For example, if you just have one sharp, F sharp, the key is one half-step up from F sharp: G major. SHARPS: The name of the key is a half-step up from the last sharp in the key signature. That's why those beginning piano students are always obsessing over 'middle C.' Now that you have the order of the keys, how do you know what key you are in? Here are some tricks:Ĭ MAJOR: You just have to memorize the fact that the key with no flats and no sharps is the key of C major. A few tricks: I'm always helped by the fact that the first four flats spell 'BEAD.' Also, when it comes to which saying I need, (battle ends, or Father Charles?) a flat ('b') looks like a 'b' so the first flat is 'B.' If you use a bit of imagination, the sign for a sharp, ('#'), looks a bit like an 'F' - okay not really, but it doesn't look anything like a 'b'! Same with flats: if you have one flat, it's Bb. Why are they in a certain order? Because that is the order in which they appear in key signatures. This saying is nice because it demonstrates that the order of the flats is simply the order of the sharps in reverse, and the saying works the same way. Here is the order of the sharps and flats: Once you know this order, you'll have an easier time determining which notes are sharp and which are flat in various keys. (To be thorough in my definitions: sharps make a note a half-step higher, flats make a note a half-step lower).īelow is an acrostic saying that shows the order in which they appear on key signatures. Here are a few aids to help:įirst, you need to know the order of the sharps and the flats. At some point, they just need to memorize them. Violin students, like all music students, need to know their sharps, flats and key signatures. A piece in the key of C is based on the scale of C major, which starts on the note 'C.'

To back up, what is a key signature? Basically it's the name of the scale that any given piece is built on. The concept of G major seems a little easier to understand on a keyboard, where one sharp means one black key. C major makes sense as the white-key scale that doesn't require any black keys, thus doesn't have any sharps or flats. The true violin native, who did not take piano first or have music theory instruction at school (and these days, who does?), sometimes has a hard time remembering key signatures without the constant reinforcement that the physical structure of a keyboard provides. If only key signatures felt as logical on the violin as they do on the piano!.Laurie Niles Laurie's Violin School: Learn (or Teach) Your Key Signatures in Nine Weeks

Memorize music keys