C-sharp minor facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
C♯ minor

Relative key	E major
Parallel key	C♯ major
Notes in this scale
C♯, D♯, E, F♯, G♯, A, B, C♯

C-sharp minor (or C♯ minor) is a musical scale that starts on the note C♯. Think of a scale as a set of notes that sound good together. This particular scale uses four sharps in its key signature.

Every minor key has a 'relative major' key that shares the same key signature. For C-sharp minor, its relative major is E major. It also has a 'parallel major' key, which starts on the same note but sounds different; for C-sharp minor, this is C-sharp major.

Famous Classical Music in C-sharp Minor

Not many symphonies (long musical pieces for an orchestra) are written in C-sharp minor. One example is by Joseph Martin Kraus, but he later changed it to C minor.

Other symphonies in this key include Mahler's Symphony No. 5. However, only its first movement (a section of a larger piece) is in C-sharp minor. The ending of Mahler's symphony is actually in D major. Prokofiev's Symphony No. 7 also uses this key. Shostakovich's Violin Concerto No. 2 is another important piece in C-sharp minor.

Popular Piano Pieces in C-sharp Minor

This key is much more common in music written for the piano. Domenico Scarlatti wrote two keyboard sonatas (pieces for a single instrument) in C-sharp minor, called K. 246 and K. 247.

After Beethoven's very famous Moonlight Sonata, the C-sharp minor key became more popular for piano music. Beethoven also used this key in the outer movements of his String Quartet No. 14 (Op. 131, 1826).

One of the most well-known pieces in this key is Chopin's Fantaisie-Impromptu. Chopin also used C-sharp minor in his Nocturnes No. 7 (Op. 27, No. 1) and No. 20 (Op. posth.). His Waltz in C-sharp minor (Op. 64 No. 2) is another popular piece that uses this key.

Another very famous example of a work in C-sharp minor is Rachmaninoff's Prelude in C-sharp minor (Op. 3, No. 2).

Diatonic Scales and Keys
	Flats Sharps Major minor Major minor 0 C, a 1 F d G e 2 B♭ g D b 3 E♭ c A f♯ 4 A♭ f E c♯ 5 D♭ b♭ B g♯ 6 G♭ e♭ F♯ d♯ 7 C♭ a♭ C♯ a♯ 8 F♭ d♭ G♯ e♯
The table shows the number of sharps or flats in each scale. Minor scales are written in lower case.

See also

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