Embedded Files
You should download, print, and complete Theory Worksheet #4 as a companion to this page, or complete worksheet #4 in your workbook. If you are enrolled in CVAS, you will need to submit it to Mrs. Sims. (Note: the attached has both worksheet #3 and worksheet #4 - you only need to complete worksheet #4.) You may also complete the worksheet online at this link. You must also complete the quiz at the bottom in order to receive credit.
Theory worksheets 3-4.pdf
A key is the major or minor scale around which a piece of music revolves.
A key signature is a group of accidentals (sharps and flats) placed at the beginning of every line of music, just to the right of the clef, that instructs the performer to apply those accidentals to every corresponding note in the piece unless specified otherwise. This creates the particular scale that is the key. The reader is expected to remember to sharp or flat those notes as he or she plays, since they are only written at the beginning of the staff. Having this reminder means you don't have to write accidentals (sharps and flats) on every single occurrence of a note.
The accidentals have to be placed in the correct order, and they need to follow a particular pattern of placement that varies slightly depending on the clef being used! (If there are neither # nor ♭listed, the song is either in C major or A minor. More on that later.) The only times they don’t affect a note are when there’s a natural sign on that note or when there’s a key change. For example, this key signature indicates that every f, c, and g in the piece should be sharped, regardless of octave!
There are a couple of ways to find the key from the accidentals you see. You are really looking for "Do," since that is the first degree of the scale being represented.
For flats:
"The farthest flat to the right is fa." In other words, call the right-most flat FA, and then count down the lines and spaces to DO. In the example at the top of the page, the flat is on the middle line, or B. Calling that "fa," and counting down "mi-re-do" puts you in the first space, or F. So it is the key of F Major. (Note: this is how you find the major key. Minors will be discussed later.)
For key signatures using flats, the key signature is also the next-to-last flat (second from the right) marking when read from left to right. (Remember to call it by name: "E FLAT," or "A FLAT."
Check yourself on your understanding!
Of course, you can just read the lines and spaces to figure out what the sharps or flats are in a key, but there are easier ways. One way is to know what is called the "the circle of fifths." Theorists find it convenient to organize all the possible key signatures into a chart that shows their relationship to one another, looking like this:
Notice that as you go to the right around the circle beginning at the top, or on C, you are adding one sharp each successive move. Also notice that the name of the key is always 4 notes, or a 5th, higher than the key immediately preceding it. This is not an accident - there is a definite pattern. This is why it is called the "circle of 5ths." The same is true of flats if you move to the left beginning at C - you add one flat each move. In this case, however, the next key is 4 notes, or a 5th below the key right before it. You will also note that some keys have a parallel way of expressing themselves enharmonically; that is, the notes sound the same, but they are written differently.
If you start writing major scales and pay attention to the accidentals that occur, you are going to start noticing a pattern there as well... for example look at the flat keys, starting with the key that has one flat, all the way through the key with seven flats: the flats accrue in a specific order. same with the sharp keys! so if you look for a key that has only a d flat, you won’t find it: if a key has a d flat, it must also have a b flat, an e flat and an a flat! You will also notice that when a new sharp or flat is added, the key signature retains all of the sharps or flats that were previously added. For example, the key of G Major has only one sharp - an F#. But all the keys that follow in the circle of 5ths also have an F# - always the first sharp, as a matter of fact - even as they have more sharps that follow. The same is true of flats - the key of F Major has only one flat, a Bb. That Bb remains as the first flat in all the keys that follow.
It is a good idea, then, to have a way to identify the sharps and/or flats in order, since the order stays the same each time. One way is to have a mnemonic device, or a saying where the first letter of each word, in order, spells out the order of accidentals. For example, you might say:
Fat Cats Go Down Alleys Eating Bugs for the order of sharps.
B E A D (like the word) Greatest Common Factor for the order of flats.
Or make up your own!
OR...you may have noticed that the order of flats is the order of sharps recited exactly backwards - so you only have to remember one saying, as long as you remember which accidental goes forward, and which goes backward!
Practice finding key signatures here:
OK - so this is all about Major keys. But not every song "comes home" to the same "tonic" (or, home tone.) A key is defined by 2 things - one is what we learned about above, the key signature. But another important part is the key around which the song is centered. If a melody seems to be centered around, or come home to "la" instead of "do," it is probably in minor. For example, the following excerpt looks like it is in Eb major, because it has 3 flats, Bb, Eb and Ab (farthest flat to the right is "fa" - that's Ab, count down to "do," which would be Eb). But look at the last note, which is NOT Eb: instead, it seems to be centered around C, or "la." That means that this piece is in C minor.
Of course, minor keys can use key signatures, too. C minor and Eb major share a key signature (3 flats), but they center around different pitches. This sharing we call "relative:" C minor is the RELATIVE minor of Eb major. (And Eb major is the RELATIVE major of C minor.) In fact, for each major key signature, there is a corresponding minor key that shares its signature. For example, both C major and A minor have zero sharps or flats. A minor is considered the relative minor for C major; likewise, C major is considered the relative major of A minor. Note that this distance is 3 half-steps between - to find the relative minor from the major, go DOWN 3 half-steps. To find the relative major from the minor, go UP 3 half-steps. This distance is also a minor 3rd - but we are getting ahead of ourselves!
Here are some tricks to make memorizing key signatures easier: https://www.musicnotes.com/now/tips/key-signature-hacks-easy-tricks-for-memorizing-major-and-minor-keys/
Here is another chance to practice both major and minor key signatures.
Google Sites
Report abuse