From the course: Theory for the Contemporary Guitarist
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Keys and key signatures
From the course: Theory for the Contemporary Guitarist
Keys and key signatures
- When we talk about the construction of the different major scales, we're also in essence defining the contents of the major keys. A major key is made of all of the notes of a particular major scale. For instance, if we are using the notes of a G major scale to make a song, the song is said to be in the key of G major. The key of the song is indicated with a key signature. The sharps or flats that we saw in the different major scales are placed at the beginning of each line of music. This is known as the key signature. We established earlier that the G major scale has one sharp in it, F sharp. So the key of G major would have one sharp and would look like this. The order of sharps in a key signature always appear in this order: F sharp, C sharp, G sharp, D Sharp, A sharp and E sharp. Musicians sometimes use phrases such as fat cows go down and eat to remember the order of sharps. The flats appear in this…
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