A-sharp minor

See also: B-flat minor

A-sharp minor is a minor musical scale based on A♯, consisting of the pitches A♯, B♯, C♯, D♯, E♯, F♯, and G♯. Its key signature has seven sharps.^[1]

A-sharp minor

Relative key	C-sharp major
Parallel key	A-sharp major (theoretical) →enharmonic: B-flat major
Dominant key	E-sharp minor (theoretical) →enharmonic: F minor
Subdominant key	D-sharp minor
Enharmonic key	B-flat minor
Component pitches
A♯, B♯, C♯, D♯, E♯, F♯, G♯

Its relative major is C-sharp major (or enharmonically D-flat major). Its parallel major, A-sharp major, is usually replaced by B-flat major, since A-sharp major's three double-sharps make it impractical to use. The enharmonic equivalent of A-sharp minor is B-flat minor,^[1] which only contains five flats and is often preferable to use.

The A-sharp natural minor scale is:

Changes needed for the melodic and harmonic versions of the scale are written in with accidentals as necessary. The A-sharp harmonic minor and melodic minor scales are:

In Christian Heinrich Rinck's 30 Preludes and Exercises in all major and minor keys, Op. 67, the 16th Prelude and Exercise and Max Reger's On the Theory of Modulation on pp. 46~50 are in A-sharp minor.^[2] In Bach's Prelude and Fugue in C-sharp major, BWV 848, a brief section near the beginning of the piece modulates to A-sharp minor.

In tuning systems where the number of notes per octave is not a multiple of 12, notes such as A♯ and B♭ are not enharmonically equivalent, nor are the corresponding key signatures. For example, the key of A-sharp minor, with seven sharps, is equivalent to B-flat minor in 12-tone equal temperament, but in 19-tone equal temperament, it is equivalent to B-double flat minor instead, with 12 flats. Therefore, A-sharp minor with 7 sharps, which has been rarely used in the existing 12-tone temperament, may be absolutely necessary.

Scale degree chords

The scale degree chords of A-sharp minor are:

• Tonic – A-sharp minor
• Supertonic – B-sharp diminished
• Mediant – C-sharp major
• Subdominant – D-sharp minor
• Dominant – E-sharp minor
• Submediant – F-sharp major
• Subtonic – G-sharp major