Key signature, the Glossary
In Western musical notation, a key signature is a set of sharp, flat, or rarely, natural symbols placed on the staff at the beginning of a section of music.[1]
Table of Contents
105 relations: A major, A minor, A World Requiem, A-flat major, A-flat minor, A-sharp minor, Accidental (music), Anton Reicha, Atonality, B major, B minor, B-flat major, B-flat minor, Bar (music), Barnes & Noble, Béla Bartók, C major, C minor, C-flat major, C-sharp major, C-sharp minor, Circle of fifths, Claude Debussy, Clef, Common practice period, D major, D minor, D-flat major, D-sharp minor, Degree (music), Diatonic and chromatic, Diatonic scale, Dominant (music), Dorian mode, E major, E minor, E-flat major, E-flat minor, F major, F minor, F-flat major, F-sharp major, F-sharp minor, F♯ (musical note), Flat (music), Frederic Rzewski, G major, G minor, G-flat major, G-sharp major, ... Expand index (55 more) »
A major
A major (or the key of A) is a major scale based on A, with the pitches A, B, sharp, D, E, sharp, and sharp.
A minor
A minor is a minor scale based on A, with the pitches A, B, C, D, E, F, and G. Its key signature has no flats and no sharps.
A World Requiem
A World Requiem, Op. 60 is a large-scale symphonic work with soloists and choirs by the British composer John Foulds.
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A-flat major
A-flat major (or the key of A-flat) is a major scale based on flat, with the pitches A, flat, C, flat, flat, F, and G. Its key signature has four flats.
See Key signature and A-flat major
A-flat minor
A-flat minor is a minor scale based on flat, consisting of the pitches A, flat, flat, flat, flat, flat, and flat.
See Key signature and A-flat minor
A-sharp minor
A-sharp minor is a minor musical scale based on sharp, consisting of the pitches A, sharp, sharp, sharp, sharp, sharp, and sharp.
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Accidental (music)
In musical notation, an accidental is a symbol that indicates an alteration of a given pitch. Key signature and accidental (music) are musical notation.
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Anton Reicha
Anton (Antonín, Antoine) Joseph Reicha (Rejcha) (26 February 1770 – 28 May 1836) was a Czech-born, Bavarian-educated, later naturalized French composer and music theorist.
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Atonality
Atonality in its broadest sense is music that lacks a tonal center, or key.
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B major
B major (or the key of B) is a major scale based on B. The pitches B, sharp, sharp, E, sharp, sharp, and sharp are all part of the B major scale.
B minor
B minor is a minor scale based on B, consisting of the pitches B, sharp, D, E, sharp, G, and A. Its key signature has two sharps.
B-flat major
B-flat major is a major scale based on flat, with pitches B, C, D, flat, F, G, and A. Its key signature has two flats.
See Key signature and B-flat major
B-flat minor
B-flat minor is a minor scale based on flat, consisting of the pitches B, C, flat, flat, F, flat, and flat.
See Key signature and B-flat minor
Bar (music)
In musical notation, a bar (or measure) is a segment of music bounded by vertical lines, known as bar lines (or barlines), usually indicating one of more recurring beats. The length of the bar, measured by the number of note values it contains, is normally indicated by the time signature. Key signature and bar (music) are musical notation.
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Barnes & Noble
Barnes & Noble Booksellers is an American bookseller with the largest number of retail outlets in the United States.
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Béla Bartók
Béla Viktor János Bartók (25 March 1881 – 26 September 1945) was a Hungarian composer, pianist and ethnomusicologist.
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C major
C major (or the key of C) is a major scale based on C, consisting of the pitches C, D, E, F, G, A, and B. C major is one of the most common keys used in music.
C minor
C minor is a minor scale based on C, consisting of the pitches C, D, flat, F, G, flat, and flat.
C-flat major
C-flat major (or the key of C-flat) is a major scale based on flat, consisting of the pitches C, flat, flat, flat, flat, flat, and flat.
