Questions tagged [key-signatures]
In musical notation, a set of sharp or flat symbols placed together at left side of each staff, effectively indicating the default pitch class set of the notes to follow.
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Is a high A in the key of D flat still flat?
I'm learning a song in the key of D flat. I know that any middle A within the song is flat. However, is a high A (above the staff) still flat?
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Are accidentals in the key signature and measure additive?
If I have a flat for a note in the key signature, and then in a bar the same note with an flat symbol, does that mean the note is "double flatted"?
For example in the key of D Minor with ...
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Difference between keys and scales?
I am a Tabla (a North Indian percussion instrument) player and I am trying to learn the western music theory. My study was going well until I stumbled upon keys and scales. Now though I know what ...
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Why is there a key signature if I never play those notes?
I'm just getting back to playing on keyboard. I'm trying to play "Ode to Joy" from the piano sheet but I have a basic question.
At the beginning of some staffs, on the right of the treble clef I can ...
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Why does the Dorian mode on C have two flats?
I'm studying scale modes and I just found on Wikipedia that the Dorian mode on C has two flats...
Why is this? Because the Dorian mode is just the major scale (Ionian) starting from the second note, ...
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Where do the double accidentals go in "theoretical" key signatures?
Recent questions led me to discussions of theoretical keys, which are defined by Wikipedia as keys with at least one double accidental in the key signature. (Unfortunately, the source of that ...
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What is a key signature?
I'm trying to learn the flute and I bought a book to help me learn. In one of the first chapters it describes something about key signatures and the circle of fifths and I'm completely lost.
What is ...
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Key signature for writing in modes other than major and minor
I have trouble deciding what accidentals to put in the key signature for pieces in Dorian, Phrygian, Lydian or Mixolydian modes. There seem to be trade-offs associated with each choice.
For example, ...
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Why is music for strings more likely to be in keys with sharps?
One thing I've noticed is that music written for strings, such as violin concertos, are a lot more likely to written in a key like D or A major than something like F or Bb major. I recently saw a ...
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Collective word for sharps and flats in the key signature
On a mailing list I'm subscribed to, someone recently asked what the collective name was in English for the sharps and flats you find in the key signature. Apparently, the closest translation from ...
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Do accidentals override key signature and previous accidentals?
I am wondering how the accidental in the first chord (see what is circled) is played? Does any accidental simply move the note up or down a half-step from what the note is supposed to be based on the ...
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Are sharp keys "bright" and flat keys "dark"?
I was reading this book and on the "Circle of Fifths" chapter, it claims that keys with sharp key signatures (C, G, D, ...) are "often thought by musicians" to be "bright"...
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Hard to tell major from minor
I have a hard time figuring out if a song with a certain key signature is major or minor. I know some sound minor and are and some sound major and are but some sound opposite of what they actually are(...
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What significance does the Key have on a composition?
I'm struggling to understand how the key signature effects a composition.
If you took an average person and played them the national anthem in any key (as long as you stay major of course) they would ...
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How to select a key-signature for a song
There are so many songs in pretty odd key-signatures like 4,5,6 sharps or flats. At least this is my impression when I listen to songs on the radio/net while trying to follow them on my piano/guitar. ...
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How to figure out key from key signature?
I know the major scale formula so can easily work out the signature by building the scale from tonic, but I've never learnt it the other way... How to know the key/scale from the signature of sharps/...
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Why have I never found any music written in the key of C Sharp Major?
Music is written in almost every key that corresponds to every note that is on my piano keyboard. There is clearly a C Sharp (black key right of C) on my piano keyboard but I don't recall ever seeing ...
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Horn & Trumpet and Key Signatures
In reading from 100 Orchestration Tips by Thomas Goss, I've come across a tip which I'm perfectly happy accepting, but (perhaps as I'm not a horn player nor a trumpet player) I do not understand.
34. ...
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Indicating Key Signature Change
Key of C Key Signature has no symbol, so say I was notating music in G Major then wanted to change to the Key of C, how would I show this?
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Why is the key signature not the same as the listed key?
Looking at the following piece, the information says that the key is G minor. However. the score in the "original key" has a key signature of D minor. Moreover, the score transposed to A minor has a ...
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Are tonal (sharp, flat and natural) key signatures octave specific? [duplicate]
I recently bought a piano for learning (by myself at the moment) and apart from doing basic exercises, I decided to start learning a piece to get a grip on music sheet reading as I go.
On the sheet I'...
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How many (major and minor) keys are there? Why?
I am wondering about how many major and minor keys there are and why.
Here are some suggestions:
24 keys
One could argue that there should be one major and one relative minor key for each of the 12 ...
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Why are accidentals not additive?
This question asks if the accidentals are not "additive" (i.e. placing a sharp on F where the key signature already contains an F sharp would result in an F double sharp, and placing a flat ...
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Unconventional key signature: sharps on F & G only?
This is from Bartók's Mikrokosmos, piece number 44.
I must have come across this a long time ago and didn't understand it, so I crossed it off. 4 years down the line and I still don't get it.
What is ...
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Why are some instruments listed 'in F' or 'in B'?
I am looking through scores of pieces that I particularly like.
I can't understand (as this is the first time I have come across it) why here, in the manuscript, some instruments are named as ...
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Why are different keys necessary / important? [duplicate]
If all major key songs can be played in C major, then why do people play them in other keys? Assume there is no singer involved and we're just talking about what sounds "good". My understanding is ...
