B major


B major is a major scale based on B. The pitches B, C, D, E, F, G, and A are all part of the B major scale. Its key signature has five sharps. Its relative minor is G-sharp minor, its parallel minor is B minor, and its enharmonic equivalent is C-flat major.
The B major scale is:
Changes needed for the melodic and harmonic versions of the scale are written in with accidentals as necessary. The B harmonic major and melodic major scales are:
Although B major is usually considered a remote key, Frédéric Chopin regarded its scale as the easiest of all to play on the piano, as its black notes fit the natural positions of the fingers well; as a consequence he often assigned it first to beginning piano students, leaving the scale of C major until last because he considered it the hardest of all scales to play completely evenly.
Few large-scale works in B major exist: these include Haydn's Symphony No. 46. The aria "La donna è mobile" from Verdi's opera Rigoletto is in the key, as is the "Flower Duet" from Lakmé. Schubert's Piano Sonata, D. 575 and Dvořák's Nocturne Op. 40 are in B major. Brahms's Piano Trio No. 1, Op. 8, is in B major, though the piece ends in B minor. Brahms also wrote the slow movement to his Second Symphony in B major, as well as the fourth and last piece of the Ballades, Op. 10. The second movement of Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 5 "Emperor" is in B major. The "Tuileries" movement from Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition is in the key. Tchaikovsky's Manfred Symphony in B minor ends in B major. The Finale from Igor Stravinsky's Firebird Suite is also in this key.
In tuning systems where the number of notes per octave is not a multiple of 12, notes such as and C are not enharmonically equivalent, nor are the corresponding key signatures. For example, the key of B major, with five sharps, is equivalent to C-flat major, with seven flats in 12-tone equal temperament, but in 19-tone equal temperament, it is equivalent to C-double-flat major instead, with 14 flats.

Scale degree chords

The scale degree chords of B major are: