By the numbers
Most common keys in music
Short answer
There is no single most common key: it depends on what is counted. The leading key is C major in three of the six (Mutopia 18.6%, Open Opus titles 11.6%, AcousticBrainz 8.2%); D major in two of the six (MusicBrainz (key field) 11.4%, MusicBrainz (key in title) 11.0%); F major in one of the six (OpenScore Lieder 8.9%). C major, F major and G major are in the top five of every dataset, and minor keys make up 25.6% to 42.9% of the keyed items (major is always the majority).
- 6datasets compared, from 1,462 art songs to 63,124 analysed recordings
- C, F and Gare in the top five of all six
- 26%–43%of keyed items are minor, depending on the dataset
Datasets: 1,462 OpenScore Lieder art songs, 1,974 Mutopia scores with a key, 13,669 MusicBrainz works with an editor-entered key and 5,340 with a key in the title, 3,587 Open Opus titles with a key, and 63,124 recordings with a machine-estimated key. This says which keys are common in these collections, mostly Western classical and art music, not in all music.
Six datasets, six answers
The same question gets different answers because the datasets count different things: songs, scores, catalogue entries, titles, or recordings. Read across a row to see how one key fares everywhere; read down a column for one dataset's ranking.
Each column adds up to 100%. Darker cells are bigger shares; one colour scale for the whole table, so cells can be compared across columns. Enharmonic spellings are merged (D♭ major includes C♯ major, G♯ minor includes A♭ minor).
| Key | OpenScore Liedern = 1,462 | Mutopian = 1,974 | MusicBrainz (key field)n = 13,669 | MusicBrainz (key in title)n = 5,340 | Open Opus titlesn = 3,587 | AcousticBrainzn = 63,124 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C major | 6.5% | 18.6% | 10.6% | 8.7% | 11.6% | 8.2% |
| D♭ major | 3.4% | 0.8% | 1.1% | 0.7% | 0.3% | 2.7% |
| D major | 6.8% | 9.9% | 11.4% | 11.0% | 11.0% | 6.0% |
| E♭ major | 8.7% | 4.0% | 5.8% | 5.6% | 7.4% | 3.7% |
| E major | 6.2% | 3.2% | 3.2% | 2.8% | 2.7% | 4.1% |
| F major | 8.9% | 9.5% | 7.9% | 7.4% | 8.4% | 7.8% |
| F♯ major | 1.9% | 0.7% | 0.7% | 0.6% | 0.5% | 1.9% |
| G major | 8.1% | 14.5% | 9.8% | 8.9% | 8.7% | 6.7% |
| A♭ major | 5.9% | 1.9% | 1.4% | 1.2% | 1.3% | 2.6% |
| A major | 5.1% | 6.1% | 6.0% | 6.9% | 5.8% | 5.2% |
| B♭ major | 4.8% | 4.8% | 6.1% | 5.2% | 8.3% | 6.4% |
| B major | 2.7% | 0.4% | 0.7% | 0.5% | 0.4% | 1.7% |
| C minor | 3.0% | 3.1% | 4.5% | 5.7% | 5.3% | 3.8% |
| C♯ minor | 1.0% | 0.3% | 0.9% | 0.7% | 0.7% | 1.8% |
| D minor | 3.6% | 5.7% | 6.3% | 8.2% | 6.5% | 6.4% |
| E♭ minor | 1.0% | 0.3% | 0.5% | 0.4% | 0.3% | 1.7% |
| E minor | 4.0% | 2.7% | 4.2% | 4.8% | 3.3% | 3.9% |
| F minor | 2.9% | 1.7% | 2.4% | 2.5% | 2.5% | 5.7% |
| F♯ minor | 1.8% | 0.5% | 1.1% | 1.4% | 0.8% | 1.9% |
| G minor | 4.3% | 3.3% | 5.5% | 7.1% | 6.6% | 2.9% |
| G♯ minor | 0.4% | 0.2% | 0.4% | 0.3% | 0.0% | 1.6% |
| A minor | 6.1% | 6.1% | 5.7% | 6.3% | 4.6% | 8.0% |
| B♭ minor | 0.7% | 0.1% | 0.9% | 0.7% | 0.3% | 3.2% |
| B minor | 2.5% | 1.5% | 3.1% | 2.4% | 2.6% | 2.2% |
The leading keys in each dataset
C major, F major and G major are in the top five of every dataset; which key is first changes from dataset to dataset. The recordings behave differently from the written music: A minor and B♭ major rank higher there.
