Sharps, Flats and how to work out Keys

[JumpingJackFlash]

Ok, this is something often asked. You want to know which key has 4 sharps in it? - You want to know the key signature of Bb minor? - Well, look no further. There is a really easy way to do this. I was taught it many years ago, and I have used it ever since. Yet, surprisingly, I have never seen it written down in any book! (It's also a really good thing to scribble in your margin during an exam)

Firstly, write down the order of sharps. This goes F,C,G,D,A,E,B. - Many different mnemonics exist to remember these:
Funky Cows Get Drunk And Eat Breakfast Food
Father Charles Goes Down And Ends Battle
Fat Cats Go Down Alleys Eating Bugs
Fat Cats Get Dinner After Eating Bread
Fidel Castro Gets Drunk At Every Bar
Fred Can't Go Driving After Eight Beers
Four Chorus Girls Danced All Evening Bare
Fair Cinderella Goes Down And Eats Bugs

- Make your own up and you'll remember it! (Notice also how they go up in 5ths).

Now, separately, write down the order of flats. The goes B,E,A,D,G,C,F. - Notice it's the order of sharps backwards (so you only have to remember it once!)
Battle Ends And Down Goes Charles' Father
Bread Eating After Dinner Gets Cats Fat
British European Airlines Do Great Continental Flights

Now. On each diagram, write a 0 (zero) above C, and number each letter ascending from left to right, looping round to end up with 7 back on C. - This corresponds to MAJOR keys. Similarly, underneath each letter, write a separate row of number, starting this time with 0 (zero) on A. This corresponds to MINOR keys (recall C major and A minor both have no sharps or flats in their key signature).

You should end up 2 diagrams like this:

Sharp diagram:

and Flat diagram:


Now it works like this. For major keys, use the top row of each diagram, for minor keys, use the bottom row. The number equals the number of sharps (for the FCGDAEB diagram) or flats (for the BEADGCF diagram) in the key signature.

Notice, the numbers to the right of each zero are in bold on the diagrams. - These correspond to 'normal' keys (A,B,C,D,E,F,G). For keys starting on a sharp (eg. C# major, A# minor) use the numbers to the left of each zero on the sharp (FCGDAEB) diagram. For keys starting on a flat (eg. Bb major, Eb minor), use the numbers to the left of each zero on the flat (BEADGCF) diagram.

Once you know the number of flats or sharps in a particular key, you can find out which ones they are by counting along this number from left to right on the relevant diagram.

So, some examples:

A major. - This key does not start on a flat or sharp, so look for a number in bold (to the right of each zero) in the top line of the diagrams (we use the top line because it's major). - We see the number 3 appears in bold on the sharp diagram. This means it has 3 sharps in it. (Sharps because we're on the sharp diagram). Now, which 3 sharps? - We count along on the sharp diagram; F,C,G. - these are the first 3 sharps, therefore A major has F, C and G sharps in its key signature. (Notice it couldn't be 4 on the flat diagram since that number is to the left of the zero (on C), not to the right).

F major. - Again, this does not start on a flat or sharp, so look for a number in bold in the top line of each diagram. We see number 1 appears in bold on the flat diagram. Therefore F major has one flat. - Which flat? - Well it must be Bb since this is the first flat in the diagram.

D minor. - Again, doesn't start on a flat or sharp, so look for a bold number in the bottom line of each diagram. (We use the bottom line because it's minor). We can see the number 1 appears below D on the flat diagram, therefore D minor must have 1 flat in it, and that must be Bb.

G# minor. - This key starts on a sharp, so we will be using the numbers to the left of the zero on the bottom line of the sharp diagram. (The numbers not in bold). - So, we see the number 5 below the G. G# minor must have 5 sharps in it, and these 5 are... F,C,G,D,A (the first 5 sharps from left to right).

