What Are Key Signatures In Sheet Music

A key signature will appear at the beginning of a piecesharp and E sharp and the key is F sharp major
of sheet music. This will tell you if sharps and flats willSeven sharps = F sharp, C sharp, G sharp, D sharp, A
be played in the piece or if no sharps and flats will besharp, E sharp and B sharp and the key is C sharp
played. If you don't see any sharps or flats at themajor
beginning of the piece then this is normally referred toOne flat means all occurrences of B are flat and the
as open key or C major. Sharps and flats can bekey is F major
written in various bars throughout the piece and theseTwo flats = B flat and E flat and the key is B flat
are known as accidentals and will last for the barsmajor
duration only.Three flats = B flat, E flat and A flat and the key is E
Sharps and flats at the beginning of a piece can alsoflat major
indicate which key the piece is written in although thereFour flats = B flat, E flat, A flat and D flat and the key
are other elements of the piece that also determineis A flat major
this because major and minor keys can share theFive flats = B flat, E flat, A flat, D flat and G flat and
same key signature, for example C major and A minorthe key is D flat major
share the same key signature, that is, no sharps orSix flats = B flat, E flat, A flat, D flat, G flat and C flat
flats, also G major and E minor share the same keyand the key is G flat major
signature of one sharp, (F Sharp). These similarities areSeven flats = B flat, E flat, A flat, D flat, G flat, C flat
known as relatives. So C majors relative minor is Aand F flat and the key is C flat major
minor. They are relatives because they share theNo flats or sharps indicates the key of C major
same key signature.A good way to learn all these keys is to use a
Since most people start to learn in major keys, we willmethod, which I call the rule of seven. By adding the
use examples in major keys only. At the beginning of aamount of sharps a key has to the amount of flats a
piece of music, to the right of the treble clef and thekey has, you should always end up with seven. That
bass clef is where you will see sharps and flats.means if you memorise either the sharps keys or the
One sharp means all occurrences of F are sharp andflat keys you can work out the other by creating a
the key is G majorrelationship. We create the relationship using the letters,
Two sharps = F sharp and C sharp and the key is Dfor example, B major and B flat major. B major has
majorfive sharps B flat major has two flats 5+2=7. Lets try
Three sharps = F sharp, C sharp and G sharp and theE major and E flat, once you know that E flat has
key is A majorthree flats you can work out how many sharps are in
Four sharps = F sharp, C sharp, G sharp and D sharpE major. So if E flat has three flats then E major must
and the key is E majorhave four sharps 3+4=7
Five sharps = F sharp, C sharp, G sharp, D sharp andThe exception to this rule is C flat major and C sharp
A sharp and the key is B majormajor, make sure to relate both these keys with C
Six sharps = F sharp, C sharp, G sharp, D sharp, Amajor.