B^b minor

Relative key	Db major
Parallel key	Bb major
Component pitches
Bb, C, Db, Eb, F, Gb, Ab, Bb

Also see: B-flat major, or B minor.

B-flat minor is a minor scale based on B-flat, consisting of the pitches B-flat, C, D-flat, E-flat, F, G-flat, A-flat and B-flat (natural minor scale). Its key signature has five flats (see below: Scales and keys). The Harmonic Minor scale has a leading-tone; in this case, the A would be natural.

Its relative key is D flat major, and its parallel major is B flat major. Its enharmonic equivalent is A sharp minor.

A short and easy way to remember this key signature is with the mnemonic "BEAD = bead add a G BEADG".

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

In the German language, the pitch B flat is called B, so B flat minor is called B-moll.

B flat minor is usually associated with sadness and loneliness. Some important oboe solos in this key in the orchestral literature include the second movement of Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 4, which depicts "the feeling that you get when you are all alone", in Tchaikovsky's words, and the slow movement of Cesar Franck's Symphony in D minor. Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1 is written in this key, but the famous opening theme is in the relative major, D flat major.

One of the few symphonies written in this key is Shostakovich's Symphony No. 13, "Babi Yar". Another example is Sir William Walton's Symphony No. 1. Richard Strauss's Eine Alpensinfonie is a rather more ambiguous example: whilst its introduction begins in this key and its coda ends in the same key, the principal portion of the work, far longer than the introduction and coda put together, is actually centred around E-flat major, although it does modulate to many distant keys along the way.

Samuel Barber's Adagio for Strings is in this key.

Domenico Scarlatti wrote just two keyboard sonatas in B flat minor, K. 128 and K. 131. B flat minor is the flattest key he ever used for a sonata. Other well-known pieces in this key are Frédéric Chopin's Piano Sonata No. 2 (Funeral March).

Well-known music in this key

• Amusement Park - 50 Cent
• Bullet with Butterfly Wings - The Smashing Pumpkins
• Fergalicious - Fergie
• Gethsemane (I Only Want To Say) - Andrew Lloyd Webber from Jesus Christ Superstar
• Girl You Know It's True - Milli Vanilli
• Gold - Spandau Ballet
• Headhunter - Front 242
• Hips Don't Lie - Shakira featuring Wyclef Jean
• Let's Dance - David Bowie
• One Thing Leads to Another - The Fixx
• Papa Was a Rollin' Stone - The Temptations
• Part-Time Lover - Stevie Wonder
• Promiscuous - Nelly Furtado
• Somebody Told Me - The Killers
• Sunglasses at Night - Corey Hart
• Superman's Dead - Our Lady Peace
• Umbrella - Rihanna
• Waiting for a Girl Like You - Foreigner

Scales and keys

Diatonic Scales and Keys
	Flats Sharps Major minor Major minor 0 C (Major), a (minor) 1 F d G e 2 B♭ g D b 3 E♭ c A f♯ 4 A♭ f E c♯ 5 D♭ b♭ B g♯ 6 G♭ e♭ F♯ d♯ 7 C♭ a♭ C♯ a♯
lower case letters are minor                         the table indicates the number of sharps or flats in each scale

Notes

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

B flat minor