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<span>Conventions</span> </div> </a> <button aria-controls="toc-Conventions-sublist" class="cdx-button cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--icon-only vector-toc-toggle"> <span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-expand"></span> <span>Toggle Conventions subsection</span> </button> <ul id="toc-Conventions-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> <li id="toc-Variations" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Variations"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">2.1</span> <span>Variations</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Variations-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Double_flats_and_sharps" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Double_flats_and_sharps"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">2.2</span> <span>Double flats and sharps</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Double_flats_and_sharps-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Major_scale_structure" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Major_scale_structure"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">3</span> <span>Major scale structure</span> </div> </a> <button aria-controls="toc-Major_scale_structure-sublist" class="cdx-button cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--icon-only vector-toc-toggle"> <span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-expand"></span> <span>Toggle Major scale structure subsection</span> </button> <ul id="toc-Major_scale_structure-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> <li id="toc-Scales_with_sharp_key_signatures" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Scales_with_sharp_key_signatures"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">3.1</span> <span>Scales with sharp key signatures</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Scales_with_sharp_key_signatures-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Scales_with_flat_key_signatures" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Scales_with_flat_key_signatures"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">3.2</span> <span>Scales with flat key signatures</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Scales_with_flat_key_signatures-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Relationship_between_key_and_signature" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Relationship_between_key_and_signature"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">4</span> <span>Relationship between key and signature</span> </div> </a> <button aria-controls="toc-Relationship_between_key_and_signature-sublist" class="cdx-button cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--icon-only vector-toc-toggle"> <span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-expand"></span> <span>Toggle Relationship between key and signature subsection</span> </button> <ul id="toc-Relationship_between_key_and_signature-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> <li id="toc-Additional_terminology" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Additional_terminology"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">4.1</span> <span>Additional terminology</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Additional_terminology-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Use_in_other_traditions" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Use_in_other_traditions"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">5</span> <span>Use in other traditions</span> </div> </a> <button aria-controls="toc-Use_in_other_traditions-sublist" class="cdx-button cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--icon-only vector-toc-toggle"> <span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-expand"></span> <span>Toggle Use in other traditions subsection</span> </button> <ul id="toc-Use_in_other_traditions-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> <li id="toc-Historical_notation" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Historical_notation"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">5.1</span> <span>Historical notation</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Historical_notation-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Unusual_signatures" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Unusual_signatures"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">5.2</span> <span>Unusual signatures</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Unusual_signatures-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-History" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#History"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">6</span> <span>History</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-History-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Table" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Table"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">7</span> <span>Table</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Table-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-See_also" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#See_also"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">8</span> <span>See also</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-See_also-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-References" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#References"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">9</span> <span>References</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-References-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> </ul> </div> </div> </nav> </div> </div> <div class="mw-content-container"> <main id="content" class="mw-body"> <header class="mw-body-header vector-page-titlebar"> <nav aria-label="Contents" class="vector-toc-landmark"> <div id="vector-page-titlebar-toc" class="vector-dropdown vector-page-titlebar-toc vector-button-flush-left" > <input type="checkbox" id="vector-page-titlebar-toc-checkbox" role="button" aria-haspopup="true" data-event-name="ui.dropdown-vector-page-titlebar-toc" class="vector-dropdown-checkbox " aria-label="Toggle the table of contents" > <label id="vector-page-titlebar-toc-label" for="vector-page-titlebar-toc-checkbox" class="vector-dropdown-label cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--icon-only " aria-hidden="true" ><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-listBullet mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-listBullet"></span> <span 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Available in 33 languages" > <label id="p-lang-btn-label" for="p-lang-btn-checkbox" class="vector-dropdown-label cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--action-progressive mw-portlet-lang-heading-33" aria-hidden="true" ><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-language-progressive mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-language-progressive"></span> <span class="vector-dropdown-label-text">33 languages</span> </label> <div class="vector-dropdown-content"> <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-ar mw-list-item"><a href="https://ar.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%AF%D9%84%D9%8A%D9%84_%D9%85%D9%82%D8%A7%D9%85" title="دليل مقام – Arabic" lang="ar" hreflang="ar" data-title="دليل مقام" data-language-autonym="العربية" data-language-local-name="Arabic" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>العربية</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-bg mw-list-item"><a href="https://bg.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%90%D1%80%D0%BC%D0%B0%D1%82%D1%83%D1%80%D0%B0_(%D0%BC%D1%83%D0%B7%D0%B8%D0%BA%D0%B0)" title="Арматура (музика) – Bulgarian" lang="bg" hreflang="bg" data-title="Арматура (музика)" data-language-autonym="Български" data-language-local-name="Bulgarian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Български</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-ca mw-list-item"><a href="https://ca.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armadura_(m%C3%BAsica)" title="Armadura (música) – Catalan" lang="ca" hreflang="ca" data-title="Armadura (música)" data-language-autonym="Català" data-language-local-name="Catalan" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Català</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-cs mw-list-item"><a href="https://cs.wikipedia.org/wiki/P%C5%99edznamen%C3%A1n%C3%AD" title="Předznamenání – Czech" lang="cs" hreflang="cs" data-title="Předznamenání" data-language-autonym="Čeština" data-language-local-name="Czech" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Čeština</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-da mw-list-item"><a href="https://da.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fortegn_(musik)" title="Fortegn (musik) – Danish" lang="da" hreflang="da" data-title="Fortegn (musik)" data-language-autonym="Dansk" data-language-local-name="Danish" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Dansk</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-de mw-list-item"><a href="https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vorzeichen_(Musik)" title="Vorzeichen (Musik) – German" lang="de" hreflang="de" data-title="Vorzeichen (Musik)" data-language-autonym="Deutsch" data-language-local-name="German" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Deutsch</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-et mw-list-item"><a href="https://et.wikipedia.org/wiki/V%C3%B5tmem%C3%A4rk" title="Võtmemärk – Estonian" lang="et" hreflang="et" data-title="Võtmemärk" data-language-autonym="Eesti" data-language-local-name="Estonian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Eesti</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-es mw-list-item"><a href="https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armadura_(m%C3%BAsica)" title="Armadura (música) – Spanish" lang="es" hreflang="es" data-title="Armadura (música)" data-language-autonym="Español" data-language-local-name="Spanish" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Español</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-eo mw-list-item"><a href="https://eo.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anta%C5%ADsigno_(muziko)" title="Antaŭsigno (muziko) – Esperanto" lang="eo" hreflang="eo" data-title="Antaŭsigno (muziko)" data-language-autonym="Esperanto" data-language-local-name="Esperanto" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Esperanto</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-eu mw-list-item"><a href="https://eu.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gako-armadura" title="Gako-armadura – Basque" lang="eu" hreflang="eu" data-title="Gako-armadura" data-language-autonym="Euskara" data-language-local-name="Basque" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Euskara</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-fa mw-list-item"><a href="https://fa.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%B3%D8%B1%DA%A9%D9%84%DB%8C%D8%AF" title="سرکلید – Persian" lang="fa" hreflang="fa" data-title="سرکلید" data-language-autonym="فارسی" data-language-local-name="Persian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>فارسی</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-fr mw-list-item"><a href="https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armure_(musique)" title="Armure (musique) – French" lang="fr" hreflang="fr" data-title="Armure (musique)" data-language-autonym="Français" data-language-local-name="French" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Français</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-gl mw-list-item"><a href="https://gl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armadura_(m%C3%BAsica)" title="Armadura (música) – Galician" lang="gl" hreflang="gl" data-title="Armadura (música)" data-language-autonym="Galego" data-language-local-name="Galician" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Galego</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-ko mw-list-item"><a href="https://ko.wikipedia.org/wiki/%EC%A1%B0%ED%91%9C_(%EC%9D%8C%EC%95%85)" title="조표 (음악) – Korean" lang="ko" hreflang="ko" data-title="조표 (음악)" data-language-autonym="한국어" data-language-local-name="Korean" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>한국어</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-id mw-list-item"><a href="https://id.