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C-sharp major
C-sharp major (or the key of C-sharp) is a major scale based on sharp, consisting of the pitches C, sharp, sharp, sharp, sharp, sharp, and sharp.
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C-sharp minor
C-sharp minor is a minor scale based on sharp, with the pitches C, sharp, E, sharp, sharp, A, and B. Its key signature consists of four sharps.
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Circle of fifths
In music theory, the circle of fifths (sometimes also cycle of fifths) is a way of organizing pitches as a sequence of perfect fifths.
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Claude Debussy
(Achille) Claude Debussy (|group.
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Clef
A clef (from French: clef 'key') is a musical symbol used to indicate which notes are represented by the lines and spaces on a musical staff. Key signature and clef are musical notation.
Common practice period
In European art music, the common practice period was the period of about 250 years during which the tonal system was regarded as the only basis for composition.
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D major
D major (or the key of D) is a major scale based on D, consisting of the pitches D, E, sharp, G, A, B, and sharp.
D minor
D minor is a minor scale based on D, consisting of the pitches D, E, F, G, A, B, and C. Its key signature has one flat.
D-flat major
D-flat major (or the key of D-flat) is a major scale based on flat, consisting of the pitches D, flat, F, flat, flat, flat and C. Its key signature has five flats.
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D-sharp minor
D-sharp minor is a minor scale based on sharp, consisting of the pitches D, sharp, sharp, sharp, sharp, B, and sharp.
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Degree (music)
In music theory, the scale degree is the position of a particular note on a scale relative to the tonic—the first and main note of the scale from which each octave is assumed to begin.
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Diatonic and chromatic
Diatonic and chromatic are terms in music theory that are used to characterize scales.
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Diatonic scale
In music theory, a diatonic scale is any heptatonic scale that includes five whole steps (whole tones) and two half steps (semitones) in each octave, in which the two half steps are separated from each other by either two or three whole steps, depending on their position in the scale.
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Dominant (music)
In music, the dominant is the fifth scale degree of the diatonic scale.
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Dorian mode
Dorian mode or Doric mode can refer to three very different but interrelated subjects: one of the Ancient Greek harmoniai (characteristic melodic behaviour, or the scale structure associated with it); one of the medieval musical modes; or—most commonly—one of the modern modal diatonic scales, corresponding to the piano keyboard's white notes from D to D, or any transposition of itself.
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E major
E major (or the key of E) is a major scale based on E, consisting of the pitches E, Fsharp, Gsharp, A, B, Csharp, and Dsharp.
E minor
E minor is a minor scale based on E, consisting of the pitches E, sharp, G, A, B, C, and D. Its key signature has one sharp, on the F. Its relative major is G major and its parallel major is E major.
E-flat major
E-flat major (or the key of E-flat) is a major scale based on flat, consisting of the pitches E, F, G, flat, flat, C, and D. Its key signature has three flats.
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E-flat minor
E-flat minor is a minor scale based on flat, consisting of the pitches E, F, flat, flat, flat, flat, and flat.
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F major
F major (or the key of F) is a major scale based on F, with the pitches F, G, A, flat, C, D, and E. Its key signature has one flat.
F minor
F minor is a minor scale based on F, consisting of the pitches F, G, flat, flat, C, flat, and flat.
F-flat major
F-flat major (or the key of F-flat) is a theoretical key based on flat, consisting of the pitches F, b, b, B double flat, b, b, and b.
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F-sharp major
F-sharp major (or the key of F) is a major scale based on sharp, consisting of the pitches F, sharp, sharp, B, sharp, sharp, and sharp.
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F-sharp minor
F-sharp minor is a minor scale based on sharp, consisting of the pitches F, sharp, A, B, sharp, D, and E. Its key signature has three sharps.
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F♯ (musical note)
F (F-sharp; also known as fa dièse or fi) is the seventh semitone of the solfège.
