B major
Major key with five sharps; relative major of G-sharp minor, enharmonically equal to C-flat major.
What it means
B major is the major key with five sharps in its key signature: F-sharp, C-sharp, G-sharp, D-sharp, and A-sharp. Its tonic is B, and its relative minor is G-sharp minor. On the circle of fifths it lies five steps on the sharp side and is enharmonically equal to C-flat major with seven flats. In German the note B is called “H,” so the key is “H-Dur.”
Musical use
B major is regarded as a key of bright, festive, and often radiant sound. It is comfortable for the piano because the scale contains many black keys that lie well under the hand; Frédéric Chopin wrote several nocturnes in B major, for instance op. 9 no. 3 and op. 62 no. 1. On string and wind instruments B major is less common because few open strings sound along.
B major should be distinguished from B-flat major with two flats, which in German means a different note since the notes H and B differ, and from C-flat major, the enharmonically equal spelling with seven flats, which is hardly used in practice. It also differs from B minor, which has only two sharps.
Performance practice
Practise B major at the piano with the triads B–D-sharp–F-sharp, E–G-sharp–B, and F-sharp–A-sharp–C-sharp and pay attention to reading with five sharps. On string instruments check the intonation of the raised notes D-sharp and A-sharp especially carefully.