Re-cap

Re-cap on
on recognising
recognising
key
key signatures
signatures
• Tomorrow, you will all need to repeat
your short theory recognition test.
• Remember the theory cards? Well,
they’re back, and they haven’t got
any easier!
• So, just to help you refresh your
memory, here is a quick revision guide
to recognising your key signatures.

• Oh, and no pressure, but tomorrow,

the ‘hot seat’ will be videoed….
 Picking your task
• You have three ‘levels’ to choose
from for tomorrow. Bearing in mind
you will all have to undertake this
task again when we cover minor keys
(next week or so), decide which you
want to go for tomorrow.
 Level 1
• The minimum you need to know is key
signatures up to four sharps and
flats, both major and minor. So, if
you pick this level, you will be tested
on major scales up to four sharps and
flats.
 Level 2
• Sharps and flats in every major key
 Level 3
• Major and minor scales in as many
keys as possible….!
• So, here is a quick re-cap on recognising
key signatures.
• There are patterns to recognising some,
but there are two key signatures you need
to learn as they don’t fit to any pattern.
• Remember, these are all major keys this
time around.
• No sharps and
flats means the
key is C major.
• The other key you
need to learn which
doesn’t fit with any
‘shortcut’ is F
major. This has 1
flat and the flat is
B. It looks like
this:
• There are shortcuts to learning your
other key signatures.
• First, here are the flat keys.
• REMEMBER – the
first flat key is not
part of the
shortcut. This one
just has to be
learnt. Here it is
again: F major
 Flats
• To find the key signature,
simply look at the penultimate
(one before last) flat for the
name of the key. For example,
this key would be E flat
(remember, except for F major,
every key will have ‘flat’ after
each note e.g. Bb, Ab)
 Sharps
• Working out sharp keys have two
steps to them, and are a little bit
more complicated.
• It will help if you can
memorise the first
sharp key – G. This does
partially work with the
shortcut we’re going to
look at, but to be
truthful, it’s easier just
to learn it.
• Here it is.
• For the other sharp
keys, here is a
shortcut you can use.
• Firstly, you need to
identify the last sharp
in the key signature.
In this example, the
last sharp is C.
• To find the key
signature, you need
to count up one
semitone from the
last sharp. In our
example, this would
make the key ‘D’. 1 semitone from C#
 Be warned!
• Unlike the flat keys, you don’t have to put
‘sharp’ after the name of each key unless
the note itself has to be sharpened to
make it a semitone above the last sharp in
the signature.
• You won’t have to worry too much about
this if you are just learning your first 4
sharp scales, however it is good to know.
Here’s an example.
 F# major
• Look at the key signature for F#
major.
• The last sharp is E sharp. If we
counted up one semitone, the next
note would actually be F sharp rather
than F natural. This is because E
sharp is exactly the same note as F
natural.
• Therefore, one semitone from E
sharp would be F sharp, so we would
call the key F sharp.
• Good luck in the upcoming re-exam!