More Tips for Learning to Read Sheet Music
Making Sense of the Symbols for Flats, Sharps, and Key Signatures
May 16, 2009
The group of symbols that follows the clef symbol is called the key signature. To understand what the key signature means to a tune, musicians may need a little background knowledge first.
Octaves and Keys
An octave is made up of eight notes. These are commonly sung as “Doe, ray, me, fa, so, la, tea, doe.” The note for the second “doe” is the same note as the first, just one octave higher in pitch.
If a musician starts on C and then plays the notes in ascending order D, E, F, G, A, B, and C, he will play an octave in the key of C. The octave is in the key of C because it starts and ends on a C. This octave could be written out by starting with a note on a line just below the treble staff and then a note on every space and line until arriving at the C on the third space.
There are other notes that fall between these notes. C-sharp, for example, is a half-step above C and a half-step bellow D. B-flat is one half-step bellow B and one half-step above A. The key of C doesn’t use these notes, but other keys do. So how do these notes appear on the musical staff when there are no extra spaces or lines?
Flats and Sharps
In written music a flat symbol indicates a note is to be played one half-step lower. The flat symbol looks similar to a lower-case B. If musicians run across a note on the first line of the treble clef, they play an E. But, if that note is preceded by the flat symbol, they play an E-flat.
A sharp symbol indicates the note is to be played one half-step higher. This symbol looks similar to a crushed tick-tack-toe board. If musicians run across a note on the second line of the treble clef, they play a G. But if that note is preceded by a sharp symbol, they’ll play a G-sharp.
How to Read a Key Signature
Directly after the clef symbol at the beginning of the staff, musicians will run across a cluster of sharp or flat symbols. This is the key signature and it designates notes that remain sharp or flat in that key. A piece of music with no sharps or flats indicated is in the key of C. If a key signature shows up in the middle of a piece of music, it indicates a key change.
Once the key signature is designated at the beginning of the staff, sharps or flats in that key won’t necessarily be marked individually. A natural symbol before a note warns musicians that note should be played as a natural. Flat and sharp symbols sometimes appear before an individual note in a piece.
Looking at the spaces and lines where these sharps and flats fall can help determine the song’s key. The sharps or flats are always written in the same order from left to right.
No matter how many sharps a key signature contains, the key is always one half-step higher than the last sharp. A key signature with the sharp symbol designating only F-sharp means the song is in the key of G. If the key signature contains F-sharp and C-sharp, the song is in the key of D.
If the key signature contains flats, the key is always the second to last flat in the group. The key of F is an exception since it only has B-flat.
Since most music for beginners will be written in either C or another easy key to figure out, musicians don’t have to spend time memorizing the various sharps and flats in each key. As long as they understand which notes are designated a half-step lower or higher throughout the piece, they’re ready to go on and learn about the last symbol at the beginning of the staff—the time signature.
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