Where are key signatures on the staff?
Right after the bass clef or the treble clef. (If you are not familiar with "staff", "bass clef" and "treble clef" I recommend the how to read music notes page of HitJerker-Songwriting. But now back to our main topic here.
What are they?
They are one or more sharp (♯) or flat (♭) symbols right after the clef. Their number and position will tell you what the key of the music is and which notes are sharp of flat in that key (and in that piece music therefore). It's important, however, where you put these sharp and flat symbols. In the illustration below, you'll see what they look like, where you have to place them on the staff, and which keys they belong to.
Why do we use them?
It's much easier to signal that certain notes will be sharp or flat at the beginning of lines of the stuff in sheet music than having to write the sharp or flat symbol each time we encounter such a note. So to simplify writing and reading music, there is a key signature for every major and minor key.
(I borrowed the illustration above from the Learn and Master Piano coursebook. It's a DVD/CD/coursebook course that takes you from beginner to advanced level. I have this course and love it! Especially Will Barrow, the instructor, who is a Grammy-winner pianist and his mimicry and gestures are really fun to look at :))
What's important to know about the stuff you see in the key signature chart?
• If there is a key signature at the beginning of the staff, it's going to be effective for the whole piece unless it's cancelled by a different one.
• They are in a specific order according to the rules of the circle of 5ths.
• C major is the only key that doesn't have any flat or sharp notes in it. All the others contain them. And of course, they either contain flat notes OR sharp notes, these are never mixed. There are some keys, however, that are so called enharmonic. They have two names but are exactly the same. For example, G♭ and F♯.
• You'll see in the key signature chart that sharp key signatures follow each other in a specific oder: F, C, G, D, A, E, B. If you're a fan of mnemonic devices, try memorizing "Father Charles Goes Down And Ends Battle" (because of the initials of course!).
If you look at this list above, you'll see that every scale follows the next that's a 5th above it. And in each scale we add a new sharp note.
• The flat key signatures also follow a specific order: B, E, A, D, G, C, F. If you examine this list, you'll see that it's the same order as in case of the sharp series of notes but it's in a reverse order. Another little mnemonic device to help you remember it: "Battle Ends And Down Goes Charles's Father".
It's similar to the sharp keys but here every scale starts a 5th below (or you could say a 4th above) the former one.
More about Music Theory
No comments:
Post a Comment