Minor keys:

Remember, in the harmonic minor, the 7th note of the scale is raised one semitone. This is NOT included in the key signature, but is written as an accidental on the relevant notes. Thus, in our D minor example, although we now know that the key signature only has one flat in it, we must also remember to raise the 7th, so in this case, C becomes C#.
(Similarly, in the melodic minor, the 6th and 7th of the scale are both raised one semitone when ascending, but when you're descending, you keep the note as it appears in the key signature).

Note also the concept of 'relative' major and 'relative' minor. These are keys which share the same key signature. - So, F major and D minor is one example (both have one flat in the key signature.) We say F is the 'relative major' of D minor, and D minor is the 'relative minor' of F. - Notice the relative major is always a minor 3rd (3 semitones) above the minor, and the relative minor is always a minor 3rd (3 semitones) below the major.

This may seem complex at first, but once you've done it a few times, it really is one of the easiest ways I know of identifying a key signature that you don't know.

[Amberience]

Here's how I was taught:

You do the same thing with the mnemonics to get the order of sharp and flats.

Now looking at just the note names of the sharps:



You pick the key you're interested in. Lets say A major. Take all of the notes left to right except the one next to A - which is d.

This tells us that A major has the sharps F, C, and G. Three sharps.

Similarly for E major. The sharps are F, C, G, and D. B major, F, C, G, D, and A.



To get the flats you take the note to the left of the root, and every one after that and that is your key sig.

[tamahome]

I usually bring up the key signature dialog box in power tab. It looks something like this:

Code: Select all

C  Major                         - A  Minor
G  Major - F#                    - E  Minor
D  Major - F# C#                 - B  Minor
A  Major - F# C# G#              - F# Minor
E  Major - F# C# G# D#           - C# Minor
B  Major - F# C# G# D# A#        - G# Minor
F# Major - F# C# G# D# A# E#     - D# Minor
C# Major - F# C# G# D# A# E# B#  - A# Minor

F  Major - Bb                    - D  Minor
Bb Major - Bb Eb                 - G  Minor
Eb Major - Bb Eb Ab              - C  Minor
Ab Major - Bb Eb Ab Db           - F  Minor
Db Major - Bb Eb Ab Db Gb        - Bb Minor
Gb Major - Bb Eb Ab Db Gb Cb     - Eb Minor
Cb Major - Bb Eb Ab Db Gb Cb Fb  - Ab Minor

[condra]

Some day, I hope, everything above will make sense to me.

[AllenPOPO]

thank YOU GUYS * a number that is overexageratingly grateful!

*fires up printer*

[Marc Schonbrun]

Father Charles Goes Down And Ends Battle (Sharps)

Battle Ends And Down Goes Charles' Father (Flats)

[jancivil]

NB: your last sharp in a sig is the leading tone (7th) of the major key and the supertonic (2nd) of its relative minor.

the last flat in a sig is a perfect fourth above its major key tonic and the minor 6th of its relative minor. (this will help you recognize a key on sight)

in terms of a cycle, the sharps and flats in signatures occur as rising perfect fourths and falling perfect fifths alternating; which I believe to be a more useful way of looking at it in the long run than memorizing a mnemonic device.

[xtp]

I have never had any formal training so this may seem convoluted [or not] to some but this is the way i remember the key sigs.

The flat keys progress using 4ths with the flat appearing up a 4th, and the sharp keys progress using 5ths with the sharp appearing on the leading tone.

b's == 4ths -> 4th
----------------------------

Start at C [0 flat]
F->Bb [1 flat]
Bb->Eb [2 flats]
Eb->Ab [3 flats]
Ab->Db [4 flats]
Db->Gb [5 flats]
Gb->Cb [6 flats]

example: Ab has 4 flats [Ab,Bb,C,Db,Eb,F,G,Ab]


#'s == 5ths->Leading tone
----------------------------------

Start at C [0 sharp]
G->F# [1 sharp]
D->C# [2 sharps]
A->G# [3 sharps]
E->D# [4 sharps]
B->A# [5 sharps]

example: A has 3 sharps [A,B,C#,D,E,F#,G#,A]