| Dataset | n | What is counted | Top five keys (share) | Minor |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| OpenScore Lieder | 1,462 | songs | F major 8.9%, E♭ major 8.7%, G major 8.1%, D major 6.8%, C major 6.5% | 31.2% |
| Mutopia | 1,974 | scores | C major 18.6%, G major 14.5%, D major 9.9%, F major 9.5%, A major 6.1% | 25.6% |
| MusicBrainz (key field) | 13,669 | catalogued works with an editor-entered key | D major 11.4%, C major 10.6%, G major 9.8%, F major 7.9%, D minor 6.3% | 35.4% |
| MusicBrainz (key in title) | 5,340 | catalogued works with a key in the title | D major 11.0%, G major 8.9%, C major 8.7%, D minor 8.2%, F major 7.4% | 40.5% |
| Open Opus titles | 3,587 | work titles that name a key | C major 11.6%, D major 11.0%, G major 8.7%, F major 8.4%, B♭ major 8.3% | 33.5% |
| AcousticBrainz | 63,124 | recordings with a machine-estimated key | C major 8.2%, A minor 8.0%, F major 7.8%, G major 6.7%, B♭ major 6.4% | 42.9% |
Major or minor?
In every dataset major keys are the majority, but the minor share ranges from 25.6% (Mutopia) to 42.9% (recordings). Inside the art-song corpus the share of minor songs runs from 15.6% (composers born before 1770) to 48.4% (born 1870 or later).
Sharps or flats?
The key signature can be read directly, with no estimate involved. The two collections that carry one disagree on which side wins: the art songs favour flats, the Mutopia scores favour sharps. The guitar-versus-piano page breaks Mutopia down by instrument.
By kind of work, composer and style
The overall ranking hides large differences between repertoires. Symphonies and concertos lean to D major in the MusicBrainz catalogue, sonatas to C major; Bach's keyed works put G major first, Vivaldi and Mozart put C major first.
Only works whose editors entered a key are counted; parts, movements, arrangements and revisions are left out. This favours classical and Baroque instrumental music.
| Kind of work | Works with a key | Minor | Top three keys (works) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Symphony | 1,098 | 29.8% | D major 172, C major 144, E♭ major 105 |
| Concerto | 2,051 | 31.4% | D major 278, C major 247, G major 190 |
| Sonata | 1,693 | 38.2% | C major 179, D major 166, G major 154 |
| Quartet | 578 | 42.4% | D minor 58, E♭ major 55, B♭ major 45 |
| Suite | 373 | 47.7% | D minor 45, G minor 39, D major 39 |
| Cantata | 345 | 43.8% | D major 50, G minor 38, G major 34 |
| Mass | 102 | 33.3% | C major 23, D major 14, C minor 12 |
| Song (catalogued as a work) | 2,241 | 39.4% | C major 230, G major 181, D major 150 |
Composers with the most keyed works in MusicBrainz; the counts are catalogue entries, not performances. A composer's minor share can be very different from the dataset's average.
| Composer | Works with a key | Minor | Top three keys (works) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Johann Sebastian Bach | 683 | 45.2% | G major 91, D major 80, G minor 71 |
| Antonio Vivaldi | 548 | 30.5% | C major 96, D major 68, F major 62 |
| Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart | 536 | 10.8% | C major 95, F major 81, D major 78 |
| George Frideric Handel | 347 | 41.2% | F major 52, G minor 51, B♭ major 39 |
| Joseph Haydn | 336 | 9.2% | D major 68, C major 59, G major 52 |
| Georg Philipp Telemann | 212 | 39.2% | D major 36, G major 31, F major 19 |
| Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach | 202 | 27.7% | D major 32, B♭ major 24, G major 23 |
| Jean Sibelius | 171 | 45.6% | D minor 19, A minor 18, A major 16 |
| Giuseppe Tartini | 156 | 17.3% | D major 35, A major 26, G major 19 |
| Ludwig van Beethoven | 147 | 15.6% | C major 25, E♭ major 22, F major 20 |
The style label comes from the score's header. Baroque scores put G major ahead of C major; hymns lead with D major.
