B-flat minor
Minor scale based on B-flat
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
B-flat minor is a minor scale based on B♭, consisting of the pitches B♭, C, D♭, E♭, F, G♭, and A♭. Its key signature has five flats. Its relative major is D-flat major and its parallel major is B-flat major. Its enharmonic equivalent, A-sharp minor, which would contain seven sharps, is not normally used.
| Relative key | D-flat major |
|---|---|
| Parallel key | B-flat major |
| Dominant key | F minor |
| Subdominant key | E-flat minor |
| Enharmonic key | A-sharp minor |
| Component pitches | |
| B♭, C, D♭, E♭, F, G♭, A♭ | |
The B-flat natural minor scale is:
Changes needed for the melodic and harmonic versions of the scale are written in with accidentals as necessary. The B-flat harmonic minor and melodic minor scales are:
Scale degree chords
The scale degree chords of B-flat minor are:
- Tonic – B-flat minor
- Supertonic – C diminished
- Mediant – D-flat major
- Subdominant – E-flat minor
- Dominant – F minor
- Submediant – G-flat major
- Subtonic – A-flat major
Characteristics
B-flat minor is traditionally a 'dark' key.[1]
The old natural horn was barely capable of playing in B-flat minor: the only example found in 18th-century music is a modulation that occurs in the first minuet of Franz Krommer's Concertino in D major, Op. 80.[2]
Notable classical compositions
- Charles-Valentin Alkan
- Prelude Op. 31, No. 12 (Le temps qui n'est plus)
- Symphony for Solo Piano, 3rd movement: Menuet
- Samuel Barber
- Frédéric Chopin
- Franz Liszt
- Transcendental Étude No. 12 (Chasse-neige) from Transcendental Études
- Sergei Rachmaninoff
- Piano Sonata No. 2, Op. 36
- Domenico Scarlatti
- Keyboard Sonata in B-flat minor, K. 128
- Keyboard Sonata in B-flat minor, K. 131
- Dmitri Shostakovich
- Symphony No. 13, Op. 113 ("Babi Yar")
- String Quartet No. 13, Op. 138
- Richard Strauss
- An Alpine Symphony begins and ends in B-flat minor.
- Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
- William Walton
