Every piece of music is written in one key or another, such as the key of Bb or the key of E or whatever. The key signature at the beginning of a score tells what sharps or flats are being used in the song, and therefore what scale the song is based on.
Each piece of music contains a key signature. This is written immediately after the clef (on the staff) and is represented by a number of sharps (#) and flats (b). If you look carefully at the beginning of each line of music, you will see a group of sharps or flats (they are never used at the same time). These are placed individually on either a line or a space of the music staff and are placed on the notes they affect. In other words, if a sharp (#) is placed on the top line of the music staff, the note F is played as an F#. And all occurrences of the note F, whether on the top of the staff, the first space of the staff, or above or below the staff (marked by ledger lines), are played as an F#.
When the note that has the flat or sharp signified in the key signature needs to be played as a neutral then an accidental will be put in front of the individual note. In other words, if the music requires the playing of an F (neutral) in the G key, there must be an accidental put in front of it so that the person that is playing the music will not play it as an F#.
The key signature is put in place so that the sharps and flats will be limited on the actual notes in the piece of music. Basically, by putting the # in the signature key it avoids the writer from having to put a sharp or flat by each note when the F is in the music. It lets the musician know that each and every time the F note is required that it should be played as F#. The lines of music will not be as cluttered this way and it will be much easier to be read.
The most common key signatures are listed below along with the notes that are affected by them:
Key of C: No sharps or flats
Key of G: One sharp (F#)
Key of D: Two sharps (F# and C#)
Key of A: Three sharps (F#, C# and G#)
Key of E: Four sharps (F#, C#, G# and D#)
Key of F: One flat (Bb)
Key of Bb: Two flats (Bb and Eb)
Key of Eb: Three flats (Bb, Eb, and Ab)
There is also a relative minor assigned to each key. While it is true that in nearly all ways the major and the relative minor that coincides with it are similar (they use the same scale even though they begin in different places), they are not considered the same. The note that can be found a minor third down from the major (key) is called the relative minor. You can think of it in another way by remembering the sixth note in the major scale is the relative minor. As an example, The C major scale has a sixth note of A so an A minor is the relative minor to C. It is very common to use the relative minor of the key and if you gain a good understanding of them you will find that you have a better understanding of the chord progressions in the song.
Below are some of the keys and their relative minors (keys):
The relative minor for C is A minor
The relative minor for D is B minor
The relative minor for A is F# minor
The relative minor for Bb is G minor
When a musician that is experienced plays in a setting that is not formal (without written music) all they need to know is what the key is to the song that they will be playing and they will immediately know the sales, or melodies, as well as the cords that are necessary to play it well.
Lastly, a song being written in more keys than one is fairly common and the key changes in the middle somewhere. The newer musicians may have difficulties when the keys change like this. - 31814
Each piece of music contains a key signature. This is written immediately after the clef (on the staff) and is represented by a number of sharps (#) and flats (b). If you look carefully at the beginning of each line of music, you will see a group of sharps or flats (they are never used at the same time). These are placed individually on either a line or a space of the music staff and are placed on the notes they affect. In other words, if a sharp (#) is placed on the top line of the music staff, the note F is played as an F#. And all occurrences of the note F, whether on the top of the staff, the first space of the staff, or above or below the staff (marked by ledger lines), are played as an F#.
When the note that has the flat or sharp signified in the key signature needs to be played as a neutral then an accidental will be put in front of the individual note. In other words, if the music requires the playing of an F (neutral) in the G key, there must be an accidental put in front of it so that the person that is playing the music will not play it as an F#.
The key signature is put in place so that the sharps and flats will be limited on the actual notes in the piece of music. Basically, by putting the # in the signature key it avoids the writer from having to put a sharp or flat by each note when the F is in the music. It lets the musician know that each and every time the F note is required that it should be played as F#. The lines of music will not be as cluttered this way and it will be much easier to be read.
The most common key signatures are listed below along with the notes that are affected by them:
Key of C: No sharps or flats
Key of G: One sharp (F#)
Key of D: Two sharps (F# and C#)
Key of A: Three sharps (F#, C# and G#)
Key of E: Four sharps (F#, C#, G# and D#)
Key of F: One flat (Bb)
Key of Bb: Two flats (Bb and Eb)
Key of Eb: Three flats (Bb, Eb, and Ab)
There is also a relative minor assigned to each key. While it is true that in nearly all ways the major and the relative minor that coincides with it are similar (they use the same scale even though they begin in different places), they are not considered the same. The note that can be found a minor third down from the major (key) is called the relative minor. You can think of it in another way by remembering the sixth note in the major scale is the relative minor. As an example, The C major scale has a sixth note of A so an A minor is the relative minor to C. It is very common to use the relative minor of the key and if you gain a good understanding of them you will find that you have a better understanding of the chord progressions in the song.
Below are some of the keys and their relative minors (keys):
The relative minor for C is A minor
The relative minor for D is B minor
The relative minor for A is F# minor
The relative minor for Bb is G minor
When a musician that is experienced plays in a setting that is not formal (without written music) all they need to know is what the key is to the song that they will be playing and they will immediately know the sales, or melodies, as well as the cords that are necessary to play it well.
Lastly, a song being written in more keys than one is fairly common and the key changes in the middle somewhere. The newer musicians may have difficulties when the keys change like this. - 31814
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