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tanda_kunci" title="Tanda kunci – Indonesian" lang="id" hreflang="id" data-title="Tanda kunci" data-language-autonym="Bahasa Indonesia" data-language-local-name="Indonesian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Bahasa Indonesia</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-it mw-list-item"><a href="https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armatura_(musica)" title="Armatura (musica) – Italian" lang="it" hreflang="it" data-title="Armatura (musica)" data-language-autonym="Italiano" data-language-local-name="Italian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Italiano</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-ku mw-list-item"><a href="https://ku.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armat%C3%BBra_(muz%C3%AEk)" title="Armatûra (muzîk) – Kurdish" lang="ku" hreflang="ku" data-title="Armatûra (muzîk)" data-language-autonym="Kurdî" data-language-local-name="Kurdish" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Kurdî</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-nl mw-list-item"><a href="https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voortekening" title="Voortekening – Dutch" lang="nl" hreflang="nl" data-title="Voortekening" data-language-autonym="Nederlands" data-language-local-name="Dutch" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Nederlands</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-ja mw-list-item"><a href="https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E8%AA%BF%E5%8F%B7" title="調号 – Japanese" lang="ja" hreflang="ja" data-title="調号" data-language-autonym="日本語" data-language-local-name="Japanese" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>日本語</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-pl mw-list-item"><a href="https://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Znaki_przykluczowe" title="Znaki przykluczowe – Polish" lang="pl" hreflang="pl" data-title="Znaki przykluczowe" data-language-autonym="Polski" data-language-local-name="Polish" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Polski</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-pt mw-list-item"><a href="https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armadura_(m%C3%BAsica)" title="Armadura (música) – Portuguese" lang="pt" hreflang="pt" data-title="Armadura (música)" data-language-autonym="Português" data-language-local-name="Portuguese" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Português</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-ru mw-list-item"><a href="https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%9A%D0%BB%D1%8E%D1%87%D0%B5%D0%B2%D1%8B%D0%B5_%D0%B7%D0%BD%D0%B0%D0%BA%D0%B8" title="Ключевые знаки – Russian" lang="ru" hreflang="ru" data-title="Ключевые знаки" data-language-autonym="Русский" data-language-local-name="Russian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Русский</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-simple mw-list-item"><a href="https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Key_signature" title="Key signature – Simple English" lang="en-simple" hreflang="en-simple" data-title="Key signature" data-language-autonym="Simple English" data-language-local-name="Simple English" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Simple English</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-sk mw-list-item"><a href="https://sk.wikipedia.org/wiki/Predznamenanie" title="Predznamenanie – Slovak" lang="sk" hreflang="sk" data-title="Predznamenanie" data-language-autonym="Slovenčina" data-language-local-name="Slovak" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Slovenčina</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-sr mw-list-item"><a href="https://sr.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%9F%D1%80%D0%B5%D0%B4%D0%B7%D0%BD%D0%B0%D1%86%D0%B8_%D1%83%D0%B7_%D0%BA%D1%99%D1%83%D1%87" title="Предзнаци уз кључ – Serbian" lang="sr" hreflang="sr" data-title="Предзнаци уз кључ" data-language-autonym="Српски / srpski" data-language-local-name="Serbian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Српски / srpski</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-sh mw-list-item"><a href="https://sh.wikipedia.org/wiki/Predznaci_uz_klju%C4%8D" title="Predznaci uz ključ – Serbo-Croatian" lang="sh" hreflang="sh" data-title="Predznaci uz ključ" data-language-autonym="Srpskohrvatski / српскохрватски" data-language-local-name="Serbo-Croatian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Srpskohrvatski / српскохрватски</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-fi mw-list-item"><a href="https://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/S%C3%A4vellaji#Etumerkintä" title="Sävellaji – Finnish" lang="fi" hreflang="fi" data-title="Sävellaji" data-language-autonym="Suomi" data-language-local-name="Finnish" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Suomi</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-sv mw-list-item"><a href="https://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/F%C3%B6rtecken" title="Förtecken – Swedish" lang="sv" hreflang="sv" data-title="Förtecken" data-language-autonym="Svenska" data-language-local-name="Swedish" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Svenska</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-th mw-list-item"><a href="https://th.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E0%B9%80%E0%B8%84%E0%B8%A3%E0%B8%B7%E0%B9%88%E0%B8%AD%E0%B8%87%E0%B8%AB%E0%B8%A1%E0%B8%B2%E0%B8%A2%E0%B8%81%E0%B8%B8%E0%B8%8D%E0%B9%81%E0%B8%88%E0%B9%80%E0%B8%AA%E0%B8%B5%E0%B8%A2%E0%B8%87" title="เครื่องหมายกุญแจเสียง – Thai" lang="th" hreflang="th" data-title="เครื่องหมายกุญแจเสียง" data-language-autonym="ไทย" data-language-local-name="Thai" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>ไทย</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-uk mw-list-item"><a href="https://uk.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%9A%D0%BB%D1%8E%D1%87%D0%BE%D0%B2%D1%96_%D0%B7%D0%BD%D0%B0%D0%BA%D0%B8" title="Ключові знаки – Ukrainian" lang="uk" hreflang="uk" data-title="Ключові знаки" data-language-autonym="Українська" data-language-local-name="Ukrainian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Українська</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-vi mw-list-item"><a href="https://vi.wikipedia.org/wiki/D%E1%BA%A5u_h%C3%B3a" title="Dấu hóa – Vietnamese" lang="vi" hreflang="vi" data-title="Dấu hóa" data-language-autonym="Tiếng Việt" data-language-local-name="Vietnamese" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Tiếng Việt</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-zh-yue mw-list-item"><a href="https://zh-yue.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E8%AA%BF%E8%99%9F" title="調號 – Cantonese" lang="yue" hreflang="yue" data-title="調號" data-language-autonym="粵語" data-language-local-name="Cantonese" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>粵語</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-zh mw-list-item"><a href="https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E8%B0%83%E5%8F%B7" title="调号 – Chinese" lang="zh" hreflang="zh" data-title="调号" data-language-autonym="中文" data-language-local-name="Chinese" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>中文</span></a></li> </ul> <div class="after-portlet after-portlet-lang"><span class="wb-langlinks-edit wb-langlinks-link"><a href="https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Special:EntityPage/Q845391#sitelinks-wikipedia" title="Edit interlanguage links" class="wbc-editpage">Edit links</a></span></div> </div> </div> </div> </header> <div class="vector-page-toolbar"> <div class="vector-page-toolbar-container"> <div id="left-navigation"> <nav aria-label="Namespaces"> <div id="p-associated-pages" class="vector-menu vector-menu-tabs mw-portlet mw-portlet-associated-pages" > <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li id="ca-nstab-main" class="selected vector-tab-noicon mw-list-item"><a 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</div> </div> <div id="bodyContent" class="vector-body" aria-labelledby="firstHeading" data-mw-ve-target-container> <div class="vector-body-before-content"> <div class="mw-indicators"> </div> <div id="siteSub" class="noprint">From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia</div> </div> <div id="contentSub"><div id="mw-content-subtitle"></div></div> <div id="mw-content-text" class="mw-body-content"><div class="mw-content-ltr mw-parser-output" lang="en" dir="ltr"><div class="shortdescription nomobile noexcerpt noprint searchaux" style="display:none">Set of musical alterations</div> <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1236090951">.mw-parser-output .hatnote{font-style:italic}.mw-parser-output div.hatnote{padding-left:1.6em;margin-bottom:0.5em}.mw-parser-output .hatnote i{font-style:normal}.mw-parser-output .hatnote+link+.hatnote{margin-top:-0.5em}@media print{body.ns-0 .mw-parser-output .hatnote{display:none!important}}</style><div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable">For use in cryptography, see <a href="/wiki/Key_signature_(cryptography)" title="Key signature (cryptography)">Key signature (cryptography)</a>.</div> <div class="thumb tright" style=""><div class="thumbinner" style="width:202px"><div class="thumbimage noresize" style="width:200px;"> <div class="mw-ext-score noresize" data-midi="//upload.wikimedia.org/score/2/j/2jv6a3gsq01rob8ph9dyboyo5qt7bma/2jv6a3gs.midi"><img src="//upload.wikimedia.org/score/2/j/2jv6a3gsq01rob8ph9dyboyo5qt7bma/2jv6a3gs.png" width="140" height="103" alt="{ \magnifyStaff #2 \omit Score.TimeSignature \key bes \major s^"" }" /></div></div><div class="thumbcaption">Key signature showing B<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-flat">♭</span></span> and E<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-flat">♭</span></span> (the key of <a href="/wiki/B-flat_major" title="B-flat major">B<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-flat">♭</span></span> major</a> or <a href="/wiki/G_minor" title="G minor">G minor</a>)</div></div></div> <div class="thumb tright" style=""><div class="thumbinner" style="width:202px"><div class="thumbimage noresize" style="width:200px;"> <div class="mw-ext-score noresize" data-midi="//upload.wikimedia.org/score/p/7/p7rebejw6qxo9ihrduvn22x5cngnc01/p7rebejw.midi"><img src="//upload.wikimedia.org/score/p/7/p7rebejw6qxo9ihrduvn22x5cngnc01/p7rebejw.png" width="146" height="103" alt="{ \magnifyStaff #2 \omit Score.TimeSignature \key d \major s^"" }" /></div></div><div class="thumbcaption">Key signature showing F<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-sharp">♯</span></span> and C<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-sharp">♯</span></span> (the key of <a href="/wiki/D_major" title="D major">D major</a> or <a href="/wiki/B_minor" title="B minor">B minor</a>)</div></div></div> <p>In <a href="/wiki/Western_culture" title="Western culture">Western</a> <a href="/wiki/Musical_notation" title="Musical notation">musical notation</a>, a <b>key signature</b> is a set of <a href="/wiki/Sharp_(music)" title="Sharp (music)">sharp</a> (<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-sharp">♯</span></span>), <a href="/wiki/Flat_(music)" title="Flat (music)">flat</a> (<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-flat">♭</span></span>), or rarely, <a href="/wiki/Natural_(music)" title="Natural (music)">natural</a> (<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-natural">♮</span></span>) symbols placed on the <a href="/wiki/Staff_(music)" title="Staff (music)">staff</a> at the beginning of a section of music. The initial key signature in a piece is placed immediately after the <a href="/wiki/Clef" title="Clef">clef</a> at the beginning of the first line. If the piece contains a section in a different <a href="/wiki/Key_(music)" title="Key (music)">key</a>, the new key signature is placed at the beginning of that section. </p><p>In a key signature, a sharp or flat symbol on a line or space of the staff indicates that the <a href="/wiki/Note_(music)" class="mw-redirect" title="Note (music)">note</a> represented by that line or space is to be played a <a href="/wiki/Semitone" title="Semitone">semitone</a> higher (sharp) or lower (flat) than it would otherwise be played. This applies through the rest of the piece or until another key signature appears. Each symbol applies to comparable notes in all octaves — for example, a flat on the fourth space of the <a href="/wiki/Clef#Treble_clef" title="Clef">treble staff</a> (as in the diagram) indicates that all notes notated as <a href="/wiki/E_(musical_note)" title="E (musical note)">Es</a> are played as <a href="/wiki/E%E2%99%AD_(musical_note)" title="E♭ (musical note)">E-flats</a>, including those on the bottom line of the staff. </p><p>Most of this article addresses key signatures that represent the <a href="/wiki/Diatonic_and_chromatic" title="Diatonic and chromatic">diatonic</a> keys of Western music. These contain either flats or sharps, but not both, and the different key signatures add flats or sharps according to the order shown in the <a href="/wiki/Circle_of_fifths" title="Circle of fifths">circle of fifths</a>. </p><p>Each <a href="/wiki/Major_scale" title="Major scale">major</a> and <a href="/wiki/Minor_scale" title="Minor scale">minor</a> <a href="/wiki/Key_(music)" title="Key (music)">key</a> has an associated key signature, showing up to seven flats or seven sharps, that indicates the notes used in its scale. Music was sometimes notated with a key signature that did not match its key in this way—this can be seen in some <a href="/wiki/Baroque_music" title="Baroque music">Baroque</a> pieces,<sup id="cite_ref-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-1"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>1<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> or transcriptions of traditional <a href="/wiki/Mode_(music)" title="Mode (music)">modal</a> <a href="/wiki/Folk_music" title="Folk music">folk</a> tunes.<sup id="cite_ref-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-2"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>2<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <meta property="mw:PageProp/toc" /> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Overview">Overview</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Key_signature&action=edit&section=1" title="Edit section: Overview"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <div class="thumb tright" style=""><div class="thumbinner" style="width:227px"><div class="thumbimage noresize" style="width:225px;"> <div class="mw-ext-score noresize" data-midi="//upload.wikimedia.org/score/8/1/81xt98gacw3vlg4itsb5btawivik0l7/81xt98ga.midi"><img src="//upload.wikimedia.org/score/8/1/81xt98gacw3vlg4itsb5btawivik0l7/81xt98ga.png" width="222" height="59" alt="{
\omit Score.TimeSignature \relative c' {
 \time 2/1 b cis dis e fis gis ais b} }" /></div></div><div class="thumbcaption"><a href="/wiki/B_major" title="B major">B major</a> scale using accidentals instead of a key signature</div></div></div> <div class="thumb tright" style=""><div class="thumbinner" style="width:262px"><div class="thumbimage noresize" style="width:260px;"> <div class="mw-ext-score noresize" data-midi="//upload.wikimedia.org/score/5/x/5x1igg9fxj4p3ut1eyx5vi44ja6fk8l/5x1igg9f.midi"><img src="//upload.wikimedia.org/score/5/x/5x1igg9fxj4p3ut1eyx5vi44ja6fk8l/5x1igg9f.png" width="256" height="57" alt="{
\omit Score.TimeSignature \relative c' {
 \key b \major \time 2/1 b cis dis e fis gis ais b} }" /></div></div><div class="thumbcaption">B major scale with the usual key signature</div></div></div> <p>With any note as a starting point, a certain series of intervals produces a major scale: whole step, whole, half, whole, whole, whole, half. Starting on C, this yields C-D-E-F-G-A-B-C (a C-major scale). There are no sharps or flats in this scale, so the key signature for C has no sharps or flats in it. Starting on any other note requires that at least one of these notes be changed (raised or lowered) to preserve the major scale pattern. These raised or lowered notes form the key signature. Starting the pattern on D, for example, yields D-E-F<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-sharp">♯</span></span>-G-A-B-C<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-sharp">♯</span></span>-D, so the key signature for D major has two sharps—F<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-sharp">♯</span></span> and C<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-sharp">♯</span></span>. Key signatures indicate that this applies to the section of music that follows, showing the reader which key the music is in, and making it unnecessary to apply accidentals to individual notes. </p><p>In standard <a href="/wiki/Music_notation#Modern_notation" class="mw-redirect" title="Music notation">music notation</a>, the order in which sharps or flats appear in key signatures is uniform, following the <a href="/wiki/Circle_of_fifths" title="Circle of fifths">circle of fifths</a>: F<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-sharp">♯</span></span>, C<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-sharp">♯</span></span>, G<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-sharp">♯</span></span>, D<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-sharp">♯</span></span>, A<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-sharp">♯</span></span>, E<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-sharp">♯</span></span>, B<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-sharp">♯</span></span>, and B<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-flat">♭</span></span>, E<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-flat">♭</span></span>, A<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-flat">♭</span></span>, D<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-flat">♭</span></span>, G<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-flat">♭</span></span>, C<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-flat">♭</span></span>, F<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-flat">♭</span></span>. Musicians can identify the key by the number of sharps or flats shown, since they always appear in the same order. A key signature with one sharp must show <a href="/wiki/F%E2%99%AF_(musical_note)" title="F♯ (musical note)">F-sharp</a>,<sup id="cite_ref-orderofsharp_3-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-orderofsharp-3"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>3<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> which indicates <a href="/wiki/G_major" title="G major">G major</a> or <a href="/wiki/E_minor" title="E minor">E minor</a>. </p><p>There can be exceptions to this, especially in 20th-century music, if a piece uses an unorthodox or synthetic scale and an invented key signature to reflect that. This may consist of sharps or flats that are not in the usual order, or of sharps combined with flats (e.g., F<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-sharp">♯</span></span> and B<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-flat">♭</span></span>). Key signatures of this kind can be found in the music of <a href="/wiki/B%C3%A9la_Bart%C3%B3k" title="Béla Bartók">Béla Bartók</a>, for example. </p><p>In a score, <a href="/wiki/Transposing_instrument" title="Transposing instrument">transposing instruments</a> will show a different key signature to reflect their transposition but their music is in the same concert key as the other instruments. Percussion instruments with indeterminate pitch will not show a key signature, and <a href="/wiki/Timpani" title="Timpani">timpani</a> parts are sometimes written without a key signature (early timpani parts were sometimes notated with the high drum as "C" and the low drum a fourth lower as "G", with actual pitches indicated at the beginning of the music, e.g., "timpani in D–A"). In <a href="/wiki/Polytonal" class="mw-redirect" title="Polytonal">polytonal</a> music, where different parts are actually in different keys sounding together, instruments may be notated in different keys. </p> <figure class="mw-halign-right" typeof="mw:File/Thumb"><a href="/wiki/File:Circle_of_fifths_deluxe_4.svg" class="mw-file-description"><img src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/33/Circle_of_fifths_deluxe_4.svg/400px-Circle_of_fifths_deluxe_4.svg.png" decoding="async" width="400" height="400" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/33/Circle_of_fifths_deluxe_4.svg/600px-Circle_of_fifths_deluxe_4.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/33/Circle_of_fifths_deluxe_4.svg/800px-Circle_of_fifths_deluxe_4.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="600" data-file-height="600" /></a><figcaption><a href="/wiki/Circle_of_fifths" title="Circle of fifths">Circle of fifths</a> showing <a href="/wiki/Major_key" class="mw-redirect" title="Major key">major</a> and <a href="/wiki/Minor_key" class="mw-redirect" title="Minor key">minor keys</a> and their signatures</figcaption></figure> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Conventions">Conventions</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Key_signature&action=edit&section=2" title="Edit section: Conventions"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>The order in which sharps or flats appear in key signatures is illustrated in the diagram of the <a href="/wiki/Circle_of_fifths" title="Circle of fifths">circle of fifths</a>. Starting the major scale pattern (whole step, whole, half, whole, whole, whole, half) on C requires no sharps or flats. Proceeding clockwise in the diagram starts the scale a fifth higher, on G. Starting on G requires one sharp, F<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-sharp">♯</span></span>, to form a major scale. Starting another fifth higher, on D, requires F<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-sharp">♯</span></span> and C<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-sharp">♯</span></span>. This pattern continues, raising the seventh scale degree of each successive key. As the scales become notated in flats, this is shown by eliminating one of the flats. This is strictly a function of notation—the seventh scale degree is still being raised by a semitone compared to the previous key in the sequence. Going counter-clockwise from C results in lowering the fourth scale degree with each successive key (starting on F requires a B<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-flat">♭</span></span> to form a major scale). Each major key has a relative minor key that shares the same key signature. The relative minor is always a <a href="/wiki/Minor_third" title="Minor third">minor third</a> lower than its relative major. </p><p>The key signatures with seven flats and seven sharps are usually notated in their enharmonic equivalents. <a href="/wiki/C-sharp_major" title="C-sharp major">C<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-sharp">♯</span></span> major</a> (seven sharps) is usually written as <a href="/wiki/D-flat_major" title="D-flat major">D<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-flat">♭</span></span> major</a> (five flats) and <a href="/wiki/C-flat_major" title="C-flat major">C<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-flat">♭</span></span> major</a> is usually written as <a href="/wiki/B_major" title="B major">B major</a>. </p> <div class="thumb tright" style=""><div class="thumbinner" style="width:268px"><div class="thumbimage noresize" style="width:266px;"> <div class="mw-ext-score noresize" data-midi="//upload.wikimedia.org/score/o/2/o2tl56a3hs9s610qrtdbdcbt21kkbqu/o2tl56a3.midi"><img src="//upload.wikimedia.org/score/o/2/o2tl56a3hs9s610qrtdbdcbt21kkbqu/o2tl56a3.png" width="266" height="72" alt=" {
