Key Signatures

Key Signatures

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Key Signatures - Introduction
A key signature is a summary of the sharps or flats in a Major or its relative Natural Minor scale.
Key signatures are generally written immediately after the clef at the beginning of a line of standard musical notation. Each major and minor key has an associated key signature that sharpens or flattens the notes which are used in its scale.
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Key Signatures - C Major and A Minor
In music, it is important to learn and recognize the key signature for C Major and A Minor. These two keys have corresponding major and natural minor scales, along with basic ukulele chords that can be used with each scale. The key of C Major, also known as the learning key, is particularly easy to memorize and start using.
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Key Signatures - G Major and E Minor
“G Major” (or the key of G) is a major scale based on G, with the pitches G, A, B, C, D, E, and F#. Its key signature has one sharp, F#.
Its relative minor is E minor, and its parallel minor is G minor.
G major, sometimes called the "people's key", is one of the most frequently-employed keys across classical and popular music. This is in part because of its relative ease of playing on both keyboard and string instruments: its scale comprises only one black note on the keyboard, all of a guitar’s six strings can be played open in G, half of the strings on the mandolin and violin/fiddle are in the G chord when open, and the banjo is usually tuned to open G. It is the key stipulated by Queen Elizabeth II to be used for “God Save the Queen” in Canada. The music to the American national anthem, The Star-Spangled Banner, was originally written in G major. Though it is now usually sung in A-flat or B-flat major, some people, most notably humorist and commentator Garrison Keillor, are campaigning to return the song to its original key; they argue that the song is already very difficult to sing on account of its range (one and a half octaves), and the modern standard key makes it still more difficult.
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Key Signatures - D Major and B Minor
"D Major" (or the key of D) is a major scale based on D, consisting of the pitches D, E, F#, G, A, B, and C#. Its key signature consists of two sharps: F# and C#.
Its relative minor is B minor and its parallel minor is D minor.
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Key Signatures - A Major and F Sharp Minor
A Major (or the key of A) is a major scale based on A, with the pitches A, B, C#, D, E, F#, and G#. Its key signature has three sharps: F#, C# and G#. Its relative minor is F sharp minor and its parallel minor is A minor.
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Key Signatures - E Major and C Sharp Minor
E Major (or the key of E) is a major scale based on E, with the pitches E, F#, G#, A, B, C#, and D#. Its key signature has four sharps: F#, C#, G# and D#. Its relative minor is C-sharp minor, and its parallel minor is E minor.
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Key Signatures - B Major and G Sharp Minor
B major is a major scale based on B. The pitches B, C#, D#, E, F#, G#, and A# are all part of the B major scale. Its key signature has five sharps: F#, C#, G#, D# and A#.
B major's relative minor is G-sharp minor, its parallel minor is B minor, and its enharmonic equivalent is C-flat major.
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Key Signatures - F Sharp Major and D Sharp Minor
F# major or F-sharp major is a major scale based on F#, consisting of the pitches F#, G#, A#, B, C#, D#, and E#. Its key signature has six sharps: F#, C#, G#, D#, A# and E#.
Its relative minor is D# minor, and its parallel minor is F# minor. Its enharmonic equivalent is Gb major.
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Key Signatures - C Sharp Major and A Sharp Minor
C# major (or C-sharp 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 sharps: F#, C#, G#, D#, A#, E# and B# - ALL sharps.
Its relative minor is A# minor, and its parallel minor is C# minor. Its enharmonic equivalent is Db major.
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Key Signatures - F Major and D Minor
F major (or the key of F) is a musical major scale based on F, consisting of the pitches F, G, A, Bb, C, D, and E. Its key signature has one flat: Bb. It is by far the oldest key signature with an accidental, predating the others by hundreds of years.
Its relative minor is D minor and its parallel minor is F minor.
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Key Signatures - Bb Major and G Minor
Bb major or B-flat major is a major scale based on B-flat, consisting of the pitches Bb, C, D, Eb, F, G, and A. Its key signature has two flats, Bb and Eb.
Its relative minor is G minor, and its parallel minor is Bb minor.
B-flat major is a suitable key for most wind instruments, especially those for which it is their home key, such as clarinets, trumpets, tenor saxophone, soprano saxophone and flutes in B-flat.
B-flat is a common jazz key and popular on ukulele.
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Key Signatures - Eb Major and C Minor
Eb major or E flat major is a major scale based on E flat, consisting of the pitches Eb, F, G, Ab, Bb, C, and D. Its key signature has three flats: Bb, Eb, and Ab.
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Key Signatures - Ab Major and F Minor
Ab major is a major scale based on A flat, consisting of the pitches Ab, Bb, C, Db, Eb, F, and G. Its key signature has four flats: Bb, Eb, Ab, and Db.
Its relative minor is F minor, and its parallel minor is A flat minor.
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Key Signatures - D Flat Major and B Flat Minor
Db major is a major scale based on D flat, consisting of the pitches Db, Eb, F, Gb, Ab, Bb and C. Its key signature has five flats: Bb, Eb, Ab, Db, and Gb.
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Key Signatures - G Flat Major and E Flat Minor
Gb major is a major scale based on G flat, consisting of the pitches Gb, Ab, Bb, Cb, Db, Eb, and F. Its key signature has six flats: Bb, Eb, Ab, Db, Gb and Cb.
Its relative minor is E flat minor, and its parallel minor is G flat minor, usually replaced by F-sharp minor, since G flat minor, which would have nine flats, is not normally used.
The enharmonic equivalent key to Gb is F#, containing the same pitches but different names.
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Key Signatures - C Flat Major and A Flat Minor
"Cb Major" (or the key of Cb) is a major scale centered around Cb, with the following pitches: Cb, Db, Eb, Fb, Gb, Ab, and Bb. The key signature of Cb Major includes seven flats: Bb, Eb, Ab, Db, Gb, Cb, and Fb. The relative minor scale of Cb Major is Ab Minor, while the parallel minor is Cb Minor. Cb Major is considered relatively easy to memorize, as all of its notes are flat.