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

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

The relentless C major hammering of its finale evoked not triumph or freedom, Gielen wrote, but “affirmation without contradiction, and with it the trampling of any opposition, imperial terror.”

From New York Times • Feb. 17, 2022

In my pain, I calibrated my energy so that I would survive the end: 23 C major chords that, in a taxing display of youthful vigor, we had decided to play almost all up-bow.

From Washington Post • Aug. 7, 2020

These chords are also available in the key of C major, of course, but they typically are not given such a prominent place.

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