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
B-flat major is a major scale based on B, with pitches B, C, D, E, F, G, and A. Its key signature has two flats. Its relative minor is G minor and its parallel minor is B-flat minor.
The B-flat major scale is:
Changes needed for ...
. Its
enharmonic equivalent,
A-sharp minor, which would contain seven sharps, is not normally used.
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
In music, the submediant is the sixth degree () of a diatonic scale. The submediant ("lower mediant") is named thus because it is halfway between the tonic and the subdominant ("lower dominant") or because its position below the tonic is symm ...
–
G-flat major
*
Subtonic –
A-flat major
Characteristics
B-flat minor is traditionally a 'dark' key.
The old
valveless 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
D major is a major scale based on D (musical note), D, consisting of the pitches D, E (musical note), E, F♯ (musical note), F, G (musical note), G, A (musical note), A, B (musical note), B, and C♯ (musical note), C. Its key signature has two S ...
, Op. 80.
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
**''
Adagio for Strings''
*
Frédéric Chopin
**
Piano Sonata No. 2 "Funeral March"
**
Nocturne Op. 9 No. 1
**
Scherzo No. 2
**
Prelude Op. 28, No. 16 "Hades"
**
Mazurka Op. 24, No. 4
*
Franz Liszt
Franz Liszt (22 October 1811 – 31 July 1886) was a Hungarian composer, virtuoso pianist, conductor and teacher of the Romantic music, Romantic period. With a diverse List of compositions by Franz Liszt, body of work spanning more than six ...
**
Transcendental Étude No. 12 (''Chasse-neige'') from ''
Transcendental Études''
*
Sergei Rachmaninoff
Sergei Vasilyevich Rachmaninoff; in Russian pre-revolutionary script. (28 March 1943) was a Russian composer, virtuoso pianist, and Conducting, conductor. Rachmaninoff is widely considered one of the finest pianists of his day and, as a compos ...
**
Piano Sonata No. 2, Op. 36
*
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
**
Piano Concerto No. 1
**''
Marche slave''
*
William Walton
**
Symphony No. 1
References
External links
*
{{Circle of fifths
Musical keys
Minor scales