\omit Score.TimeSignature
<< \new ChordNames \chordmode { ais1:m a:m }
\new Staff \relative c' { 
 \key ais \minor <ais cis eis ais>1 \bar "||" \key a \minor <a c e a>} >> }
" /></div></div><div class="thumbcaption">Natural key signature: a key signature with seven <a href="/wiki/Natural_(music)" title="Natural (music)">naturals</a> (<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-natural">♮</span></span>) used to cancel the seven sharps (<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-sharp">♯</span></span>) of the previous signature.</div></div></div> <p>The key signature may be changed at any time in a piece by providing a new signature. If the new signature has no sharps or flats, a signature of naturals, as shown, is used to cancel the preceding signature. If a change in signature occurs at the start of a new line on the page, where a signature would normally appear, the new signature is customarily repeated at the end of the previous line to make the change more conspicuous. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Variations">Variations</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Key_signature&action=edit&section=3" title="Edit section: Variations"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>Traditionally, when the key signature changes from sharps to flats or vice versa, the old key signature is cancelled with the appropriate number of naturals before the new one is inserted. Many more recent publications (newer music or newer editions of older music) dispense with the naturals (unless the new key signature is C major) and simply insert the new signature. </p><p>Similarly, when a flat key changes to fewer flats, or a sharp key changes to fewer sharps, the convention was to use naturals to cancel the flats or sharps that are being subtracted before the new signature is written. Again, more modern usage often simply shows the new signature without these naturals. </p><p>When a flat key changes to more flats or a sharp key changes to more sharps, the new signature is simply written in without using naturals to cancel the old signature. This convention applies in both traditional and newer styles. </p><p>At one time it was usual to precede the new signature with a <a href="/wiki/Barline" class="mw-redirect" title="Barline">double barline</a> even if it was not otherwise required, but it has become increasingly common to simply retain a single barline. The courtesy signature that appears at the end of a line immediately before a change is usually preceded by an additional barline and the line at the very end of the staff is omitted. </p><p>If both naturals and a new key signature appear at a key signature change, there are also modern variations about where a barline will be placed. In some scores by Debussy the barline is placed after the naturals but before the new key signature. Hitherto, it would have been usual to place all the symbols after the barline. </p><p>The A<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-sharp">♯</span></span> which is the fifth sharp in the sharp signatures may occasionally be notated on the top line of the bass staff, whereas it is more usually found in the lowest space on that staff. An example of this can be seen in the full score of <a href="/wiki/Ottorino_Respighi" title="Ottorino Respighi">Ottorino Respighi</a>'s <i><a href="/wiki/Pines_of_Rome" title="Pines of Rome">Pines of Rome</a></i>, in the third section, "Pines of the Janiculum" (which is in <a href="/wiki/B_major" title="B major">B major</a>), in the bass-clef instrumental parts. </p><p>In the case of seven-flat key signatures, the final F<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-flat">♭</span></span> may occasionally be seen on the second-top line of the bass staff, whereas it would more usually appear on the space below the staff. An example of this can be seen in <a href="/wiki/Isaac_Alb%C3%A9niz" title="Isaac Albéniz">Isaac Albéniz</a>'s <i><a href="/wiki/Iberia_(Alb%C3%A9niz)" title="Iberia (Albéniz)">Iberia</a></i>: first movement, "Evocación", which is in <a href="/wiki/A-flat_minor" title="A-flat minor">A<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-flat">♭</span></span></a> minor. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Double_flats_and_sharps">Double flats and sharps</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Key_signature&action=edit&section=4" title="Edit section: Double flats and sharps"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>Key signatures can theoretically be extended through <a href="/wiki/Double_flat" class="mw-redirect" title="Double flat">double flats</a> or <a href="/wiki/Double_sharp" class="mw-redirect" title="Double sharp">double sharps</a> and beyond, but this is extremely rare. For example, the key of G<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-sharp">♯</span></span> major would have eight sharps, requiring six single sharps and an F double-sharp (F<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="mw-default-size skin-invert" typeof="mw:File"><a href="/wiki/File:DoubleSharp.svg" class="mw-file-description" title="double sharp"><img alt="double sharp" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3a/DoubleSharp.svg/7px-DoubleSharp.svg.png" decoding="async" width="7" height="8" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3a/DoubleSharp.svg/10px-DoubleSharp.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3a/DoubleSharp.svg/14px-DoubleSharp.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="6" data-file-height="7" /></a></span></span>). The key of A<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-flat">♭</span></span> major, with four flats, is enharmonically equivalent and would generally be used instead. </p> <table class="wikitable"> <tbody><tr> <th><a href="/wiki/Major_key" class="mw-redirect" title="Major key">Major</a> </th> <th>Key signature </th> <th><a href="/wiki/Minor_key" class="mw-redirect" title="Minor key">Minor</a> </th></tr> <tr> <td><a href="/wiki/F-flat_major" title="F-flat major">F<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-flat">♭</span></span> major</a> (<a href="/wiki/E_major" title="E major">E major</a>) </td> <td>8 flats (4 sharps) </td> <td><a href="/wiki/D-flat_minor" title="D-flat minor">D<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-flat">♭</span></span> minor</a> (<a href="/wiki/C-sharp_minor" title="C-sharp minor">C<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-sharp">♯</span></span> minor</a>) </td></tr> <tr> <td>B<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="mw-default-size skin-invert" typeof="mw:File"><a href="/wiki/File:Doubleflat.svg" class="mw-file-description" title="double flat"><img alt="double flat" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/23/Doubleflat.svg/8px-Doubleflat.svg.png" decoding="async" width="8" height="12" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/23/Doubleflat.svg/12px-Doubleflat.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/23/Doubleflat.svg/16px-Doubleflat.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="133" data-file-height="200" /></a></span></span> major (<a href="/wiki/A_major" title="A major">A major</a>) </td> <td>9 flats (3 sharps) </td> <td>G<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-flat">♭</span></span> minor (<a href="/wiki/F-sharp_minor" title="F-sharp minor">F<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-sharp">♯</span></span> minor</a>) </td></tr> <tr> <td>E<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="mw-default-size skin-invert" typeof="mw:File"><a href="/wiki/File:Doubleflat.svg" class="mw-file-description" title="double flat"><img alt="double flat" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/23/Doubleflat.svg/8px-Doubleflat.svg.png" decoding="async" width="8" height="12" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/23/Doubleflat.svg/12px-Doubleflat.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/23/Doubleflat.svg/16px-Doubleflat.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="133" data-file-height="200" /></a></span></span> major (<a href="/wiki/D_major" title="D major">D major</a>) </td> <td>10 flats (2 sharps) </td> <td>C<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-flat">♭</span></span> minor (<a href="/wiki/B_minor" title="B minor">B minor</a>) </td></tr> <tr> <td>A<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="mw-default-size skin-invert" typeof="mw:File"><a href="/wiki/File:Doubleflat.svg" class="mw-file-description" title="double flat"><img alt="double flat" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/23/Doubleflat.svg/8px-Doubleflat.svg.png" decoding="async" width="8" height="12" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/23/Doubleflat.svg/12px-Doubleflat.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/23/Doubleflat.svg/16px-Doubleflat.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="133" data-file-height="200" /></a></span></span> major (<a href="/wiki/G_major" title="G major">G major</a>) </td> <td>11 flats (1 sharp) </td> <td>F<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-flat">♭</span></span> minor (<a href="/wiki/E_minor" title="E minor">E minor</a>) </td></tr> <tr> <td>D<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="mw-default-size skin-invert" typeof="mw:File"><a href="/wiki/File:Doubleflat.svg" class="mw-file-description" title="double flat"><img alt="double flat" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/23/Doubleflat.svg/8px-Doubleflat.svg.png" decoding="async" width="8" height="12" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/23/Doubleflat.svg/12px-Doubleflat.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/23/Doubleflat.svg/16px-Doubleflat.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="133" data-file-height="200" /></a></span></span> major (<a href="/wiki/C_major" title="C major">C major</a>) </td> <td>12 flats (no flats or sharps) </td> <td>B<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="mw-default-size skin-invert" typeof="mw:File"><a href="/wiki/File:Doubleflat.svg" class="mw-file-description" title="double flat"><img alt="double flat" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/23/Doubleflat.svg/8px-Doubleflat.svg.png" decoding="async" width="8" height="12" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/23/Doubleflat.svg/12px-Doubleflat.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/23/Doubleflat.svg/16px-Doubleflat.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="133" data-file-height="200" /></a></span></span> minor (<a href="/wiki/A_minor" title="A minor">A minor</a>) </td></tr> <tr> <td>G<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="mw-default-size skin-invert" typeof="mw:File"><a href="/wiki/File:Doubleflat.svg" class="mw-file-description" title="double flat"><img alt="double flat" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/23/Doubleflat.svg/8px-Doubleflat.svg.png" decoding="async" width="8" height="12" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/23/Doubleflat.svg/12px-Doubleflat.