Remembering Key Signatures
※ Download: E flat key signature
Be sure to come on over to my website, playpiano. If the music is in a minor key, it will be in the relative minor of the major key for that key signature. As I say on the sharps keys page, knowing the keys isn't only about passing theory exams. You always have full control over your subscription and can easily unsubscribe at any time.
To find the relative minor to a major key, simply count down 2 and one half steps. You can also count the sharps and know what key you are playing in. E-flat minor scale has 6 flats No.
Key Signatures - If there are no flats or sharps, then the key is Concert C Major. The acronym to assist in learning this is Fat Cats Go Down Alleys Eating Birds.
Remembering Key Signatures I am currently converting the entire Essential Music Theory site to https to give visitors a more secure browsing experience. Everything should be fine but apologies if anything doesn't work quite as expected over the next couple of weeks. Simon 12 November 2017 Remembering key signatures is something that most musicians find difficult to begin with. This page helps you remember the keys which contain flats. As I say on the sharps keys page, knowing the keys isn't only about passing theory exams. In fact, no theory is really about passing exams! Learning music theory is about helping inform and improve your playing. Having a good knowledge of music keys helps your sight reading, makes it easier to memorize scales, helps you become better at improvisation and really helps you if you want to become a composer... Below you will find a video that shows you a simple method of remembering all of the major key signatures containing flats. First here are all the key signatures of the keys that have flat. I have included the key of C Major no sharps or flats at the start, just for the sake of completeness, although clearly there is nothing there! C Flat Major Simple method for remembering key signatures with flats As I said on the sharp keys page, this is something that only occurred to me recently. You only need to remember two things , and if you already know the order of the sharps you can already remember one of them, because the order of the flats is just the order of the sharps backwards! And if you are on this page first, when you get to the sharps page they will just be the flats backwards! The first thing to remember is the order of the flats which is B E A D G C F Some people remember this with the mnemonic B attle E nds A nd D own G oes C harles' F ather but to be honest I am not a fan of this because it is too easy to get the last two words muddles and remember Battle Ends And Down Goes Father Charles. You could also remember to start on B and go up 4 notes each time. One of my favourite methods of remembering came from a students who said she remembered that the sharps went up 5 notes between each because if you sat on something sharp you would go up quickly. The flats go down 5 notes between each because when you flatten something it goes down... The second thing you need to remember is the same thing as for the sharps and that is that C major has no sharps and no flats. Once you know these two things there is a simple method to help work out all the signatures for any major key. Just watch the short video below to learn how to do it. Shortcut to knowing which key with flats One of the easy ways to find out a key with flats is to see what the penultimate flat is. This will give you the major key! Take the quiz Once you are confident you know all the keys with flats. A Clear Path To Learning Music Theory For more help check out my new theory book Essential Music Theory: Learn To Read And Appreciate Music Vol. Or get it on the iBooks Store!
The order of flats is the reverse of the order of sharps: B flat, E flat, A flat, D flat, G flat, C flat, F flat. The key signature comes right after the clef symbol on the staff. However, there is no causal connection; if you see a piece with a one-sharp key signature, you cannot be certain it is in G major. I need help with that. For example E flat major and C minor both have 3 flats but C minor is three half steps lower than E flat major. For modern practical purposes these keys are the same, because C and Db are the same note. In bass clef, you e flat key signature also find seven flat keys and seven sharp keys.