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Flat (music)
In music, flat means lower in pitch. Key signature and flat (music) are musical notation.
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Frederic Rzewski
Frederic Anthony Rzewski (April 13, 1938 – June 26, 2021) was an American composer and pianist, considered to be one of the most important American composer-pianists of his time.
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G major
G major (or the key of G) is a major scale based on G, with the pitches G, A, B, C, D, E, and sharp.
G minor
G minor is a minor scale based on G, consisting of the pitches G, A, flat, C, D, Eflat, and F. Its key signature has two flats.
G-flat major
G-flat major (or the key of G-flat) is a major scale based on flat, consisting of the pitches G, flat, flat, flat, flat, flat, and F. Its key signature has six flats.
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G-sharp major
G-sharp major is a theoretical key based on the musical note sharp, consisting of the pitches G, sharp, sharp, sharp, sharp, sharp, and F. Its key signature has one double sharp and six sharps.
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G-sharp minor
G-sharp minor is a minor scale based on sharp, consisting of the pitches G, sharp, B, sharp, sharp, E, and sharp.
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Great Highland bagpipe
The great Highland bagpipe (a' phìob mhòr 'the great pipe') is a type of bagpipe native to Scotland, and the Scottish analogue to the great Irish warpipes.
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György Ligeti
György Sándor Ligeti (28 May 1923 – 12 June 2006) was a Hungarian-Austrian composer of contemporary classical music.
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Iberia (Albéniz)
Iberia is a suite for piano composed between 1905 and 1909 by the Spanish composer Isaac Albéniz.
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Isaac Albéniz
Isaac Manuel Francisco Albéniz y Pascual (29 May 1860 – 18 May 1909) was a Spanish virtuoso pianist, composer, and conductor.
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Johann Sebastian Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period.
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John Foulds
John Herbert Foulds (2 November 1880 – 25 April 1939) was an English cellist and composer of classical music.
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Josquin des Prez
Josquin Lebloitte dit des Prez (– 27 August 1521) was a composer of High Renaissance music, who is variously described as French or Franco-Flemish.
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Key (music)
In music theory, the key of a piece is the group of pitches, or scale, that forms the basis of a musical composition in Western classical music, art music, and pop music.
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Key signature
In Western musical notation, a key signature is a set of sharp, flat, or rarely, natural symbols placed on the staff at the beginning of a section of music. Key signature and key signature are musical notation.
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Key signature names and translations
When a musical key or key signature is referred to in a language other than English, that language may use the usual notation used in English (namely the letters A to G, along with translations of the words sharp, flat, major and minor in that language): languages which use the English system include Irish, Welsh, Hindi, Japanese (based on katakana in iroha order), Korean (based on hangul in ganada order), Chinese, Thai, Indonesian, Filipino, Swahili, Esperanto.
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Klezmer
Klezmer (קלעזמער or כּלי־זמר) is an instrumental musical tradition of the Ashkenazi Jews of Central and Eastern Europe.
LilyPond
LilyPond is a computer program and file format for music engraving.
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Lydian mode
The modern Lydian mode is a seven-tone musical scale formed from a rising pattern of pitches comprising three whole tones, a semitone, two more whole tones, and a final semitone.
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Major and minor
In Western music, the adjectives major and minor may describe an interval, chord, scale, or key.
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Major scale
The major scale (or Ionian mode) is one of the most commonly used musical scales, especially in Western music.
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Max Reger
Johann Baptist Joseph Maximilian Reger (19 March 187311 May 1916) was a German composer, pianist, organist, conductor, and academic teacher.
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Medieval music
Medieval music encompasses the sacred and secular music of Western Europe during the Middle Ages, from approximately the 6th to 15th centuries.
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Microtone (music)
Microtonal or microtonality is the use in music of microtones—intervals smaller than a semitone, also called "microintervals".
