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

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 eight sharps, including the double sharp F

, which makes it impractical to use.

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

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

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

Music in F minor

Famous pieces in the key of F minor include Beethoven's Appassionata Sonata, Chopin's Piano Concerto No. 2 and 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

E-sharp minor

E-sharp minor
${ \new Staff \with{ \magnifyStaff #3/2 } << \time 2/16 \override Score.TimeSignature #'stencil = ##f { \clef treble \key eis \minor s16 \clef bass \key eis \minor s16 } >> }$
Component pitches
Relative key	G-sharp major (theoretical) enharmonic: A-flat major
Parallel key	E-sharp major (11 sharps, does not exist) enharmonic: F major
Dominant key	B-sharp minor (9 sharps, does not exist) enharmonic: C minor
Subdominant	A-sharp minor
Enharmonic	F minor
E♯, F , G♯, A♯, B♯, C♯, D♯

E-sharp minor is a theoretical key based on the musical note E♯, consisting of the pitches E♯, F

, G♯, A♯, B♯, C♯ and D♯. Its key signature has six sharps and one double sharp, (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.

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.)

Music in F minor

Notable compositions

E-sharp minor

See also

Notes

External links