Learning to Read Music: Part 7

Learning about Key Signatures and the Major Scale

The key signature is found at the beginning of a piece of music, immediately following the clef. Key signatures can change within the music as well. In that case, a new key signature will be indicated wherever the new key begins. The key signature is a group of either sharp (♯) or flat (♭) signs indicating the key or scale the music uses. If no flats or sharps are shown, the key is either C Major or A Minor. 

There are different types of keys or scales—a particular pattern of whole and half steps. One example is "Major" which always consists of 2 whole steps, a half step, 3 whole steps, and half step. Another way to think of the major scale is two tetrachords (an ascending series of four notes) consisting of two whole steps and a half step, separated by a whole step (W,W,H  W  W,W,H). You can create a major scale starting on any of the 12 notes. The note you begin on will "name" the scale.  If you play a major scale beginning on C, all the white keys would be played and it would be called a C Major scale.

In order to keep the same pattern of whole and half steps, a major scale starting on D would use F# instead of F, and C# instead of C. Therefore, a piece of music in D Major would have a key signature showing an F# and a C#.  The key signature lets the musician know to play every F as an F# and C as C# unless otherwise marked with a natural sign (♮).

Key signatures can include anywhere from no sharps or flats to 7 sharps or 7 flats.  The sharps or flats will always appear in the same order.  For sharps the order is F, C, G, D, A, E, B; for flats: B, E, A, D, G, C, F (which is the reverse of the order of the sharps!). In other words, if a piece has three sharps in the key signature, the sharps will always be F, C, and G. A key signature with four flats will always contain the flats B, E, A, and D and they will be listed in that particular order.  

Each key signature can represent either a major key or its "relative minor" key.  The relative minor key shares the same key signature but the scale begins on a different note and has a different pattern of whole and half steps. More about minor scales on another day.


Click here to watch a YouTube video from Music Discoveries Piano about scales.

Check out this visual guide to major scales on the Piano Keyboard Guide website.  

Click here to watch a YouTube video from Five Minute Mozart about scales and key signatures. 

Now you're ready to test your knowledge of major scales on this game from the Draw Music website!