| Style (Mutopia header) | Scores with a key | Top three keys (scores) |
|---|---|---|
| Baroque | 602 | G major 111, C major 84, D minor 59 |
| Classical | 556 | C major 112, G major 80, D major 65 |
| Romantic | 421 | C major 60, G major 43, D major 38 |
| Folk | 110 | C major 40, A minor 18, G major 12 |
| Hymn | 107 | D major 27, G major 22, F major 18 |
| Renaissance | 52 | C major 25, F major 14, G minor 4 |
Songs in the commonest and rarest keys
F major (130 songs) and E♭ major (127) lead the art-song corpus. At the other end, only 3 songs have a signature with seven sharps or flats.
Songs in the most and least common keys of the Lieder corpus
Keys here are read from the key signature, with major or minor estimated from the notes (as everywhere on this page).
F major — 130 songs
The most common key in this corpus.
- Bitteres zu sagen denkst du Johannes Brahms (1833–1897)from 9 Lieder und Gesänge, Op.32
- Das Wirtshaus Franz Schubert (1797–1828)from Winterreise, D.911
- En chemin Augusta Mary Anne Holmès (1847–1903)from 20 Mélodies
E♭ major — 127 songs
The second most common.
- Dein blaues Auge Johannes Brahms (1833–1897)from 8 Lieder und Gesänge, Op.59
- Abschied Franz Schubert (1797–1828)from Schwanengesang.D.957
- Hymne au soleil Augusta Mary Anne Holmès (1847–1903)from 20 Melodies
C♯ major — 3 songs
One of the rarest keys.
- Dein ist mein Herz Fanny Hensel (Mendelssohn) (1805–1847)from 6 Lieder, Op.7
- L'Ombre des Arbres Claude Debussy (1862–1918)from Ariettes Oubliées
- Attente Lili Boulanger (1893–1918)
What “key” means
A short excerpt from Wikipedia for readers who want the definition before the statistics.
From Wikipedia
Key (music)
Overview
In Western tonal music, a key represents the most common pitches and the center of tonal stability in a song or other composition.
Definition
A key is a way to classify a piece of music as being oriented around a Major or Minor scale. The name of a key, such as A Major, contains both a Tonic pitch and a Mode (either Major or Minor). Since there are 12 pitches which may be used as a tonic, there are 24 distinct keys. If the mode is not specified, a generic term like "the key of C" generally implies a major key.
If a piece of music is in a key, it will mostly use pitches from the corresponding scale. The seven pitches that belong to the scale are called diatonic pitches, while the remaining five that do not are called chromatic pitches. A key does not prohibit the use of chromatic pitches, but it does imply they will be rarer than diatonic pitches. The key's tonic represents a pitch of "stability" for the music to orient around. In particular, a composition almost always ends on the tonic.
Not all music has a well defined key. Some classical compositions, such as Chopin's Prelude op. 28 no. 2 and Wagner's Tristan und Isolde, do not clearly follow these patterns. Modern atonal compositions, such as the works of Arnold Schoenberg, have no tonal center of stability and freely interweave all twelve pitches.
Relationships between keys
The relationships between different keys can be summarized with a diagram called the Circle of Fifths. Keys which are immediately adjacent to each other on this circle share six of their seven diatonic pitches in common. The farther apart two keys are on the circle, the fewer pitches they share. Moving clockwise around the circle, each key sharpens one pitch from the previous key (that is, one pitch is raised by one semitone). Moving counterclockwise, each key flattens one pitch from the previous key. Keys which require many accidentals are named and written in two distinct forms, one using sharps and another using flats.
Major keys are placed on the outside of the circle, while minor keys are placed on the inside. A minor key in the same position as major key is said to be that key's relative minor. For example, A Minor is the relative minor of C Major. A relative minor will use the same pitches and the same key signature as its corresponding major key, but its tonic will be the sixth pitch from the ascending major scale, not the first. Keys with the same tonic but different modes (e.g. D Major and D Minor) are called parallel keys. These keys differ by three pitches, and so are offset by three positions on the Circle of Fifths.
A piece of music which is primarily written in one key may transition, or modulate, to another. The distances on the Circle of Fifths reveal the simplest modulations: transitioning between a major key and its relative minor, or moving to an adjacent key with only one differing pitch.
