If the key contains flats, the name of the key signature is the name of the second-to-last flat in the key signature. If the key contains sharps, the name of the key is one half step higher than the last sharp in the key signature.
Assume for a moment that you are in a major key. If you do not know the name of the key of a piece of music, the key signature can help you find out. 3 from Book 1 of The Well Tempered Clavier BWV 848 is in C# major.
Pieces are written in these “extreme” sharp or flat keys, however: for example, Bach’s Prelude and Fugue No. For modern practical purposes these keys are the same, because C# and Db are the same note. For example, the key of C# major (seven sharps) is more simply represented as Db major (five flats). The key signatures with seven flats and seven sharps are very rarely used, not only because pieces in these “extreme” sharp or flat keys are more difficult to play on most instruments, but also because they have simpler enharmonic equivalents. The order of flats and sharps, like the order of the keys themselves, follows a circle of fifths. So the keys with only one flat (F major and D minor) have a B flat the keys with two flats (B flat major and G minor) have B flat and E flat and so on. The order of flats is the reverse of the order of sharps: B flat, E flat, A flat, D flat, G flat, C flat, F flat. The order of sharps is: F sharp, C sharp, G sharp, D sharp, A sharp, E sharp, B sharp. The keys that have two sharps (D major and B minor) have F sharp and C sharp, so C sharp is always the second sharp in a key signature, and so on. For example, if a key (G major or E minor) has only one sharp, it will be F sharp, so F sharp is always the first sharp listed in a sharp key signature. This is the same order in which they are added as keys get sharper or flatter. The sharps or flats always appear in the same order in all key signatures. This key signature has a flat on the “B” line, so all of these B’s are flat. When a sharp (or flat) appears on a line or space in the key signature, all the notes on that line or space are sharp (or flat), and all other notes with the same letter names in other octaves are also sharp (or flat). The key signature is a list of all the sharps and flats in the key that the music is in. The clef tells you the letter name of the note (A, B, C, etc.), and the key tells you whether the note is sharp, flat or natural. They appear so often because they are such important symbols they tell you what note is on each line and space of the staff. In common notation, clef and key signature are the only symbols that must appear on every staff. If there are no flats or sharps listed after the clef symbol, then the key signature is “all notes are natural”. It may have either some sharp symbols on particular lines or spaces, or some flat symbols, again on particular lines or spaces. The key signature comes right after the clef symbol on the staff. Key signatures are generally written immediately after the clef at the beginning of a line of musical notation, although they can appear in other parts of a score, notably after a double bar.
#Musescore change key signature series#
In musical notation, a key signature is a series of sharp symbols or flat symbols placed on the staff, designating notes that are to be consistently played one semitone higher or lower than the equivalent natural notes (for example, the white notes on a piano keyboard) unless otherwise altered with an accidental.
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