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
In musical notation, a key signature is a collection of sharp or flat symbols placed together 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 line.
Although a key signature may be written using any combination of sharp and flat symbols, about a dozen diatonic key signatures are by far the most common, and their use is assumed in much of this lesson.
What is a Key Signature?
Each major and minor key has an associated key signature that sharpens or flattens the notes which are used in its scale.
ALL 15 Major and Relative Minor Keys
A key signature is a summary of the sharps or flats in a Major or it’s 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.
In addition to the Key of C Major and it's Relative Minor Key of Am , there are 14 additional major keys.
If a song or composition has a major tonal shift a new key signature will be introduced with the previous key signature canceled with the use of the natural accidental.
C Major / A Minor
It all starts with the Major scales and there‘s not better scale to start with than the C Major scale .
All Natural Notes
Sharp ( # ) Keys
All Natural Notes
Flat ( b ) Keys
Common Keys
Common Rock, Pop, Folk and Country Keys: C, G, D, A, and E.
These common keys can be directly attributed to the popularity of the guitar in popular popular music.
Common Jazz Keys
Common Jazz Keys: C, F, Bb, Eb, Ab, Db, and the lone sharp key of G.
This is directly attributed to the popularity of the trumpet and saxophone in this genre of music. Both the trumpet and tenor saxophone are transposing instruments pitched in Bb.
WidipediA: Has a lot of additional information regarding Keys and Key Signatures .
Related Books
Related Books for Key Signatures - Introduction at this time.
Related Lesson Series
Related Lessons Series for Key Signatures - Introduction at this time.
Harmonic Analysis for Scale and Chord Selection
Updated: Jan 1, 2003
Harmonic Analysis is the process used to determine the harmonic function of chords within a chord progression or song. A chord progression is defined as a sequence of chords, each chord has a root and is a particular chord type. The relationship of a chord's to a scale determines its function within that scale's tonality.
Related Lesson Files, Resources and Assets
Related Assets for Key Signatures - Introduction at this time.
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