F minor

F minor is a minor scale based on F, consisting of the pitches F, G, A♭, B♭, C, D♭, and E♭. Its key signature consists of four flats. Its relative major is A-flat major and its parallel major is F major. Its enharmonic equivalent, E-sharp minor, has six sharps and the double sharp Fdouble sharp, which makes it impractical to use.

F minor
{ \new Staff \with{ \magnifyStaff #3/2 } << \time 2/16 \override Score.TimeSignature #'stencil = ##f { \clef treble \key f \minor s16 \clef bass \key f \minor s16 } >> }
Relative keyA-flat major
Parallel keyF major
Dominant keyC minor
SubdominantB-flat minor
Component pitches
F, G, A♭, B♭, C, D♭, E♭


The F natural minor scale is

{ \override Score.TimeSignature #'stencil = ##f \relative c' { \clef treble \key f \minor \time 7/4 f4^\markup "F natural minor scale" g aes bes c des es f es des c bes aes g f2 \clef bass \key f \minor } }

Changes needed for the melodic and harmonic versions of the scale are written in with accidentals as necessary. The F harmonic minor and melodic minor scales are

{ \override Score.TimeSignature #'stencil = ##f \relative c' { \clef treble \key f \minor \time 7/4 f4^\markup "F harmonic minor scale" g aes bes c des e f e des c bes aes g f2 } }
{ \override Score.TimeSignature #'stencil = ##f \relative c' { \clef treble \key f \minor \time 7/4 f4^\markup "F melodic minor scale (ascending and descending)" g aes bes c d e f es! des! c bes aes g f2 } }

Scale Degree Chords

Music in F minor

Famous pieces in the key of F minor include Beethoven's Appassionata Sonata, Chopin's Piano Concerto No. 2, Ballade No. 4, Haydn's Symphony No. 49, La Passione and Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 4.

Glenn Gould once said if he could be any key, he would be F minor, because "it's rather dour, halfway between complex and stable, between upright and lascivious, between gray and highly tinted... There is a certain obliqueness."[1]

Hermann von Helmholtz once described F minor as harrowing and melancholy. Christian Schubart described this key as "Deep depression, funereal lament, groans of misery and longing for the grave".[2]

Notable compositions
See also: List of symphonies in F minor

E-sharp minor
E-sharp minor
{ \new Staff \with{ \magnifyStaff #3/2 } << \time 2/16 \override Score.TimeSignature #'stencil = ##f { \clef treble \key eis \minor s16 \clef bass \key eis \minor s16 } >> }

(Alternative notation)
{ \new Staff \with{ \magnifyStaff #3/2 } << \time 2/16 \override Score.TimeSignature #'stencil = ##f { \clef treble \set Staff.keyAlterations = #`((3 . ,SHARP)(0 . ,SHARP)(4 . ,SHARP)(1 . ,SHARP)(-2 . ,SHARP)(2 . ,SHARP)(-1 . ,SHARP)(3 . ,DOUBLE-SHARP)) s16 ^\markup "" } >> }
Relative keyG-sharp major (theoretical)
→enharmonic: A-flat major
Parallel keyE-sharp major (theoretical)
→enharmonic: F major
Dominant keyB-sharp minor (theoretical)
→enharmonic: C minor
SubdominantA-sharp minor
enharmonic: B-flat minor
EnharmonicF minor
Component pitches
E♯, Fdouble sharp, G♯, A♯, B♯, C♯, D♯

E-sharp minor is a theoretical key based on the musical note E♯, consisting of the pitches E♯, Fdouble sharp, G♯, A♯, B♯, C♯ and D♯. Its key signature has one double sharp and six sharps, (or eight sharps). Its relative major is G-sharp major, which is usually replaced by A-flat major. Its parallel major, E-sharp major, is usually replaced by F major, as E-sharp major’s four double-sharps make it impractical to use. It's enharmonic equivalent is F minor.


The E-sharp natural minor scale is:

{ \override Score.TimeSignature #'stencil = ##f \relative c' { \clef treble \key eis \minor \time 7/4 eis4^\markup "Natural minor scale" fisis gis ais bis cis dis eis dis cis bis ais gis fisis eis2 \clef bass \key eis \minor } }

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

{ \override Score.TimeSignature #'stencil = ##f \relative c' { \clef treble \key eis \minor \time 7/4 eis4^\markup "Harmonic minor scale" fisis gis ais bis cis disis eis disis cis bis ais gis fisis eis2 } }
{ \override Score.TimeSignature #'stencil = ##f \relative c' { \clef treble \key eis \minor \time 7/4 eis4^\markup "Melodic minor scale (ascending and descending)" fisis gis ais bis cisis disis eis dis! cis! bis ais gis fisis eis2 } }

Although E-sharp minor is usually notated as F minor, it could be used on a local level, such as bars 17 to 22 in Johann Sebastian Bach's The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 1, Prelude and Fugue No. 3 in C-sharp major. (E-sharp minor is the mediant minor key of C-sharp major.)

Scale Degree Chords (E-sharp minor)

See also

Notes
  1. Cathering Meng, Tonight's the Night (Apostrophe Books, 2007): 21
  2. "Musical Key Characteristics".
  • Media related to F minor at Wikimedia Commons
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