Source: Wikipedia, “Key (music)” — CC BY-SA 4.0 — text excerpted; see the article for the full text and authors. Revision of 2026-04-08.
How this was counted
- Shares. Each key's share is its count divided by the number of keyed items in that dataset. The 24 shares of a dataset add up to 100%; enharmonic spellings are merged to one label.
- Lieder. The key signature is read from the first key of the melody part. The corpus does not record major or minor, so the mode is estimated with the Krumhansl–Schmuckler key-finding method on the notes under the opening signature; where an automatic harmonic analysis exists, the two agree on 977 of 1,023 songs (95.5%).
- Mutopia. The key is the first key-signature event in the MIDI file made from the LilyPond source, or the first
\keyin the source when there is no MIDI; where both exist they agree on 95.9% of pieces. - MusicBrainz. Two separate readings, never mixed: the Key attribute that editors entered on a work, and a key parsed from the English title (“… in C minor”). Movements, parts, arrangements, orchestrations and revisions are excluded.
- Open Opus. The key comes from the work title when it names one (3,587 of 13,014 works).
- AcousticBrainz. Keys are machine estimates made by Essentia on commercial recordings; only the 63,124 estimates with a key strength of 0.6 or more are used, and nothing but totals is published (no titles or artists).
Data used
- OpenScore Lieder Corpus — 1,462 art songs (mostly 19th-century European) transcribed to MusicXML by volunteers; key signatures, time signatures, tempo words, metronome marks, vocal lines and melodies are read directly from the files. CC0 1.0
- The Mutopia Project — 2,129 free-to-use scores (LilyPond sources and the MIDI files made from them) for piano, guitar, voice, organ, violin and more; keys, time signatures and tempo marks are read from the MIDI or the source header. per piece: public domain, CC BY or CC BY-SA (only counts are shown here)
- MusicBrainz (core data) — The open music database: 2,788,859 works, of which 13,669 carry an editor-entered key (parts and arrangements excluded) and 5,340 have a key in the English title. CC0 1.0
- Open Opus — A catalogue of 13,014 works by 77 composers; the key is read from the English work title where it has one (3,587 works). public domain (project README)
- AcousticBrainz — 88,816 recordings analysed by software (Essentia); only the 63,124 keys it was confident about (key strength 0.6 or more) are used, and only as totals. CC0 1.0
What these numbers cannot tell you
- These are collections of mostly Western classical and art music. Nothing here measures pop, rock, jazz, folk or music from other traditions, and the recordings are a sample of commercial releases that was not chosen by popularity.
- A count of keys in scores, catalogues or recordings is not a count of listening: it says nothing about how often people hear each key.
- The MusicBrainz key field is filled in by volunteers for the works they care about; it leans to Baroque, Classical and Romantic instrumental music, so it is not a random sample of all catalogued works.
- Minor or major in the Lieder is an estimate, and AcousticBrainz keys are machine estimates; the key signatures (flats and sharps) are exact readings.
- Titles that spell the key in another language (for example “C-Dur”) are not read by the title parsers.
Checks run each time this page is rebuilt (81)
- dataset 1 in keys-across-corpora is OpenScore Lieder
- OpenScore Lieder: the 24 key shares add up to 100% (100.01000000000002 vs 100.0)
- OpenScore Lieder: the largest share is the key the file ranks first (F major)
- OpenScore Lieder: minor keys add up to the stated minor share (0.312 vs 0.3119)
- dataset 2 in keys-across-corpora is Mutopia
- Mutopia: the 24 key shares add up to 100% (99.99 vs 100.0)
- Mutopia: the largest share is the key the file ranks first (C major)
- Mutopia: minor keys add up to the stated minor share (0.2562 vs 0.2563)
- dataset 3 in keys-across-corpora is MusicBrainz works (Key attribute)
- MusicBrainz (key field): the 24 key shares add up to 100% (100.00000000000001 vs 100.0)
- MusicBrainz (key field): the largest share is the key the file ranks first (D major)
- MusicBrainz (key field): minor keys add up to the stated minor share (0.35350000000000004 vs 0.3535)
- dataset 4 in keys-across-corpora is MusicBrainz works (key parsed
- MusicBrainz (key in title): the 24 key shares add up to 100% (99.99 vs 100.0)
- MusicBrainz (key in title): the largest share is the key the file ranks first (D major)