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/23/Doubleflat.svg/16px-Doubleflat.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="133" data-file-height="200" /></a></span></span> major (<a href="/wiki/F_major" title="F major">F major</a>) </td> <td>13 flats (1 flat) </td> <td>E<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="mw-default-size skin-invert" typeof="mw:File"><a href="/wiki/File:Doubleflat.svg" class="mw-file-description" title="double flat"><img alt="double flat" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/23/Doubleflat.svg/8px-Doubleflat.svg.png" decoding="async" width="8" height="12" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/23/Doubleflat.svg/12px-Doubleflat.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/23/Doubleflat.svg/16px-Doubleflat.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="133" data-file-height="200" /></a></span></span> minor (<a href="/wiki/D_minor" title="D minor">D minor</a>) </td></tr> <tr> <td>C<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="mw-default-size skin-invert" typeof="mw:File"><a href="/wiki/File:Doubleflat.svg" class="mw-file-description" title="double flat"><img alt="double flat" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/23/Doubleflat.svg/8px-Doubleflat.svg.png" decoding="async" width="8" height="12" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/23/Doubleflat.svg/12px-Doubleflat.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/23/Doubleflat.svg/16px-Doubleflat.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="133" data-file-height="200" /></a></span></span> major (<a href="/wiki/B-flat_major" title="B-flat major">B<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-flat">♭</span></span> major</a>) </td> <td>14 flats (2 flats) </td> <td>A<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="mw-default-size skin-invert" typeof="mw:File"><a href="/wiki/File:Doubleflat.svg" class="mw-file-description" title="double flat"><img alt="double flat" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/23/Doubleflat.svg/8px-Doubleflat.svg.png" decoding="async" width="8" height="12" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/23/Doubleflat.svg/12px-Doubleflat.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/23/Doubleflat.svg/16px-Doubleflat.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="133" data-file-height="200" /></a></span></span> minor (<a href="/wiki/G_minor" title="G minor">G minor</a>) </td></tr> <tr> <td><a href="/wiki/G-sharp_major" title="G-sharp major">G<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-sharp">♯</span></span> major</a> (<a href="/wiki/A-flat_major" title="A-flat major">A<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-flat">♭</span></span> major</a>) </td> <td>8 sharps (4 flats) </td> <td><a href="/wiki/E-sharp_minor" class="mw-redirect" title="E-sharp minor">E<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-sharp">♯</span></span> minor</a> (<a href="/wiki/F_minor" title="F minor">F minor</a>) </td></tr> <tr> <td>D<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-sharp">♯</span></span> major (<a href="/wiki/E-flat_major" title="E-flat major">E<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-flat">♭</span></span> major</a>) </td> <td>9 sharps (3 flats) </td> <td>B<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-sharp">♯</span></span> minor (<a href="/wiki/C_minor" title="C minor">C minor</a>) </td></tr> <tr> <td>A<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-sharp">♯</span></span> major (<a href="/wiki/B-flat_major" title="B-flat major">B<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-flat">♭</span></span> major</a>) </td> <td>10 sharps (2 flats) </td> <td>F<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="mw-default-size skin-invert" typeof="mw:File"><a href="/wiki/File:DoubleSharp.svg" class="mw-file-description" title="double sharp"><img alt="double sharp" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3a/DoubleSharp.svg/7px-DoubleSharp.svg.png" decoding="async" width="7" height="8" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3a/DoubleSharp.svg/10px-DoubleSharp.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3a/DoubleSharp.svg/14px-DoubleSharp.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="6" data-file-height="7" /></a></span></span> minor (<a href="/wiki/G_minor" title="G minor">G minor</a>) </td></tr> <tr> <td>E<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-sharp">♯</span></span> major (<a href="/wiki/F_major" title="F major">F major</a>) </td> <td>11 sharps (1 flat) </td> <td>C<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="mw-default-size skin-invert" typeof="mw:File"><a href="/wiki/File:DoubleSharp.svg" class="mw-file-description" title="double sharp"><img alt="double sharp" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3a/DoubleSharp.svg/7px-DoubleSharp.svg.png" decoding="async" width="7" height="8" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3a/DoubleSharp.svg/10px-DoubleSharp.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3a/DoubleSharp.svg/14px-DoubleSharp.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="6" data-file-height="7" /></a></span></span> minor (<a href="/wiki/D_minor" title="D minor">D minor</a>) </td></tr> <tr> <td>B<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-sharp">♯</span></span> major (<a href="/wiki/C_major" title="C major">C major</a>) </td> <td>12 sharps (no flats or sharps) </td> <td>G<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="mw-default-size skin-invert" typeof="mw:File"><a href="/wiki/File:DoubleSharp.svg" class="mw-file-description" title="double sharp"><img alt="double sharp" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3a/DoubleSharp.svg/7px-DoubleSharp.svg.png" decoding="async" width="7" height="8" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3a/DoubleSharp.svg/10px-DoubleSharp.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3a/DoubleSharp.svg/14px-DoubleSharp.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="6" data-file-height="7" /></a></span></span> minor (<a href="/wiki/A_minor" title="A minor">A minor</a>) </td></tr> <tr> <td>F<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="mw-default-size skin-invert" typeof="mw:File"><a href="/wiki/File:DoubleSharp.svg" class="mw-file-description" title="double sharp"><img alt="double sharp" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3a/DoubleSharp.svg/7px-DoubleSharp.svg.png" decoding="async" width="7" height="8" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3a/DoubleSharp.svg/10px-DoubleSharp.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3a/DoubleSharp.svg/14px-DoubleSharp.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="6" data-file-height="7" /></a></span></span> major (<a href="/wiki/G_major" title="G major">G major</a>) </td> <td>13 sharps (1 sharp) </td> <td>D<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="mw-default-size skin-invert" typeof="mw:File"><a href="/wiki/File:DoubleSharp.svg" class="mw-file-description" title="double sharp"><img alt="double sharp" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3a/DoubleSharp.svg/7px-DoubleSharp.svg.png" decoding="async" width="7" height="8" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3a/DoubleSharp.svg/10px-DoubleSharp.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3a/DoubleSharp.svg/14px-DoubleSharp.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="6" data-file-height="7" /></a></span></span> minor (<a href="/wiki/E_minor" title="E minor">E minor</a>) </td></tr> <tr> <td>C<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="mw-default-size skin-invert" typeof="mw:File"><a href="/wiki/File:DoubleSharp.svg" class="mw-file-description" title="double sharp"><img alt="double sharp" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3a/DoubleSharp.svg/7px-DoubleSharp.svg.png" decoding="async" width="7" height="8" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3a/DoubleSharp.svg/10px-DoubleSharp.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3a/DoubleSharp.svg/14px-DoubleSharp.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="6" data-file-height="7" /></a></span></span> major (<a href="/wiki/D_major" title="D major">D major</a>) </td> <td>14 sharps (2 sharps) </td> <td>A<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="mw-default-size skin-invert" typeof="mw:File"><a href="/wiki/File:DoubleSharp.svg" class="mw-file-description" title="double sharp"><img alt="double sharp" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3a/DoubleSharp.svg/7px-DoubleSharp.svg.png" decoding="async" width="7" height="8" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3a/DoubleSharp.svg/10px-DoubleSharp.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3a/DoubleSharp.svg/14px-DoubleSharp.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="6" data-file-height="7" /></a></span></span> minor (<a href="/wiki/B_minor" title="B minor">B minor</a>) </td></tr></tbody></table> <p>A piece in a major key might modulate up a <a href="/wiki/Perfect_fifth" title="Perfect fifth">fifth</a> to the <a href="/wiki/Dominant_(music)" title="Dominant (music)">dominant</a> (a common occurrence in Western music), resulting in a new key signature with an additional sharp. If the original key was C-sharp, such a modulation would lead to the theoretical key of G-sharp major (with eight sharps) requiring an F<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="mw-default-size skin-invert" typeof="mw:File"><a href="/wiki/File:DoubleSharp.svg" class="mw-file-description" title="double sharp"><img alt="double sharp" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3a/DoubleSharp.svg/7px-DoubleSharp.svg.png" decoding="async" width="7" height="8" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3a/DoubleSharp.svg/10px-DoubleSharp.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3a/DoubleSharp.svg/14px-DoubleSharp.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="6" data-file-height="7" /></a></span></span> in place of the F<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-sharp">♯</span></span>. This section could be written using the enharmonically equivalent key signature of A-flat major instead. <a href="/wiki/Claude_Debussy" title="Claude Debussy">Claude Debussy</a>'s <i><a href="/wiki/Suite_bergamasque" title="Suite bergamasque">Suite bergamasque</a></i> does this: in the third movement "Clair de lune" the key shifts from D-flat major to D-flat minor (eight flats) for a few measures but the passage is notated in C-sharp minor (four sharps); the same happens in the final movement, "Passepied", in which a G-sharp major section is written as A-flat major. </p><p>Such passages may instead be notated with the use of double-sharp or double-flat accidentals, as in this example from <a href="/wiki/Johann_Sebastian_Bach" title="Johann Sebastian Bach">Johann Sebastian Bach</a>'s <i><a href="/wiki/Well-Tempered_Clavier" class="mw-redirect" title="Well-Tempered Clavier">Well-Tempered Clavier</a></i>, which has this passage in G-sharp major in measures 10-12. </p><p><span class="mw-default-size" typeof="mw:File"><a href="/wiki/File:G-sharp_major_example_2.png" class="mw-file-description"><img src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/af/G-sharp_major_example_2.png" decoding="async" width="906" height="193" class="mw-file-element" data-file-width="906" data-file-height="193" /></a></span> </p><p> While the theoretical keys are sometimes notated with accidentals as in this example, the use of actual theoretical key signatures is very rare. The final pages of <a href="/wiki/John_Foulds" title="John Foulds">John Foulds</a>' <i><a href="/wiki/A_World_Requiem" title="A World Requiem">A World Requiem</a></i> are written in <a href="/wiki/G-sharp_major" title="G-sharp major">G♯ major</a> (with F<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="mw-default-size skin-invert" typeof="mw:File"><a href="/wiki/File:DoubleSharp.svg" class="mw-file-description" title="double sharp"><img alt="double sharp" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3a/DoubleSharp.svg/7px-DoubleSharp.svg.png" decoding="async" width="7" height="8" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3a/DoubleSharp.svg/10px-DoubleSharp.