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Equivalent Key Signatures
I've noticed that a variety of pieces in the classical repetoire (certainly at least the piano repetoire), label what seems to be effectively the same key signature differently. That is, I am not ...
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If the time signature changes, does the key signature change as well?
Consider the following snippet from Where Is My Mind (arranged by Maxence Cyrin). Notice how after the first few bars there's a time signature change. Does the key signature also automatically change ...
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Key Signature with all Notes naturalized
I’m still new to piano and just getting into key signatures. In Beatles’ Best (easy Beatles sheet music) Get Back is in G, however, all F’s have a natural accidental next to them. Is this sheet music ...
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Why does the circle of fifths only show some notes that are enharmonically equivalent?
I was wondering why the circle of fifths only has three keys that are enharmonically equivalent at the bottom of it namely, C#/Db, Gb/F#, B/Cb. Why only those three? Can’t the other notes in the ...
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How do you identify a key signature's name? [duplicate]
Normally, I'm really bad with key signatures. The thing is, I cannot memorize their names associated with their look. Is there an easy method/technique to recognizing the name of a key signature upon ...
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The key signatures C-flat minor and G-flat minor: do they exist? [duplicate]
Do the key signatures C-flat minor/G-flat minor exist? If yes,what notes are used in them, and they are rarely or frequently used in classical music?
Also: DO these keys exist 9((not theorethical) ...
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How could you make a key change sound natural
I've been working on an orchestral piece for a while and I want to include a key change. For example, from Bb major into Eb major. How could one go about changing keys in a way that makes the music ...
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Key signature and chord progressions
I was studying a blues song (Bessie's Blues) in all keys and I seem unable to understand something that seems quite basic.
So, in the typical progression for a Bb organ we have C7-F7-C7-C7-F7-F7 etc.
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Sight reading piano pieces with sharp or flat key signatures using intervals
I need help with reading piano pieces with key signatures that have sharps or flats (other than C Major or A Minor). I learnt to sight read music using intervals (but do have a very good grasp on ...
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How to know which key a song is written in with the same key signature?
How to know which key a song is written in with the same key signature ? For example, the C Lydian scale has the same key signature as G major (G Ionian) AND E (natural) minor (E Aeolian) which makes ...
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Is it better to write music in F♯ Major or in G♭ Major?
Is it better to write music in F♯ Major or in G♭ Major? Seeing as they are enharmonic (in our 12-tone musical system), what are the advantages / disadvantages of writing in either, or should it be ...
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Brandenburg Concerto No. 5 in D: Why do some recordings seem to be in C sharp?
There are at least two recordings on Youtube of Bach's Brandenburg Concerto No. 5 in D major which seem to be played a half-step lower, in the key of C sharp. I assume this is a artifact of the ...
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With sheet music, how do you determine whether the song is in the major key or the minor key?
For example, if the key signature on the left doesn't have any sharps or flats then it could theoretically be in either the C Major scale or the A Minor scale. How do you determine which one?
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What use is knowing how many sharps or flats a key signature has?
Books and articles I've read on learning key signatures seem to focus on mnemonics that tell you how many sharps or flats the key has, but I don't understand how knowing B Major has 5 sharps helps you ...
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What do these unusual signs in the key signature mean?
In Thesaurus of Oriental Hebrew Melodies by Abraham Zevi Idelsohn in 1923, I found this unusual key signature:
I know that the more typical notation for the little X in the key signature is used for ...
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Is it harder to play in a key with more flats or sharps?
This is a very naive question, but I tend to perceive a song with a key signature that has more flats or sharps to be more difficult than the same song written in a key with fewer flats or sharps.
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How to establish a mode?
I would like to learn about the art of establishing a mode. For example, how to make A minor sound like A minor instead of C major.
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Would you write key signatures for non-conventional scales?
For example, the gypsy scale, I-♭II-III-IV-V-♭VI-VII. Would you write a key signature for a scale like that, that didn't start on B♭ like scales are supposed to? Or would you just add the flat every ...
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What's the purpose of the key signature information in a MIDI file?
My understanding is that MIDI files use fixed numbers/names for all notes, as shown e.g. in this chart. At the same time, MIDI has a "key signature" meta-event. What's the purpose of the key signature ...
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How to read the key signature from Biber's 15th sonata?
This is from Heinrich Franz Biber's Mystery Sonata 15:
The key signature is odd in that the F# appears in both octaves and the C# appears in its usual place, but an octave below it's natural. Does ...
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Why is the G flat major key signature written with a flat on the lower G and not the higher one?
I was going over the circle of fifths as part of theory, and I was trying to write out the G-flat key signature. I put the G-flat in where the red flat is in the image below, but I realized that the ...
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What is this key signature used in Gymnopedie 1 - F major or D major?
I'm learning Gymnopedie no 1 from the Faber-music Piano Anthology but I'm confused about the key signature of B-flat. All of the B-flats within the piece are written as a natural and there's an ...
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Why does Musescore interpret Westergaard's A-flat as G? Seeking Clarification on Pitch Spelling
I was reviewing some rules from Peter Westergaard's An Introduction to Tonal Theory. I am really only literate in the key of C major, and so I was notating one of Westergaard's example in MuseScore ...
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Setting changed key signature before volta in Lilypond
I'm scoring Mozart's first piece, K1 - Minuet and Trio. The structure is essentially 4 repeats. After the first two repeats, the key signature changes from G Major to C Major.
I've split the right ...
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