flat major is preferred because it has only four flats, compared with G-sharp major's eight sharps (including the F), G-sharp major appears as a secondary key area in several works in sharp keys, most notably in the Prelude and Fugue in C-sharp major from Johann Sebastian Bach's The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 1. The G-sharp minor prelude (and the fugue) from the same set ends with a Picardy third, on a G-sharp major chord. G-sharp major is tonicised briefly in several of Frédéric Chopin's nocturnes in C-sharp minor. A section in the second movement of Chopin's Piano Concerto No. 1 is in G-sharp major, although the key signature has four sharps. The end of the exposition of the second movement Charles-Valentin Alkan's Grande sonate 'Les quatre âges', subtitled Quasi-Faust, is in G-sharp major, albeit written with a six-sharp key signature (the movement opens in D-sharp minor and ends in F-sharp major).

The final pages of A World Requiem by John Foulds are written in G-sharp major. The key signature is shown as in the example with the scale above, starting with the C♯ and ending at the F (C♯, G♯, D♯, A♯, E♯, B♯, F).^[2]

Scale degree chords

Tonic – G-sharp major
Supertonic – A-sharp minor
Mediant – B-sharp minor
Subdominant – C-sharp major
Dominant – D-sharp major
Submediant – E-sharp minor
Leading-tone – F-double-sharp diminished

References

^ Thomas Busby (1840). "G-sharp major". A Dictionary of Three Thousand Musical Terms. revised by J. A. Hamilton. London: D'Almaine. p. 55.
^ "John Foulds: A World Requiem (1921), Wise Music Classical

External links

Media related to G-sharp major at Wikimedia Commons

[1] Thomas Busby (1840). "G-sharp major". A Dictionary of Three Thousand Musical Terms. revised by J. A. Hamilton. London: D'Almaine. p. 55.

[2] "John Foulds: A World Requiem (1921), Wise Music Classical

[1]

[2]

Scale degree chords

See also

References

External links