{{Short description|Major key signature}} {{Infobox musical scale | name = G-sharp major<br><score>{ \magnifyStaff #3/2 \omit Score.TimeSignature \key gis \major s16 \clef F \key gis \major s^"" }</score><br>{{nobold|Alternative notations}} <score>{ \magnifyStaff #3/2 \omit Score.TimeSignature \set Staff.keyAlterations = #`((3 . ,DOUBLE-SHARP)(0 . ,SHARP)(4 . ,SHARP)(1 . ,SHARP)(-2 . ,SHARP)(2 . ,SHARP)(-1 . ,SHARP)) s^"" }</score>
<score>{ \magnifyStaff #3/2 \omit Score.TimeSignature \set Staff.keyAlterations = #`((3 . ,SHARP)(0 . ,SHARP)(4 . ,SHARP)(1 . ,SHARP)(-2 . ,SHARP)(2 . ,SHARP)(-1 . ,SHARP)(3 . ,DOUBLE-SHARP)) s^"" }</score>
| relative = E-sharp minor<br>→enharmonic: F minor | parallel = G-sharp minor | enharmonic = A-flat major | dominant = D-sharp major<br>→enharmonic: E-flat major | subdominant = C-sharp major | first_pitch = G{{music|sharp}} | second_pitch = A{{music|sharp}} | third_pitch = B{{music|sharp}} | fourth_pitch = C{{music|sharp}} | fifth_pitch = D{{music|sharp}} | sixth_pitch = E{{music|sharp}} | seventh_pitch = F{{music|doublesharp}} }} '''G-sharp major''' is a musical key based on G{{music|sharp}}, consisting of the pitches G{{music|sharp}}, A{{music|sharp}}, B{{music|sharp}}, C{{music|sharp}}, D{{music|sharp}}, E{{music|sharp}}, and F{{music|double sharp}}. Its key signature has eight sharps, requiring one double sharp and six single sharps.<ref>{{cite book|chapter=G-sharp major|title=A Dictionary of Three Thousand Musical Terms|others=revised by J. A. Hamilton|author=Thomas Busby|date=1840|location=London|publisher=D'Almaine|page=55}}</ref> Because the same pitches can be indicated by the enharmonically equivalent key of A-flat major (with four flats), a G-sharp major key signature is extremely rare.
Its relative minor is E-sharp minor, which would be replaced by F minor. Its parallel minor is G-sharp minor.
The G-sharp major scale is: {{block indent|<score sound raw> \header { tagline = ##f } scale = \relative a { \key gis \major \omit Score.TimeSignature gis'^"G♯ natural major scale" ais bis cis dis eis fisis gis fisis eis dis cis bis ais gis2 \clef F \key gis \major } \score { { << \cadenzaOn \scale \context NoteNames \scale >> } \layout { } \midi { } } </score>}}
Changes needed for the melodic and harmonic versions of the scale are written in with accidentals as necessary. The G-sharp harmonic major and melodic major scales are:
{{block indent|<score sound raw> \header { tagline = ##f } scale = \relative a { \key gis \major \omit Score.TimeSignature gis'^"G♯ harmonic major scale" ais bis cis dis e fisis gis fisis e! dis cis bis ais gis2 } \score { { << \cadenzaOn \scale \context NoteNames \scale >> } \layout { } \midi { } } </score>}} {{block indent|<score sound raw> \header { tagline = ##f } scale = \relative a { \accidentalStyle modern \key gis \major \omit Score.TimeSignature gis'^"G♯ melodic major scale" ais bis cis dis eis fisis gis fis e dis cis bis ais gis2 } \score { { << \cadenzaOn \scale \context NoteNames \scale >> } \layout { } \midi { } } </score>}}
Although the enharmonic key of A-flat major is preferred because it has only four flats, compared with G-sharp major's eight sharps (including the F{{music|double sharp}}), G-sharp major appears as a secondary key area in several works in sharp keys, most notably in the Prelude and Fugue in C-sharp major from Johann Sebastian Bach's ''The Well-Tempered Clavier'', Book 1. The G-sharp minor prelude (and the fugue) from the same set ends with a Picardy third, on a G-sharp major chord. G-sharp major is tonicised briefly in several of Frédéric Chopin's nocturnes in C-sharp minor. A section in the second movement of Chopin's Piano Concerto No. 1 is in G-sharp major, although the key signature has four sharps. The end of the exposition of the second movement Charles-Valentin Alkan's ''Grande sonate 'Les quatre âges''', subtitled ''Quasi-Faust'', is in G-sharp major, albeit written with a six-sharp key signature (the movement opens in D-sharp minor and ends in F-sharp major).
The final pages of ''A World Requiem'' by John Foulds are written in G-sharp major. The key signature is shown as in the example with the scale above, starting with the C{{music|#}} and ending at the F{{music|double sharp}} (C{{music|#}}, G{{music|#}}, D{{music|#}}, A{{music|#}}, E{{music|#}}, B{{music|#}}, F{{music|x}}).<ref>[http://www.musicsalesclassical.com/composer/work/14652 "John Foulds: ''A World Requiem'' (1921)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180727085309/http://www.musicsalesclassical.com/composer/work/14652 |date=2018-07-27 }}, Wise Music Classical</ref>
In tuning systems where the number of notes per octave is not a multiple of 12, notes such as G{{music|#}} and A{{music|b}} are not enharmonically equivalent, nor are the corresponding key signatures. These tunings can produce keys with no analogue in 12-tone equal temperament, which can require double sharps, double flats, or microtonal alterations in key signatures. For example, the key of G-sharp major, with eight sharps, is equivalent to A-flat major in 12-tone equal temperament, but in 19-tone equal temperament, it is equivalent to A-double-flat major instead, with 11 flats.
==Scale degree chords== * Tonic – G-sharp major * Supertonic – A-sharp minor * Mediant – B-sharp minor * Subdominant – C-sharp major * Dominant – D-sharp major * Submediant – E-sharp minor * Leading-tone – F-double-sharp diminished
== See also ==
* Key (music) * Major and minor * Chord (music) * Chord notation * {{Section link|Key signature#Double flats and sharps}}
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== * {{Commons category-inline}}
{{Circle of fifths}}
Category:Musical keys Category:Major scales