Sharp notes are notes that sound a semitone higher than notes that appear on the lines and spaces of a musical staff.
- As an example, the note G is represented on the second line of the treble clef staff.
- The # symbol universally indicates a sharp note.
Today's chord is G-sharp, which is more commonly known by its enharmonic equivalent, A-flat. Because G-sharp has eight sharps (meaning one of the notes, F, has two sharps, making it actually a G) it's considered a theoretical key. It's a key that really does exist— in theory.
Clef. A clef (from French: clef “key”) is a musical symbol used to indicate the pitch of written notes. Placed on one of the lines at the beginning of the stave, it indicates the name and pitch of the notes on that line.
D♯ (D-sharp) or re dièse is the fourth semitone of the solfège. It lies a chromatic semitone above D and a diatonic semitone below E, thus being enharmonic to mi bémol or E♭. E♭ is a perfect fourth above B♭, whereas D♯ is a major third above B.
Flat is the opposite of sharp, which is a raising of pitch. In musical notation, flat means "lower in pitch by one semitone (half step)", notated using the symbol ♭ which is derived from a stylised lowercase 'b'.
Flats and sharps are necessary to allow every version of the diatonic scale to start at any point on the chromatic scale without repeating a note letter name, or assigning different notes in our chosen diatonic scale to the same line on the musical stave.
This scale consists of the pitches C♯, D♯, E♯, F♯, G♯, A♯, and B♯. Its key signature as 7 sharps. The relative minor of C sharp major is A sharp minor. C sharp is the enharmonic equivalent of Db.
Dynamic marking and meaning
| Dynamic marking | Meaning |
|---|
| pp | Pianissimo: very quiet |
| p | Piano: quiet |
| ff | Fortissimo: very loud |
| f | Forte: loud |
The pitches B, C♯, D♯, E, F♯, G♯, and A♯ are all part of the B major scale.
The key of C has no sharps or flats The key of G has one sharp (F#) The key of D Major has two sharps (F# and C#) The key of A has 3 sharps (F#, C# and G#) The key of E has 4 sharps (F#, C#, G# and D#) The key of F has one flat (Bb) The key of Bb has 2 flats (Bb and Eb) The key of Eb has 3 flats (Bb, Eb, and Ab) The
Scales with sharp key signatures
| Major key | Number of sharps | Sharp notes |
|---|
| G major | 1 | F♯ |
| D major | 2 | F♯, C♯ |
| A major | 3 | F♯, C♯, G♯ |
| E major | 4 | F♯, C♯, G♯, D♯ |
Again the order of sharps is; F, C, G, D, A, E and B. An easy way to remember that sequence is to use the memory technique of making those letters the first letters of words incorporated into a memorable phrase.
Key signature
| Key Sig. | Major Key | Minor Key |
|---|
| 1 sharp | G major | E minor |
| 2 sharps | D major | B minor |
| 3 sharps | A major | F sharp minor |
| 4 sharps | E major | C sharp minor |
The circle of fifths is a sequence of pitches or key tonalities, represented as a circle, in which the next pitch (turning clockwise) is found seven semitones higher than the last.
This flat is on the line or space the key signature is named after. One flat is F, since you can't go to the next -to-last flat. To find the name of a key signature with sharps, look at the sharp farthest to the right. The key signature is the note a half step above that last sharp.
Why do B and C and E and F not have a sharp note between them? Simply because, acoustically speaking, there is no room in our current system for another pitch between B and C, or E and F. A sharp always refers to raising the pitch by a half step, and a flat always refers to lowering the pitch by a half step.
Key Signatures
| Key Sig. | Major Key | Minor Key |
|---|
| 1 sharp | G major | E minor |
| 2 sharps | D major | B minor |
| 3 sharps | A major | F# minor |
| 4 sharps | E major | C# minor |
Major Keys Using Sharps
| Major Key | Minor Key | 3 |
|---|
| G | E | |
| D | B | |
| A | F# | G# |
| E | C# | G# |
Because F always means F# in the G Major scale, it is inconvenient to do this every time the note is used. Instead, a sharp can be placed at the start of every staff, to indicate that all F notes are to be played sharp. This is known as the key signature of the G Major scale.
E-flat major (or the key of E-flat) is a major scale based on E♭, with the pitches E♭, F, G, A♭, B♭, C, and D. Its key signature has three flats: B, E, and A. Its relative minor is C minor, while its parallel minor is E♭ minor (or enharmonically D♯ minor).
In music notation, the key signature tells the reader which notes to play sharp or flat throughout the music. Next to it is the very same notes using the key signature for D Major — 2 sharps. That means every F and C you encounter in the music are to be played as F# and C#.
Recap
- At the top of a well-written chart, you'll see a clef & a time signature, and in between them is a key signature—the number of sharps or flats tell you what key the song is in.
- If the last chord in the song gives you a sense of resolution, it's probably the I.
The time signature (also known as meter signature, metre signature, or measure signature) is a notational convention used in Western musical notation to specify how many beats (pulses) are contained in each measure (bar), and which note value is equivalent to a beat.
In music, a note is a symbol denoting a musical sound. Notes can represent the pitch and duration of a sound in musical notation. A note can also represent a pitch class.
Key Signature RulesThere is only one major scale for every key signature. Major scales use either flats or sharps but never mix the two. The highest number of sharps and flats you can have in a scale is 7.
- An accidental is a musical symbol that alters the pitch of a note.
- The flat sign lowers a pitch by one half step.
- The sharp sign raises a pitch by one half step.
- The natural sign is used to cancel any previous accidentals.
- The double flat lowers a pitch by two half steps.
- The double sharp looks like a fancy letter X.
In music theory, a natural is an accidental which cancels previous accidentals and represents the unaltered pitch of a note. A note is natural when it is neither flat (♭) nor sharp (♯) (nor double-flat nor double-sharp.