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Mikrokosmos (Bartók)
Béla Bartók's Mikrokosmos Sz.
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Minor scale
In western classical music theory, the minor scale refers to three scale patterns – the natural minor scale (or Aeolian mode), the harmonic minor scale, and the melodic minor scale (ascending or descending).
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Minor third
In music theory, a minor third is a musical interval that encompasses three half steps, or semitones.
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Mode (music)
In music theory, the term mode or modus is used in a number of distinct senses, depending on context.
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Modulation (music)
In music, modulation is the change from one tonality (tonic, or tonal center) to another.
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Musical notation
Musical notation is any system used to visually represent music.
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Musical note
In music, notes are distinct and isolatable sounds that act as the most basic building blocks for nearly all of music. Key signature and Musical note are musical notation.
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Musical tuning
In music, there are two common meanings for tuning.
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Natural (music)
In modern Western music notation, a natural (♮) is a musical symbol that cancels a previous sharp or flat on a note in the written music. Key signature and natural (music) are musical notation.
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Octatonic scale
An octatonic scale is any eight-note musical scale.
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Ottorino Respighi
Ottorino Respighi (9 July 187918 April 1936) was an Italian composer, violinist, teacher, and musicologist and one of the leading Italian composers of the early 20th century.
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Parallel key
In music theory, a major scale and a minor scale that have the same starting note (tonic) are called parallel keys and are said to be in a parallel relationship.
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Perfect fifth
In music theory, a perfect fifth is the musical interval corresponding to a pair of pitches with a frequency ratio of 3:2, or very nearly so.
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Perfect fourth
A fourth is a musical interval encompassing four staff positions in the music notation of Western culture, and a perfect fourth is the fourth spanning five semitones (half steps, or half tones).
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Phrygian dominant scale
In music, the Phrygian dominant scale is the fifth mode of the harmonic minor scale, the fifth being the dominant.
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Piano Sonata (Bartók)
The Piano Sonata, BB 88, Sz.
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Pierre de la Rue
Pierre de la Rue (– 20 November 1518) was a Franco-Flemish composer and singer of the Renaissance.
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Pines of Rome
Pines of Rome (Pini di Roma), P 141, is a tone poem in four movements for orchestra completed in 1924 by the Italian composer Ottorino Respighi.
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Polytonality
Polytonality (also polyharmony) is the musical use of more than one key simultaneously.
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Relative key
In music, relative keys are the major and minor scales that have the same key signatures (enharmonically equivalent), meaning that they share all of the same notes but are arranged in a different order of whole steps and half steps.
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Semitone
A semitone, also called a minor second, half step, or a half tone, is the smallest musical interval commonly used in Western tonal music, and it is considered the most dissonant when sounded harmonically.
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Sergei Prokofiev
Sergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev (– 5 March 1953) was a Russian composer, pianist, and conductor who later worked in the Soviet Union.
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Sharp (music)
In music, in English sharp – eqv. Key signature and sharp (music) are musical notation.
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Staff (music)
In Western musical notation, the staff: "in British English: also called: stave; plural: staffs or staves" (UK also stave; plural: staffs or staves), also occasionally referred to as a pentagram, is a set of five horizontal lines and four spaces that each represent a different musical pitch or in the case of a percussion staff, different percussion instruments. Key signature and staff (music) are musical notation.
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Suite bergamasque
Suite bergamasque (L. 75) is a piano suite by Claude Debussy.
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The Well-Tempered Clavier
The Well-Tempered Clavier, BWV 846–893, consists of two sets of preludes and fugues in all 24 major and minor keys for keyboard by Johann Sebastian Bach.
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Time signature
A time signature (also known as meter signature, metre signature, and measure signature) is a convention in Western music notation that specifies how many note values of a particular type are contained in each measure (bar). Key signature and time signature are musical notation.
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Timpani
Timpani or kettledrums (also informally called timps) are musical instruments in the percussion family.
