C-flat Major

C-flat Major

C♭ major is a major scale based on C♭, consisting of the pitches C♭, D♭, E♭, F♭, G♭, A♭, and B♭. Its key signature has seven flats—the enharmonically equivalent key signature B major (five sharps) is usually used instead. (see below: Scales and keys).

C♭ major is the only major or minor key, other than theoretical keys, which has "flat" or "sharp" in its name, but whose tonic note is the enharmonic equivalent of a natural note (a white key on a keyboard instrument).

Its relative minor is A♭ minor, and its parallel minor is C♭ minor, usually replaced by B minor, since C♭ minor's three double-flats make it generally impractical to use.

C♭ major is the home key of the harp, with all its pedals in the top position, and it is considered the most resonant key for the instrument. Thus, in Richard Strauss's Ein Heldenleben, the first cue for the harps is written in C♭ major even though the rest of the orchestra, having previously played in E♭ major, retains a 3-flat key signature and is now playing in B major, marked with the necessary sharps as accidentals. This use of C♭ major in harp parts when the rest of the orchestra is playing in B major is not exceptional: it is standard practice in orchestral music written in B major for harp parts to be notated in C♭ major. In Arnold Bax's symphonic poem Tintagel, the key is B major and again the harp part is always notated in C♭ major; but in this case the harp's key signature contains only 6 flats, and the necessary F♭s are notated with accidentals.

Sometimes harp parts are also written in G♭ major when the rest of the orchestra is notated in F♯ major. This style of enharmonic notation for harp parts is somewhat less common when the principal key involved is a minor one.

The middle section of Frédéric Chopin's Contredanse in G♭ major is written in C♭ major, as are the middle (Trio) sections of two of Ernesto Nazareth's Brazilian tangos for piano, "Chave de Ouro" and "Labirinto" (both with a home key of G flat major), as well as the final half (last two themes) of William Bolcom's rag for piano, "Seabiscuits".

There is a brief passage in the first movement, "Evocación", of Iberia by Isaac Albéniz which suggests the key of C♭ minor by adding the necessary double-flats as accidentals. The surrounding passages are in C♭ major, with a 7-flat key signature. The movement is in Sonata form, in the key of A♭ minor, so this places the second theme in the orthodox relative major key (and in the also-orthodox tonic major key of A♭ major when it reappears near the end of the piece).

In some scores, the C♭ major key signature in the bass clef is written with the flat for the F on the second line from the top.