C major

American  

[see may-jer] / ˈsi ˈmeɪ dʒər /

noun

1. Music. the key that has C as the tonic or first note of its scale and is represented by a key signature having no sharps or flats.

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Example Sentences

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C major

Indeed, “11,000 Strings” begins with a C major chord; shortly thereafter, a harpist half-prepares to leap into Tchaikovsky’s “Waltz of the Flowers.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 6, 2025

To humans, consonant music generally sounds pleasant and smooth—think a C major chord—whereas dissonance tends to sound jarring and uncomfortable, such as the score from Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho.

From Science Magazine ● Mar. 22, 2022

This key is closely related to C major, so I understand how the Doodle may have misinterpreted it.

From Slate ● Mar. 22, 2019

A diagram purporting to show the “fivefold symmetry of the C major pentatonic scale” incorrectly implies that the interval between C and G is the same as that between E and C.

From New York Times ● May 3, 2016

Figure 1.25: The key of C major has no sharps or flats.

From "Understanding Basic Music Theory" by Catherine Schmidt-Jones and Russel Jones