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3a/DoubleSharp.svg/14px-DoubleSharp.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="6" data-file-height="7" /></a></span></span> in the key signature), No. 18 of <a href="/wiki/Anton_Reicha" title="Anton Reicha">Anton Reicha</a>'s <i>Practische Beispiele</i> is written in B# major, and the third movement of <a href="/wiki/Victor_Ewald" title="Victor Ewald">Victor Ewald</a>'s Brass Quintet Op. 8 is written in <a href="/wiki/F%E2%99%AD_major" class="mw-redirect" title="F♭ major">F♭ major</a> (with B<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="mw-default-size skin-invert" typeof="mw:File"><a href="/wiki/File:Doubleflat.svg" class="mw-file-description" title="double flat"><img alt="double flat" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/23/Doubleflat.svg/8px-Doubleflat.svg.png" decoding="async" width="8" height="12" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/23/Doubleflat.svg/12px-Doubleflat.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/23/Doubleflat.svg/16px-Doubleflat.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="133" data-file-height="200" /></a></span></span> in the key signature).<sup id="cite_ref-:0_4-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-:0-4"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>4<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-5" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-5"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>5<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Examples of theoretical key signatures are pictured below:</p><div class="mw-ext-score noresize" data-midi="//upload.wikimedia.org/score/6/9/69jzaw098wauo8hpkkr3l9mgzim35n8/69jzaw09.midi"><img src="//upload.wikimedia.org/score/6/9/69jzaw098wauo8hpkkr3l9mgzim35n8/69jzaw09.png" width="518" height="92" alt="
\relative c' { \omit Staff.TimeSignature \omit Staff.KeyCancellation
 \key gis \major <gis' bis dis><eis gis bis>_\markup \halign #0.2 \center-column { "G♯ maj" "E♯ min" } \bar "||"
 \key dis \major <dis fisis ais><bis dis fisis>_\markup \halign #0.2 \center-column { "D♯ maj" "B♯ min" } \bar "||"
 \key fes \major <fes' as ces><des fes as>_\markup \halign #0.2 \center-column { "F♭ maj" "D♭ min" } \bar "||"
 \key beses \major <beses' des fes><ges beses des>_\markup \halign #0.2 \center-column { "B♭♭ maj" "G♭ min" }
}
" /></div><p>There does not appear to be a standard on how to notate these key signatures: </p><ul><li>The default behaviour of <a href="/wiki/LilyPond" title="LilyPond">LilyPond</a> (pictured above) writes all single sharps or flats in the circle-of-fifths order before showing the double signs. This is the format used in John Foulds' <i>A World Requiem</i>, Op. 60, which uses the key signature of G♯ major as displayed above.<sup id="cite_ref-6" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-6"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>6<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> The sharps in the key signature of <a href="/wiki/G-sharp_major" title="G-sharp major">G♯ major</a> proceed C♯, G♯, D♯, A♯, E♯, B♯, F<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="mw-default-size skin-invert" typeof="mw:File"><a href="/wiki/File:DoubleSharp.svg" class="mw-file-description" title="double sharp"><img alt="double sharp" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3a/DoubleSharp.svg/7px-DoubleSharp.svg.png" decoding="async" width="7" height="8" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3a/DoubleSharp.svg/10px-DoubleSharp.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3a/DoubleSharp.svg/14px-DoubleSharp.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="6" data-file-height="7" /></a></span></span>.</li> <li>The <a href="/wiki/Single_accidentals" class="mw-redirect" title="Single accidentals">single signs</a> at the beginning are sometimes repeated as a courtesy, e.g. <a href="/wiki/Max_Reger" title="Max Reger">Max Reger</a>'s <i>Supplement to the Theory of Modulation</i>, which contains <a href="/wiki/D%E2%99%AD_minor" class="mw-redirect" title="D♭ minor">D♭ minor</a> key signatures on pp. 42–45.<sup id="cite_ref-7" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-7"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>7<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> These have a B♭ at the start and also a B<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="mw-default-size skin-invert" typeof="mw:File"><a href="/wiki/File:Doubleflat.svg" class="mw-file-description" title="double flat"><img alt="double flat" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/23/Doubleflat.svg/8px-Doubleflat.svg.png" decoding="async" width="8" height="12" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/23/Doubleflat.svg/12px-Doubleflat.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/23/Doubleflat.svg/16px-Doubleflat.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="133" data-file-height="200" /></a></span></span> at the end (with a double-flat symbol), going B♭, E♭, A♭, D♭, G♭, C♭, F♭, B<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="mw-default-size skin-invert" typeof="mw:File"><a href="/wiki/File:Doubleflat.svg" class="mw-file-description" title="double flat"><img alt="double flat" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/23/Doubleflat.svg/8px-Doubleflat.svg.png" decoding="async" width="8" height="12" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/23/Doubleflat.svg/12px-Doubleflat.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/23/Doubleflat.svg/16px-Doubleflat.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="133" data-file-height="200" /></a></span></span>.</li> <li>Sometimes the double signs are written at the beginning of the key signature, followed by the single signs. For example, F♭ would be notated as B<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="mw-default-size skin-invert" typeof="mw:File"><a href="/wiki/File:Doubleflat.svg" class="mw-file-description" title="double flat"><img alt="double flat" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/23/Doubleflat.svg/8px-Doubleflat.svg.png" decoding="async" width="8" height="12" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/23/Doubleflat.svg/12px-Doubleflat.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/23/Doubleflat.svg/16px-Doubleflat.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="133" data-file-height="200" /></a></span></span>, E♭, A♭, D♭, G♭, C♭, F♭. This convention is used by Victor Ewald<sup id="cite_ref-8" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-8"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>8<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> and by some theoretical works.</li> <li>No. 18 of Anton Reicha's <i>Practische Beispiele</i> in B♯ major<sup id="cite_ref-:0_4-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-:0-4"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>4<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> shows B♯, E♯, A<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="mw-default-size skin-invert" typeof="mw:File"><a href="/wiki/File:DoubleSharp.svg" class="mw-file-description" title="double sharp"><img alt="double sharp" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3a/DoubleSharp.svg/7px-DoubleSharp.svg.png" decoding="async" width="7" height="8" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3a/DoubleSharp.svg/10px-DoubleSharp.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3a/DoubleSharp.svg/14px-DoubleSharp.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="6" data-file-height="7" /></a></span></span>, D<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="mw-default-size skin-invert" typeof="mw:File"><a href="/wiki/File:DoubleSharp.svg" class="mw-file-description" title="double sharp"><img alt="double sharp" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3a/DoubleSharp.svg/7px-DoubleSharp.svg.png" decoding="async" width="7" height="8" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3a/DoubleSharp.svg/10px-DoubleSharp.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3a/DoubleSharp.svg/14px-DoubleSharp.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="6" data-file-height="7" /></a></span></span>, G<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="mw-default-size skin-invert" typeof="mw:File"><a href="/wiki/File:DoubleSharp.svg" class="mw-file-description" title="double sharp"><img alt="double sharp" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3a/DoubleSharp.svg/7px-DoubleSharp.svg.png" decoding="async" width="7" height="8" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3a/DoubleSharp.svg/10px-DoubleSharp.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3a/DoubleSharp.svg/14px-DoubleSharp.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="6" data-file-height="7" /></a></span></span>, C<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="mw-default-size skin-invert" typeof="mw:File"><a href="/wiki/File:DoubleSharp.svg" class="mw-file-description" title="double sharp"><img alt="double sharp" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3a/DoubleSharp.svg/7px-DoubleSharp.svg.png" decoding="async" width="7" height="8" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3a/DoubleSharp.svg/10px-DoubleSharp.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3a/DoubleSharp.svg/14px-DoubleSharp.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="6" data-file-height="7" /></a></span></span>, F<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="mw-default-size skin-invert" typeof="mw:File"><a href="/wiki/File:DoubleSharp.svg" class="mw-file-description" title="double sharp"><img alt="double sharp" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3a/DoubleSharp.svg/7px-DoubleSharp.svg.png" decoding="async" width="7" height="8" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3a/DoubleSharp.svg/10px-DoubleSharp.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3a/DoubleSharp.svg/14px-DoubleSharp.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="6" data-file-height="7" /></a></span></span>.</li></ul> <p>In <a href="/wiki/Tuning_system" class="mw-redirect" title="Tuning system">tuning systems</a> where the number of notes per octave is not a multiple of 12, notes such as G<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-sharp">♯</span></span> and A<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-flat">♭</span></span> are not enharmonically equivalent, nor are the corresponding key signatures. These tunings can produce keys with no analogue in 12-tone equal temperament, which can require double sharps, double flats, or <a href="/wiki/Microtonal_music" class="mw-redirect" title="Microtonal music">microtonal alterations</a> in key signatures. For example, the key of G♯ major, with eight sharps, is equivalent to A<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-flat">♭</span></span> major in 12-tone equal temperament, but in <a href="/wiki/19_equal_temperament" title="19 equal temperament">19-tone equal temperament</a>, it is equivalent to A<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="mw-default-size skin-invert" typeof="mw:File"><a href="/wiki/File:Doubleflat.svg" class="mw-file-description" title="double flat"><img alt="double flat" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/23/Doubleflat.svg/8px-Doubleflat.svg.png" decoding="async" width="8" height="12" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/23/Doubleflat.svg/12px-Doubleflat.