Key Signatures

Jimi Savage - Savage Guitar Studio - 0191 222 1515

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What Are Key Signatures & How Do They Work?
There are 15 key signatures in the theory of music, some will say there are only
12, but we actually have 7 sharpened keys (#), 7 flattened keys (b) and 1 neutral
key, which have either sharps or flats. The key signature is a certain marking for
a scale, song, chord arrangement or piece of music. For example if you play all of
the white notes on a piano (no sharps or flats) you will find that the note of C or A
will mostly sound like the finishing note or home note (root or key note). Key
signatures are like the time’s tables of mathematics and then we can work out
musical puzzles a lot easier and quicker, think of them as the rules of music
theory.

Sharps…
C major no sharps or flats (neutral key)
G major 1 sharp F#.
D major 2 sharps F#, C#.
A major 3 sharps F#, C#, G#.
E major 4 sharps F#, C#, G#, D#.
B major 5 sharps F#, C#, G#, D#, A#.
F# major 6 sharps F#, C#, G#, D#, A#, E#.
C# major 7 sharps F#, C#, G#, D#, A#, E#, B#.
Father, Charles, Goes, Down, And, Ends, Battle. 7

Flats…
C major no sharps or flats (neutral key)
F major 1 flat Bb.
Bb major 2 flats Bb, Eb.
Eb major 3 flats Bb, Eb, Ab.
Ab major 4 flats Bb, Eb, Ab, Db.
Db major 5 flats Bb, Eb, Ab, Db, Gb.
Gb major 6 flats Bb, Eb, Ab, Db, Gb, Cb.
Cb major 7 flats Bb, Eb, Ab, Db, Gb, Cb, Fb.
Battle, Ends, And, Down, Goes, Charlie’s, Father. 4

How to Work out the Key Signatures…

I want you to memorise the small sayings below each of the key signatures
contents. For the sharps say:
Sharps #. (7) = “Father - Charles - Goes - Down - And - Ends – Battle”.
Flats b. (4) = “Battle - Ends - And - Down - Goes - Charlie’s – Father”.

You may notice that the saying is said forwards for the sharps and backward for
the flats or visa - versa, but what do the numbers 7 and 4 represent?

7 & 4…
When you want to work out what number of sharps are in a sharpened key find
the 7th degrees of the scale/key you are in and say the phrase (Father, Charles,
etc) until you reach the note of the 7th degree, for example say you want to find
the notes in E major. Find the 7th degree of the scale E, F, G, A, B, C, D. D is the
7th degree of E use the phrase until you come to the letter D (Down), you will find
that E major has 4 sharps because you have said 4 notes using the phrase
Father, Charles, Goes, down (F# C# G# D#).

The number 4 represents the flats you use the same method but count to the
fourth degree when using flattened scales/keys. For example Db major, find the
4th degree of Db major, which is Gb say the flattened key saying until you reach
G and this will give you the number of flats and exactly which flats and in this
case Db major has five flats and they are Bb, Eb, Ab, Db, Gb.

Workout the following key signatures, write down how many sharps or flats the
key signature has (the answers must be written in key signature order).

A major.………………………….. F major. ………………………………….

B major. ………………………… D major. …………………………………

Bb major. ……………………… Eb major. ………………………………….

G major. ………………………… Cb major. ………………………………….

Db major. ……………………… F# major. …………………………………..

C# major. ……………………… E major. ……………………………………

Ab major. ……………………… C# major ……………………………………

C major. ……………………… Gb major. ……………………………………

D minor. ……………………… A minor. ……………………………………

E minor. ……………………… G minor ……………………………………

B minor. ……………………… C minor ……………………………………

C# minor. ……………………… F# minor. ……………………………………

Bb minor. ……………………… Eb minor. ……………………………………

G# minor. ……………………… Ab minor. ……………………………………

A# minor. ……………………… D# minor. ……………………………………

Memorise one key signature per day and keep doing this until you are sick to
death of knowing them, you will find that this will add to your guitar playing and
musical awareness.

