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How to Tell The Key of a Song

February 23, 2010 by Ryan Edward · Leave a Comment 

UPDATE: My good friend Jermaine Griggs has put together an awesome 34-minute long video lesson on finding the key of any song. It has a ton a great tips and is free to watch so I suggest that you go Check it out now…

One key or another is always assigned to each and every music piece. It may be in the key of Bb or maybe even the key of E. The beginning of the score is used to determine the key signature that will be used throughout the piece, like if there are flats or sharps that will be used and which scale it is to be played or sung in.

There is a key signature in all pieces of music. It is signified just after the clef (the staff) and includes symbols for flats (b) and sharps (#). When you take a careful look at the start of each of the lines in the music you will surely recognize a grouping of flats or sharps (never both at once). They appear either on a space or on a line of the music staff and are put there to signify the notes that will be affected by them. Read more

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Learn Piano Sharps & Flats

February 6, 2010 by Ryan Edward · Leave a Comment 

Now that you’ve had some experience with the white keys of the piano, we will introduce the black keys…

If you’ve had any music experience or have been around musicians, you’ve definitely heard the words, “sharp” or “flat.” These terms are the names given to the black keys of the piano.

Actually, each black key has two different names. However, only one name can be used at a time. So then, the question is: “How do I know when to call a black key a sharp or a flat?”

The answer is very simple: Sharp is the name given to the black key directly to the right of a white key while Flat is the name given to the black key directly to the left of a white key.

Below is an example of “sharps” and “flats” …

Notice the black key directly to the right of C: It can either be labeled as C Sharp (because it is to the right of C) or D Flat (because it is to the left of D).

To recap, if you are referring to the note directly to the right of C, you would use C Sharp … but if you are referring to the note directly to the left of D, you would use D Flat. (Please keep in mind that C Sharp and D Flat share the same key and sound exactly the same.)

Using “#” and “b“

Sharps are notated with the symbol, #, while Flats are noted with the symbol, b.

Note that the sharp names for the three-grouped black keys above are: F#, G#, and A#. Why? Because one key is directly to the right of F, one is directly to the right of G and one is directly to the right of A. Contrary, the flat names for the three-grouped black keys are: Gb, Ab, and Bb. This is because Gb is directly to the left of G, Ab is directly to the left of A, and Bb is directly to the left of B.

Here is a chart to help you understand the flat / sharp relationship:

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