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/23/Doubleflat.svg/16px-Doubleflat.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="133" data-file-height="200" /></a></span></span> major instead, with 11 flats. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Major_scale_structure">Major scale structure</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Key_signature&action=edit&section=5" title="Edit section: Major scale structure"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Scales_with_sharp_key_signatures">Scales with sharp key signatures</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Key_signature&action=edit&section=6" title="Edit section: Scales with sharp key signatures"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>There can be up to seven sharps in a key signature, appearing in this order: <span class="nowrap">F<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-sharp">♯</span></span> C<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-sharp">♯</span></span> G<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-sharp">♯</span></span> D<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-sharp">♯</span></span> A<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-sharp">♯</span></span> E<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-sharp">♯</span></span> B<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-sharp">♯</span></span></span>.<sup id="cite_ref-Bower_9-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Bower-9"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>9<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-Jones_10-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Jones-10"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>10<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> The key note or <a href="/wiki/Tonic_(music)" title="Tonic (music)">tonic</a> of a piece in a major key is a semitone above the last sharp in the signature.<sup id="cite_ref-Kennedy_11-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Kennedy-11"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>11<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> For example, the key of D major has a key signature of F<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-sharp">♯</span></span> and C<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-sharp">♯</span></span>, and the tonic (D) is a semitone above C<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-sharp">♯</span></span>. Each scale starting on the <a href="/wiki/Perfect_fifth" title="Perfect fifth">fifth</a> <a href="/wiki/Scale_degree" class="mw-redirect" title="Scale degree">scale degree</a> of the previous scale has one new sharp, added in the order shown.<sup id="cite_ref-Jones_10-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Jones-10"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>10<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <table class="wikitable"> <tbody><tr> <th>Major key</th> <th>Number<br />of sharps</th> <th>Sharp notes</th> <th>Minor key</th> <th>Enharmonic<br />equivalent </th></tr> <tr> <td><a href="/wiki/C_major" title="C major">C major</a></td> <td>0</td> <td>–</td> <td><a href="/wiki/A_minor" title="A minor">A minor</a></td> <td rowspan="5">None </td></tr> <tr> <td><a href="/wiki/G_major" title="G major">G major</a></td> <td>1</td> <td>F<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-sharp">♯</span></span></td> <td><a href="/wiki/E_minor" title="E minor">E minor</a> </td></tr> <tr> <td><a href="/wiki/D_major" title="D major">D major</a></td> <td>2</td> <td>F<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-sharp">♯</span></span>, C<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-sharp">♯</span></span></td> <td><a href="/wiki/B_minor" title="B minor">B minor</a> </td></tr> <tr> <td><a href="/wiki/A_major" title="A major">A major</a></td> <td>3</td> <td>F<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-sharp">♯</span></span>, C<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-sharp">♯</span></span>, G<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-sharp">♯</span></span></td> <td><a href="/wiki/F-sharp_minor" title="F-sharp minor">F<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-sharp">♯</span></span> minor</a> </td></tr> <tr> <td><a href="/wiki/E_major" title="E major">E major</a></td> <td>4</td> <td>F<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-sharp">♯</span></span>, C<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-sharp">♯</span></span>, G<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-sharp">♯</span></span>, D<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-sharp">♯</span></span></td> <td><a href="/wiki/C-sharp_minor" title="C-sharp minor">C<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-sharp">♯</span></span> minor</a> </td></tr> <tr> <td><a href="/wiki/B_major" title="B major">B major</a></td> <td>5</td> <td>F<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-sharp">♯</span></span>, C<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-sharp">♯</span></span>, G<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-sharp">♯</span></span>, D<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-sharp">♯</span></span>, A<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-sharp">♯</span></span></td> <td><a href="/wiki/G-sharp_minor" title="G-sharp minor">G<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-sharp">♯</span></span> minor</a></td> <td><a href="/wiki/C-flat_major" title="C-flat major">C<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-flat">♭</span></span> major</a>/<a href="/wiki/A-flat_minor" title="A-flat minor">A<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-flat">♭</span></span> minor</a> </td></tr> <tr> <td><a href="/wiki/F-sharp_major" title="F-sharp major">F<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-sharp">♯</span></span> major</a></td> <td>6</td> <td>F<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-sharp">♯</span></span>, C<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-sharp">♯</span></span>, G<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-sharp">♯</span></span>, D<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-sharp">♯</span></span>, A<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-sharp">♯</span></span>, E<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-sharp">♯</span></span></td> <td><a href="/wiki/D-sharp_minor" title="D-sharp minor">D<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-sharp">♯</span></span> minor</a></td> <td><a href="/wiki/G-flat_major" title="G-flat major">G<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-flat">♭</span></span> major</a>/<a href="/wiki/E-flat_minor" title="E-flat minor">E<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-flat">♭</span></span> minor</a> </td></tr> <tr> <td><a href="/wiki/C-sharp_major" title="C-sharp major">C<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-sharp">♯</span></span> major</a></td> <td>7</td> <td>F<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-sharp">♯</span></span>, C<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-sharp">♯</span></span>, G<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-sharp">♯</span></span>, D<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-sharp">♯</span></span>, A<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-sharp">♯</span></span>, E<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-sharp">♯</span></span>, B<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-sharp">♯</span></span></td> <td><a href="/wiki/A-sharp_minor" title="A-sharp minor">A<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-sharp">♯</span></span> minor</a></td> <td><a href="/wiki/D-flat_major" title="D-flat major">D<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-flat">♭</span></span> major</a>/<a href="/wiki/B-flat_minor" title="B-flat minor">B<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-flat">♭</span></span> minor</a> </td></tr></tbody></table> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Scales_with_flat_key_signatures">Scales with flat key signatures</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Key_signature&action=edit&section=7" title="Edit section: Scales with flat key signatures"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>There can be up to seven flats in a key signature, applied as: <span class="nowrap">B<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-flat">♭</span></span> E<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-flat">♭</span></span> A<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-flat">♭</span></span> D<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-flat">♭</span></span> G<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-flat">♭</span></span> C<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-flat">♭</span></span> F<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-flat">♭</span></span></span><sup id="cite_ref-Bower_9-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Bower-9"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>9<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-Jones_10-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Jones-10"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>10<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> The major scale with one flat is F major. In all major scales with flat key signatures, the tonic in a major key is a perfect fourth below the last flat. When there is more than one flat, the tonic is the note of the second-to-last flat in the signature.<sup id="cite_ref-Kennedy_11-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Kennedy-11"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>11<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> In the major key with four flats (B<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-flat">♭</span></span> E<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-flat">♭</span></span> A<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-flat">♭</span></span> D<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-flat">♭</span></span>), for example, the second to last flat is A<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-flat">♭</span></span>, indicating a key of A<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-flat">♭</span></span> major. Each new scale starts a fifth <i>below</i> (or a <a href="/wiki/Perfect_fourth" title="Perfect fourth">fourth</a> above) the previous one. </p> <table class="wikitable"> <tbody><tr> <th>Major key</th> <th>Number<br />of flats</th> <th>Flat notes</th> <th>Minor key</th> <th>Enharmonic<br />equivalent </th></tr> <tr> <td><a href="/wiki/C_major" title="C major">C major</a></td> <td>0</td> <td>–</td> <td><a href="/wiki/A_minor" title="A minor">A minor</a></td> <td rowspan="5">None </td></tr> <tr> <td><a href="/wiki/F_major" title="F major">F major</a></td> <td>1</td> <td>B<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-flat">♭</span></span></td> <td><a href="/wiki/D_minor" title="D minor">D minor</a> </td></tr> <tr> <td><a href="/wiki/B-flat_major" title="B-flat major">B<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-flat">♭</span></span> major</a></td> <td>2</td> <td>B<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-flat">♭</span></span>, E<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-flat">♭</span></span></td> <td><a href="/wiki/G_minor" title="G minor">G