The Dominant…
The fifth degree of a scale is called the dominant degree. If you build a chord
from this note you will find that it hold the quality of a major chord but then as you
go into the diatonic 7th the interval from the root to the 7th is that of a minor 7th.
This chord dominates the key you are in for example the dominant chord of G7
belongs to C major or C minor as it is the 5th degree of the key/scale. If you find a
dominant chord in a piece of music you should be able work out the key signature
then simply look for the major or minor chord belonging to the root to confirm if
the key is major or minor. Work out the following home major keys from the given
dominant chords:

G7 = B7 = F7 = Eb7 = F#7 =

D7 = E7 = C7 = Bb7 = C#7 =

A7 = Gb7 = Ab7 = Db7 = G#7 =

Relative Minor Key Signatures…

The relative minor of the major scales can be found by counting a major 6th up or
a minor 3rd down from the root note of the major key. The key signature will
affect the note names of the relative minor, so remember to check the key
signature before you work out the note of the relative minor. Example: C major
relative: A min (no sharps or flats). A major relative: F# min (A major has a key
signature of 3 #'s F#, C# and G#).
Workout the following relative minor keys from the major keys.

D major rel = Ab major rel = G major rel =

F# major rel = F major rel = C# major rel =

Bb major rel = Db major rel = A major rel =

Gb major rel = E major rel = Cb major rel =

B major rel = D minor rel =

Questions…
1. Write out (on manuscript) the key signatures of the following: Bb major, C#
minor, Db major, E minor, F major, D major, A minor, C# major.
2. How many sharps are they in the following key signatures: D major, G major, E
major, C# major, C# minor, B minor, B major.
3. How many flats are they in the following key signatures: Bb major, Ab major, C
minor, F minor, Gb major, Cb major, Eb minor.
4. Write out the following relative key signatures: C minor, E major, Db major, D
minor, Eb major, Eb minor, Bb major, B major, D# minor.
Further Reading & Studies…
AB Guide to Music Theory Part 1.
Jazz Theory Book by Mark Levine (Sher Publishing)

Things to Remember…
Does the key signature belong to the sharps or flats?
Sharps = Father, Charles, Goes, Down , And, Ends, Battle.
Flats = Battle, Ends, And, Down, Goes, Charlie’s, Father.
The Dominant belongs to the 5th degree, relative minor is at the 6th degree of
the major scale/key.

All Key Signatures with their relative minors has been given here to put up
as a poster so you can memorise them off by heart.

Sharps
C major no sharps or flats (neutral key)
G major 1 sharp F#
D major 2 sharps F#, C#
A major 3 sharps F#, C#, G#
E major 4 sharps F#, C#, G#, D#
B major 5 sharps F#, C#, G#, D#, A#
F# major 6 sharps F#, C#, G#, D#, A#, E#
C# major 7 sharps F#, C#, G#, D#, A#, E#, B#.
Father, Charles, Goes, Down, And, Ends, Battle. 7

Flats
C major no sharps or flats (neutral key)
F major 1 flat Bb
Bb major 2 flats Bb, Eb
Eb major 3 flats Bb, Eb, Ab
Ab major 4 flats Bb, Eb, Ab, Db
Db major 5 flats Bb, Eb, Ab, Db, Gb
Gb major 6 flats Bb, Eb, Ab, Db, Gb, Cb
Cb major 7 flats Bb, Eb, Ab, Db, Gb, Cb, Fb
Battle, Ends, And, Down, Goes, Charlie’s, Father. 4

Sharps…
C major - A minor
G major - E minor
D major - B minor
A major - F# minor
E major - C# minor
B major - G# minor
F# major - D# minor
C# major - A# minor

Flats…
C major - A minor
F major - D minor
Bb major - G minor
Eb major - C minor
Ab major - F minor
Db major - Bb minor
Gb major - Eb minor
Cb major - Ab minor