Toccata and Fugue in D minor, BWV 538
The Toccata and Fugue in D minor, BWV 538, is an organ piece by Johann Sebastian Bach.
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Tonality
Tonality is the arrangement of pitches and/or chords of a musical work in a hierarchy of perceived relations, stabilities, attractions, and directionality.
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Tonic (music)
In music, the tonic is the first scale degree of the diatonic scale (the first note of a scale) and the tonal center or final resolution tone that is commonly used in the final cadence in tonal (musical key-based) classical music, popular music, and traditional music.
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Transposing instrument
A transposing instrument is a musical instrument for which music notation is not written at concert pitch (concert pitch is the pitch on a non-transposing instrument such as the piano). Key signature and transposing instrument are musical notation.
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Universal key
The universal key or universal scale is a concept employed in music theory in which specific notes or chord symbols in a key signature are replaced with numbers or Roman numerals, so that the relationships between notes or chords can be universally applied to any key signature.
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Victor Ewald
Victor Vladímirovich Ewald (or Ėval′d) (Ви́ктор Влади́мирович Э́вальд; 27 November 1860 – 16 April 1935), was a Russian engineer, architect, and composer of music, mainly for conical brass instruments.
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Western culture
Western culture, also known as Western civilization, European civilization, Occidental culture, or Western society, includes the diverse heritages of social norms, ethical values, traditional customs, belief systems, political systems, artifacts and technologies of the Western world.
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19 equal temperament
In music, 19 equal temperament, called 19 TET, 19 EDO ("Equal Division of the Octave"), 19-ED2 ("Equal Division of 2:1) or 19 ET, is the tempered scale derived by dividing the octave into 19 equal steps (equal frequency ratios).
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References
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Key_signature
Also known as A sharp major, A-double-flat major, A-double-flat minor, A-double-sharp minor, A-sharp major, B double flat (scale), B double flat major, B sharp (scale), B-Sharp Major, B-double flat major, B-double-flat major, B-double-flat minor, B-sharp minor, C flat minor, C-double-flat major, C-double-sharp major, C-double-sharp minor, C-flat minor, Conflicting signature, D double flat major, D sharp major, D-double-flat major, D-double-sharp minor, D-sharp major, E-double-flat major, E-double-flat minor, E-sharp major, F double sharp (scale), F-double-sharp major, F-double-sharp minor, F-flat minor, Flat key signature, Flats key signature, G double sharp major, G flat minor, G-double-flat major, G-double-sharp minor, G-flat minor, Imaginary minor, Impossible and theoretical keys, Impossible key, Key of Ab, Key of Bb, Key of Eb, Key signatures, Natural key signature, Naturals key signature, Partial key signature, Partial key-signature, Partial signature, Sharp key signature, Sharps key signature, Theoretical key, Theoretical key of circle of fifths, Unusual key signature.
, G-sharp minor, Great Highland bagpipe, György Ligeti, Iberia (Albéniz), Isaac Albéniz, Johann Sebastian Bach, John Foulds, Josquin des Prez, Key (music), Key signature, Key signature names and translations, Klezmer, LilyPond, Lydian mode, Major and minor, Major scale, Max Reger, Medieval music, Microtone (music), Mikrokosmos (Bartók), Minor scale, Minor third, Mode (music), Modulation (music), Musical notation, Musical note, Musical tuning, Natural (music), Octatonic scale, Ottorino Respighi, Parallel key, Perfect fifth, Perfect fourth, Phrygian dominant scale, Piano Sonata (Bartók), Pierre de la Rue, Pines of Rome, Polytonality, Relative key, Semitone, Sergei Prokofiev, Sharp (music), Staff (music), Suite bergamasque, The Well-Tempered Clavier, Time signature, Timpani, Toccata and Fugue in D minor, BWV 538, Tonality, Tonic (music), Transposing instrument, Universal key, Victor Ewald, Western culture, 19 equal temperament.