A major - wikipedia A major A major Relative key F ♯ minor Parallel key A minor Dominant key E major Subdominant D major Component pitches A, B, C ♯, D, E, F ♯, G ♯ A major ( or the key of A ) is a major scale based on A, with the pitches A, B, C ♯, D, E, F ♯, and G ♯. Its key signature has three sharps. Its relative minor is F - sharp minor and its parallel minor is A minor. The key of A major is the only key where a Neapolitan sixth chord on 2 ^ ( displaystyle ( hat ( 2 ) ) ) requires both a flat and a natural accidental. In the treble, alto, and bass clefs, the G ♯ in the key signature is placed higher than C ♯. However, in the tenor clef, it would require a ledger line and so G ♯ is placed lower than C ♯. Although not as rare in the symphonic literature as sharper keys, examples of symphonies in A major are not as numerous as for D major or G major. Beethoven 's Symphony No. 7, Bruckner 's Symphony No. 6 and Mendelssohn 's Symphony No. 4 comprise a nearly complete list of symphonies in this key in the Romantic era. Mozart 's Clarinet Concerto and Clarinet Quintet are both in A major, and generally Mozart was more likely to use clarinets in A major than in any other key besides E-flat major. Moreover, the climax part of Tchaikovsky 's Violin Concerto ( Tchaikovsky ) is also A major. A major occurs frequently in chamber music. Franz Schubert 's Piano Quintet known as the Trout Quintet and Antonín Dvořák 's Piano Quintet No. 2 are both in A major. Johannes Brahms, César Franck, and Gabriel Fauré wrote violin sonatas in A major. In connection to Beethoven 's Kreutzer Sonata, Peter Cropper said that A major `` is the fullest sounding key for the violin. '' According to Christian Friedrich Daniel Schubart, A major is a key suitable for `` declarations of innocent love,... hope of seeing one 's beloved again when parting ; youthful cheerfulness and trust in God. '' For orchestral works in A major, the timpani are typically set to A and E a fifth apart, rather than a fourth apart as for most other keys. Hector Berlioz complained about the custom of his day in which timpani tuned to A and E a fifth apart were notated C and G a fourth apart, a custom which survived as late as the music of Franz Berwald. Contents 1 Notable compositions in A major 2 See also 3 References 4 Further reading 5 External links Notable compositions in A major Violin Concerto No. 5 in A major, K. 219 -- Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Symphony No. 29 in A Major, K. 201 -- Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Piano Sonata No. 11 in A Major, K. 331 - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart String Quartet No. 18 in A Major, K. 464 - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Piano Concerto No. 23 in A major, K. 488 -- Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Clarinet Concerto in A major, K. 622 -- Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Symphony No. 7 in A major, Op. 92 -- Ludwig van Beethoven Piano Sonata No. 2 Op. 2 / 2 -- Ludwig van Beethoven Piano Sonata No. 28 Op. 101 -- Ludwig van Beethoven Violin Sonata No. 6 Op. 30 / 1 -- Ludwig van Beethoven Violin Sonata No. 9, Op. 47 -- Ludwig van Beethoven String quartet No. 5, Op. 18 / 5 -- Ludwig van Beethoven Trout Quintet -- Franz Schubert Piano Sonata in A major, D 664 -- Franz Schubert Symphony No. 4 in A major, Op. 90 `` Italian '' -- Felix Mendelssohn Polonaise, Op. 40 / 1 `` Military '' -- Frédéric Chopin Prelude, Op. 28 / 7 `` Polish Dancer '' -- Frédéric Chopin Piano Concerto No. 2 in A major, S. 125 -- Franz Liszt Serenade No. 2 Op. 16 -- Johannes Brahms Violin Sonata No. 2 in A major `` Thun '', Op. 100 -- Johannes Brahms Piano Quartet No. 2, Op. 26 -- Johannes Brahms Violin Sonata -- César Franck Symphony No. 6 in A major -- Anton Bruckner Piano Sonata No. 6 in A major, Op. 82 -- Sergei Prokofiev String Quartet No. 2 in A major, Op. 68 -- Dmitri Shostakovich Symphony No. 15 in A major, Op. 141 -- Dmitri Shostakovich See also Key ( music ) Major and minor Chord ( music ) Chord names and symbols ( popular music ) References Jump up ^ Mark Anson - Cartwright ( 2000 ). `` Chromatic Features of E ♭ - Major Works of the Classical Period ''. Music Theory Spectrum. 22 ( 2 ) : 178. JSTOR 745959. Jump up ^ Peter Cropper, `` Beethoven 's Violin Sonata in A major, Op. 47 ' Kreutzer ' : First Movement '', The Strad, March 2009, p. 64 Jump up ^ Rita Steblin ( 1996 ) A History of Key Characteristics in the Eighteenth and Early Nineteenth Centuries, University of Rochester Press, p. 123, ISBN 0835714187. Jump up ^ N.D. Mar ( 1981 ). Anatomy of the Orchestra University of California Press, p. 349, ISBN 0520045009. Further reading Colin Lawson, Mozart : Clarinet Concerto, A Cambridge Music Handbook, Cambridge University Press, 1996. External links Media related to A major at Wikimedia Commons Diatonic scales and keys Flats Sharps Major minor Major minor 0 d B ♭ g E ♭ f ♯ A ♭ f c ♯ 5 D ♭ b ♭ g ♯ 6 G ♭ e ♭ F ♯ d ♯ 7 C ♭ a ♭ C ♯ a ♯ 8 F ♭ d ♭ G ♯ e ♯ The table indicates the number of sharps or flats in each scale. Minor scales are written in lower case. Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=A_major&oldid=821599812 '' Categories : Musical keys Major scales Compositions in A major Talk Contents About Wikipedia Català Čeština Deutsch Eesti Español Esperanto فارسی Français 한국어 Italiano Nederlands 日本 語 Polski Português Русский Simple English کوردی Српски / srpski Suomi Türkçe Українська Tiếng Việt 中文 Edit links This page was last edited on 21 January 2018, at 13 : 37. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution - ShareAlike License ; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia ® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization. About Wikipedia

Question: how many sharps in the key of a
Answer: three