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Theory Overview Series

Key Signatures

2014 Grade 9 Publications

All Rights Reserved



OVERVIEW: KEY SIGNATURES

Order of the Sharps
Each of the seven note names can be sharpened, giving us a list of the seven
sharps, which occur in a specific order. The sharps can be put into groups of
two, each group is a step up from the previous group, with the last group having
only a single note as there is an odd number of note names.
F# C# G# D# A# E# B#
Order of the Flats
Each of the seven note names can be flattened, giving us a list of the seven flats,
which occur in a specific order. The flats can be put into groups of two, each
group is a step down from the previous group, with the last group having only a
single note as there is an odd number of note names.
Bb Eb Ab Db Gb Cb Fb
Order of Sharps and Flats on a Score



Relationship Between the Accidentals
The order of sharps is the exact reverse of the order of the flats (and vice versa).

Major Keys with Sharps
The final sharp of a key signature is a semitone lower than the tonic of the key
so if you are given a key signature simply go to the final sharp and go up a
semitone (which will be a step up) and this will be the name of the major key.
Conversely if you are given the name of the key and need to find its accidentals
simply go down a semitone from the tonic to find the final sharp then go
through the order of sharps until you reach this sharp; all of the sharps youve
gone through will be part of the key signature.
Example: You are given a key signature with the following sharps F# and C# (in that order). To
find the name of the major key simply step up a semitone from the final sharp, C#, and you reach D. Therefore
the key of D major has these two sharps as its key signature.
Example: You are given the key of E major and asked to give the key signature. Going down a
semitone from E we reach D#, which will be the final sharp of the key. Going through the order of sharps we
have F#, C#, G# and D#. Therefore the key of E major has these four sharps as its key signature.

Major Keys with Flats
The tonic of a key that has flats will be the second-last flat of the key signature.
If you are given the key signature and need to find the name of the key simply
find the second-last flat and that is the tonic. Conversely if you are given the
name of the key and need to find its accidentals simply go through the order of
flats until you reach the name of the key and then go one flat further; all of the
flats youve gone through will be part of the key signature. N.B. the only major
key where this does not work is the key of F major, which only has one flat, B-
flat.
Example: You are given a key signature with the following flats- Bb, Eb and Ab (in that order). To
find the name of the major key simply identify the second-last flat, Eb, and there you have the tonic of the
major key. Therefore E-flat major has these three flats as its key signature.
Example: You are given the key of D-flat major and asked to find its key signature. Going through
the order of flats until we reach D-flat, which will be the second-last flat of the key, we have Bb, Eb, Ab and
Db; going one flat further we reach Gb and this is the final flat of the key. Therefore D-flat major has the
preceding five flats as its key signature.

Working out Minor Keys by Using the Major Keys
Each key signature can be for either a major key or a minor key. In other words
each major key has a related minor key which has an identical key signature; the
tonics of these two keys are three semitones apart, with the tonic of the major
being three semitones higher than the tonic of the minor. If you are given a key
signature and need to find out the name of the minor key simply work out the
major key (using the methods listed above) and go down three semitones from
the tonic this will give you the minor key that uses the same accidentals.
Conversely if you are given the name of the minor key and need to work out the
key signature simply go up three semitones to find the name of the major key
and work out the key signature using the methods given above.
Example: F major has one flat, B-flat; going down three semitones from F (F being zero), we go
through E, E-flat and finally reach D. Therefore D minor has the same key signature as F major, B-flat.
Example: You are asked to give the key signature of F minor. Going up three semitones (F being
zero), we go through G-flat, G and finally reach A-flat. Therefore F minor has the same key signature as A-
flat major, namely Bb, Eb, Ab and Db.