An Easy Way to Remember Key Signatures
Major Key Signatures With Sharps
Starting with C Major, notice the fifth note, G:
C – D – E – F – G – A – B
So now for the next key, you start with G, but to get G Major you have to sharpen the seventh note in the new key, so F becomes F#:
G – A – B – C – D – E – F#
Continuing the same pattern, the next key is D, but to get D Major, the last note in the new key will need to be sharpened (C becomes C#):
D – E – F# – G – A – B - C#
Just remember to start with the fifth of the previous key, and sharpen the last note. It’s that easy. So continuing the pattern we have A Major:
A – B – C# – D – E – F# - G#
And then E Major:
E – F# – G# – A – B – C# – D#
And then B Major:
B – C# – D# – E – F# – G# – A#
And then F# Major:
F# – G# – A# – B – C# – D# - E#
And finally C# Major (every note is sharpened):
C# – D# – E# – F# – G# – A# – B#
Major Key Signatures With Flats
This works similarly with flats, but now we use the fourth note both times. The next key starts with the fourth of the previous, but to get the new key, you must flatten its fourth.
So starting with C Major, we notice the fourth note is F:
C – D – E – F – G – A – B
So now for the next key, you start with F, but to get F Major you have to flatten the fourth note in the new key. B becomes Bb, and we have F Major:
F – G – A – Bb – C – D – E
Continuing the same pattern, the next key is Bb, but to get Bb Major, the fourth note in the new key will need to be sharpened (E becomes Eb):
Bb – C – D – Eb – F – G – A
Just remember to start with the fourth of the previous key, and sharpen the fourth note. It’s that easy. So continuing the pattern we have Eb Major:
Eb – F – G – Ab – Bb – C – D
And then Ab Major:
Ab – Bb – C – Db – Eb – F – G
And then Db Major:
Db – Eb – F – Gb – Ab – Bb – C
And then Gb Major:
Gb – Ab – Bb – Cb – Db – Eb – F
And finally Cb Major (every note is flattened):
Cb – Db – Eb – Fb – Gb – Ab – Bb
Minor Key Signatures
If you know the notes for the major keys, then the minor keys are exactly the same, but you have to start on the sixth degree of the scale (which then becomes the tonic).
For example, we said that C Major was:
C – D – E – F – G – A – B
So to get what is known as the relative minor key, we simply start on the sixth degree of the scale, which in this case is A, which gives us A minor:
A – B – C – D – E – F – G
This works exactly the same for key signatures with flats. To prove this I’ll select Ab Major, which we said was:
Ab – Bb – C – Db – Eb – F – G
So now to get Ab Major’s parallel minor key we start on the sixth degree, which gives us F minor:
F – G – Ab – Bb – C – Db – Eb