- MusicBrainz (key in title): minor keys add up to the stated minor share (0.40519999999999995 vs 0.4052)
- dataset 5 in keys-across-corpora is Open Opus
- Open Opus titles: the 24 key shares add up to 100% (100.01 vs 100.0)
- Open Opus titles: the largest share is the key the file ranks first (C major)
- Open Opus titles: minor keys add up to the stated minor share (0.3349999999999999 vs 0.3351)
- dataset 6 in keys-across-corpora is AcousticBrainz
- AcousticBrainz: the 24 key shares add up to 100% (99.99000000000001 vs 100.0)
- AcousticBrainz: the largest share is the key the file ranks first (C major)
- AcousticBrainz: minor keys add up to the stated minor share (0.42940000000000006 vs 0.4294)
- Lieder key counts add up to 1,462 songs
- major keys are the majority in every dataset
- A minor and B♭ major rank higher in the recordings than in the average of the five written-music datasets
- A minor is first or second among the recordings; B♭ major is in their top seven
- birth-year groups cover 1,455 of the 1,462 songs (the rest have no composer birth year)
- Mutopia has the lowest and AcousticBrainz the highest minor share
- Lieder: flat + sharp + none signatures add up to 1,462
- Mutopia: flat + sharp + none signatures add up to 1,974
- Lieder lean to flats and Mutopia to sharps, as the caption says
- Symphony: major + minor add up to 1,098
- Concerto: major + minor add up to 2,051
- Sonata: major + minor add up to 1,693
- Quartet: major + minor add up to 578
- Suite: major + minor add up to 373
- Cantata: major + minor add up to 345
- Mass: major + minor add up to 102
- Song: major + minor add up to 2,241
- Johann Sebastian Bach: major + minor add up to 683
- Antonio Vivaldi: major + minor add up to 548
- Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: major + minor add up to 536
- George Frideric Handel: major + minor add up to 347
- Joseph Haydn: major + minor add up to 336
- Georg Philipp Telemann: major + minor add up to 212
- Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach: major + minor add up to 202
- Jean Sibelius: major + minor add up to 171
- Giuseppe Tartini: major + minor add up to 156
- Ludwig van Beethoven: major + minor add up to 147
- symphonies and concertos lead with D major, sonatas with C major
- Bach G major first; Vivaldi and Mozart C major first
- Mutopia Baroque leads with G major, hymns with D major
- song list for F major has the 130 songs the key table counts
- song list for E♭ major has the 127 songs the key table counts
- song list for G major has the 118 songs the key table counts
- song list for D major has the 99 songs the key table counts
- song list for C major has the 95 songs the key table counts
- song list for E major has the 91 songs the key table counts
- song list for A minor has the 89 songs the key table counts
- song list for A♭ major has the 86 songs the key table counts
- song list for A major has the 74 songs the key table counts
- song list for B♭ major has the 70 songs the key table counts
- song list for G minor has the 63 songs the key table counts
- song list for E minor has the 58 songs the key table counts
- song list for D minor has the 52 songs the key table counts
- song list for D♭ major has the 46 songs the key table counts
- song list for C minor has the 44 songs the key table counts
- song list for F minor has the 42 songs the key table counts
- song list for B major has the 40 songs the key table counts
- song list for B minor has the 37 songs the key table counts
- song list for F♯ minor has the 26 songs the key table counts
- song list for C♯ minor has the 15 songs the key table counts
- song list for G♭ major has the 14 songs the key table counts
- song list for F♯ major has the 13 songs the key table counts
- song list for E♭ minor has the 13 songs the key table counts
- song list for B♭ minor has the 10 songs the key table counts
- song list for G♯ minor has the 6 songs the key table counts
- song list for C♯ major has the 3 songs the key table counts
- song list for D♯ minor has the 1 songs the key table counts
Data: OpenScore Lieder Corpus (CC0 1.0); The Mutopia Project (per piece: public domain, CC BY or CC BY-SA (only counts are shown here)); MusicBrainz (core data) (CC0 1.0); Open Opus (public domain (project README)); AcousticBrainz (CC0 1.0); Wikipedia (excerpts) (CC BY-SA 4.0). Computed for this site on 2026-10-03; the numbers are counts or shares from the datasets named above, not estimates for music in general. Licences and credits for everything used on this site are on the credits page.