A-flat
A-flat may refer to:
- A scale based on A-flat, such as A-flat major or A-flat minor
A♭ (musical note)
A♭ (A-flat; also called la bémol) is the ninth semitone of the solfège.
It lies a diatonic semitone above G and a chromatic semitone below A, thus being enharmonic to G♯, although in some musical tunings, A♭ will have a different sounding pitch than G♯.
When calculated in equal temperament with a reference of A above middle C as 440 Hz, the frequency of the A♭ above middle C (or A♭4) is approximately 415.305 Hz. See pitch (music) for a discussion of historical variations in frequency.
Designation by octave
Scales
Common scales beginning on A♭
Diatonic scales
C♭ D♭ E♭ F♭ G♭ A♭
C♭ D♭ E F♭ G♭ A♭
A-flat major
The A-flat major scale (A♭ major scale) consists of the pitches A♭, B♭, C, D♭, E♭, F, and G. Its key signature has four flats.
Its relative minor is F minor, and its parallel minor is A-flat minor, usually replaced by G-sharp minor, since A-flat minor features 7 flats in its key signature & G-sharp minor only has 5 sharps, making it rare for A-flat minor to be used, with a similar problem to that of G-sharp major.
It was used quite often by Franz Schubert; twenty-four of Frédéric Chopin's piano pieces are in A-flat major, more than any other key.
Compositions in A-flat major
Beethoven chose A-flat major as the key of the slow movement for most of his C minor works, a practice which Anton Bruckner imitated in his first two C minor symphonies and also Antonín Dvořák in his only C minor symphony.
Since A-flat major was not often chosen as the main key for orchestral works of the 18th century, passages or movements in the key often retained the timpani settings of the preceding movement. For example, Beethoven's Symphony No. 5 in C minor has the timpani set to C and G for the first movement. With hand tuned timpani, there is no time to retune the timpani to A-flat and E-flat for the slow second movement in A-flat; accordingly, the timpani in this movement are reserved for the passages in C major. In Bruckner's Symphony No. 1 in C minor, however, the timpani are retuned between the first movement in C minor and the following in A-flat major.
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