C-flat major

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**C♭ major**
Relative key	A♭ minor

Parallel key	C♭ minor
Enharmonic	B major
Component pitches
C♭, D♭, E♭, F♭, G♭, A♭, B♭, C♭

C♭ major is a major scale based on C♭, consisting of the pitches C♭, D♭, E♭, F♭, G♭, A♭, and B♭. Its key signature has seven flats — the enharmonically equivalent key signature B major (five sharps) is usually used instead. (see below: Scales and keys).

C♭ major is the only major or minor key, other than theoretical keys, which has "flat" or "sharp" in its name, but whose tonic note is the enharmonic equivalent of a natural note (a white key on a keyboard instrument).

Its relative minor is A-flat minor, and its parallel minor is C♭ minor, usually replaced by B minor, since C♭ minor's three double-flats make it impractical to use. There is a brief passage in the first movement, "Evocación", of Iberia by Isaac Albéniz which suggests the key of C♭ minor by adding the necessary double-flats as accidentals.

Ascending and descending C♭ scale.

C♭ major is the home key of the harp, with all its pedals in the top position, and it is considered the most resonant key for the instrument. Thus, in Richard Strauss's Ein Heldenleben, the first cue for the harps is written in C♭ major even though the rest of the orchestra is playing in E-flat major.

The middle section of Chopin's Contredanse in G-flat major is written in C♭ major. So also is the second theme of "Evocación", the first movement of Isaac Albéniz's 12-movement suite Iberia. The movement is in Sonata form, in the key of A-flat minor, so this places the second theme in the orthodox relative major key (and in the also-orthodox tonic major key of A-flat major when it reappears near the end of the piece).

In some manuscripts, the C♭ major key signature in the bass clef is written with the flat for the F on the second line from the top.