minor</a> </td></tr> <tr> <td><a href="/wiki/E-flat_major" title="E-flat major">E<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-flat">♭</span></span> major</a></td> <td>3</td> <td>B<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-flat">♭</span></span>, E<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-flat">♭</span></span>, A<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-flat">♭</span></span></td> <td><a href="/wiki/C_minor" title="C minor">C minor</a> </td></tr> <tr> <td><a href="/wiki/A-flat_major" title="A-flat major">A<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-flat">♭</span></span> major</a></td> <td>4</td> <td>B<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-flat">♭</span></span>, E<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-flat">♭</span></span>, A<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-flat">♭</span></span>, D<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-flat">♭</span></span></td> <td><a href="/wiki/F_minor" title="F minor">F minor</a> </td></tr> <tr> <td><a href="/wiki/D-flat_major" title="D-flat major">D<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-flat">♭</span></span> major</a></td> <td>5</td> <td>B<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-flat">♭</span></span>, E<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-flat">♭</span></span>, A<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-flat">♭</span></span>, D<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-flat">♭</span></span>, G<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-flat">♭</span></span></td> <td><a href="/wiki/B-flat_minor" title="B-flat minor">B<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-flat">♭</span></span> minor</a></td> <td><a href="/wiki/C-sharp_major" title="C-sharp major">C<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-sharp">♯</span></span> major</a>/<a href="/wiki/A-sharp_minor" title="A-sharp minor">A<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-sharp">♯</span></span> minor</a> </td></tr> <tr> <td><a href="/wiki/G-flat_major" title="G-flat major">G<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-flat">♭</span></span> major</a></td> <td>6</td> <td>B<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-flat">♭</span></span>, E<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-flat">♭</span></span>, A<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-flat">♭</span></span>, D<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-flat">♭</span></span>, G<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-flat">♭</span></span>, C<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-flat">♭</span></span></td> <td><a href="/wiki/E-flat_minor" title="E-flat minor">E<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-flat">♭</span></span> minor</a></td> <td><a href="/wiki/F-sharp_major" title="F-sharp major">F<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-sharp">♯</span></span> major</a>/<a href="/wiki/D-sharp_minor" title="D-sharp minor">D<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-sharp">♯</span></span> minor</a> </td></tr> <tr> <td><a href="/wiki/C-flat_major" title="C-flat major">C<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-flat">♭</span></span> major</a></td> <td>7</td> <td>B<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-flat">♭</span></span>, E<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-flat">♭</span></span>, A<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-flat">♭</span></span>, D<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-flat">♭</span></span>, G<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-flat">♭</span></span>, C<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-flat">♭</span></span>, F<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-flat">♭</span></span></td> <td><a href="/wiki/A-flat_minor" title="A-flat minor">A<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-flat">♭</span></span> minor</a></td> <td><a href="/wiki/B_major" title="B major">B major</a>/<a href="/wiki/G-sharp_minor" title="G-sharp minor">G<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-sharp">♯</span></span> minor</a> </td></tr></tbody></table> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Relationship_between_key_and_signature">Relationship between key and signature</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Key_signature&action=edit&section=8" title="Edit section: Relationship between key and signature"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>The sharps or flats needed to produce a <a href="/wiki/Diatonic_scale" title="Diatonic scale">diatonic scale</a> in <a href="/wiki/Diatonic" class="mw-redirect" title="Diatonic">diatonic</a> or <a href="/wiki/Tonality" title="Tonality">tonal</a> music can be shown as a key signature at the beginning of a section of music instead of showing accidentals on individual notes. While the key of a piece generally corresponds to the notated key signature, it may not in some cases, such as in pre-Baroque music, which was composed before the modern concept of keys had fully emerged. </p><p>Some pieces feature <a href="/wiki/Modulation_(music)" title="Modulation (music)">modulations</a>, or changes in key, between contrasting sections. Modulations may or may not be reflected by a corresponding change in key signature. Modulated passages may instead make use of accidentals. </p> <figure class="mw-halign-right" typeof="mw:File/Thumb"><a href="/wiki/File:GottesZeit.png" class="mw-file-description"><img src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/79/GottesZeit.png/400px-GottesZeit.png" decoding="async" width="400" height="118" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/79/GottesZeit.png/600px-GottesZeit.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/79/GottesZeit.png/800px-GottesZeit.png 2x" data-file-width="1374" data-file-height="406" /></a><figcaption><a href="/wiki/Gottes_Zeit_ist_die_allerbeste_Zeit,_BWV_106" title="Gottes Zeit ist die allerbeste Zeit, BWV 106">Bach Cantata 106</a> is almost entirely in E<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-flat">♭</span></span> major, but has only two flats, not three, in the key signature <span class="noprint"><span class="ext-phonos"><span data-nosnippet="" id="ooui-php-1" class="ext-phonos-PhonosButton noexcerpt oo-ui-widget oo-ui-widget-enabled oo-ui-buttonElement oo-ui-buttonElement-frameless oo-ui-iconElement oo-ui-labelElement oo-ui-buttonWidget" data-ooui="{"_":"mw.Phonos.PhonosButton","href":"\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/transcoded\/b\/ba\/GottesZeit.mid\/GottesZeit.mid.mp3","rel":["nofollow"],"framed":false,"icon":"volumeUp","label":{"html":"Play"},"data":{"ipa":"","text":"","lang":"en","wikibase":"","file":"GottesZeit.mid"},"classes":["ext-phonos-PhonosButton","noexcerpt"]}"><a role="button" tabindex="0" href="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/b/ba/GottesZeit.mid/GottesZeit.mid.mp3" rel="nofollow" aria-label="Play audio" title="Play audio" class="oo-ui-buttonElement-button"><span class="oo-ui-iconElement-icon oo-ui-icon-volumeUp"></span><span class="oo-ui-labelElement-label">Play</span><span class="oo-ui-indicatorElement-indicator oo-ui-indicatorElement-noIndicator"></span></a></span><sup class="ext-phonos-attribution noexcerpt navigation-not-searchable"><a href="/wiki/File:GottesZeit.mid" title="File:GottesZeit.mid">ⓘ</a></sup></span></span></figcaption></figure> <p>The <a href="/wiki/Toccata_and_Fugue_in_D_minor,_BWV_538" title="Toccata and Fugue in D minor, BWV 538">Toccata and Fugue in D minor, BWV 538</a> by <a href="/wiki/Johann_Sebastian_Bach" title="Johann Sebastian Bach">Bach</a> has a key signature with no sharps or flats, indicating that it may be in D, in <a href="/wiki/Dorian_mode" title="Dorian mode">Dorian mode</a>, but the B<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-flat">♭</span></span>s indicated with <a href="/wiki/Accidental_(music)" title="Accidental (music)">accidentals</a> make the music in D minor. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Additional_terminology">Additional terminology</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Key_signature&action=edit&section=9" title="Edit section: Additional terminology"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>Keys which are associated with the same key signature are called <a href="/wiki/Relative_minor/major" class="mw-redirect" title="Relative minor/major">relative keys</a>. </p><p>When <a href="/wiki/Musical_mode" class="mw-redirect" title="Musical mode">musical modes</a>, such as <a href="/wiki/Lydian_mode" title="Lydian mode">Lydian</a> or Dorian, are written using key signatures, they are called <i>transposed modes</i>. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Use_in_other_traditions">Use in other traditions <span class="anchor" id="Use_outside_of_the_Western_common-practice_period"></span></h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Key_signature&action=edit&section=10" title="Edit section: Use in other traditions"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <div class="thumb tright" style=""><div class="thumbinner" style="width:272px"><div class="thumbimage noresize" style="width:270px;"> <div class="mw-ext-score noresize" data-midi="//upload.wikimedia.org/score/f/r/fr9ttfc9mrri9b3xdn8pyvrtwf13nn9/fr9ttfc9.midi"><img src="//upload.wikimedia.org/score/f/r/fr9ttfc9mrri9b3xdn8pyvrtwf13nn9/fr9ttfc9.png" width="263" height="52" alt="{
\relative c' {
 \set Staff.keyAlterations = #`((6 . ,FLAT)(2 . ,FLAT)(3 . ,SHARP)) d es fis g a bes c d }}" /></div></div><div class="thumbcaption">D <a href="/wiki/Phrygian_dominant_scale" title="Phrygian dominant scale">Freygish</a> scale <span class="noprint"><span class="ext-phonos"><span data-nosnippet="" id="ooui-php-2" class="ext-phonos-PhonosButton noexcerpt oo-ui-widget oo-ui-widget-enabled oo-ui-buttonElement oo-ui-buttonElement-frameless oo-ui-iconElement oo-ui-labelElement oo-ui-buttonWidget" data-ooui="{"_":"mw.Phonos.PhonosButton","href":"\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/transcoded\/8\/83\/D_Freygish.mid\/D_Freygish.mid.mp3","rel":["nofollow"],"framed":false,"icon":"volumeUp","label":{"html":"Play"},"data":{"ipa":"","text":"","lang":"en","wikibase":"","file":"D Freygish.mid"},"classes":["ext-phonos-PhonosButton","noexcerpt"]}"><a role="button" tabindex="0" href="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/8/83/D_Freygish.mid/D_Freygish.mid.mp3" rel="nofollow" aria-label="Play audio" title="Play audio" class="oo-ui-buttonElement-button"><span class="oo-ui-iconElement-icon oo-ui-icon-volumeUp"></span><span class="oo-ui-labelElement-label">Play</span><span class="oo-ui-indicatorElement-indicator oo-ui-indicatorElement-noIndicator"></span></a></span><sup class="ext-phonos-attribution noexcerpt navigation-not-searchable"><a href="/wiki/File:D_Freygish.mid" title="File:D Freygish.mid">ⓘ</a></sup></span></span></div></div></div> <p>Key signatures are also used in music that does not come from the Western <a href="/wiki/Common_practice_period" title="Common practice period">common practice period</a>. This includes folk music, non-Western music, and Western music from before or after the common practice period. </p><p><a href="/wiki/Klezmer" title="Klezmer">Klezmer</a> music uses scales other than diatonic major or minor, such as <a href="/wiki/Phrygian_dominant_scale" title="Phrygian dominant scale">Phrygian dominant scale</a>. Because of the limitations of the <a href="/wiki/Great_Highland_Bagpipe" class="mw-redirect" title="Great Highland Bagpipe">Great Highland Bagpipe</a> scale, key signatures are often omitted from written pipe music, which otherwise would be written with two sharps, F<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-sharp">♯</span></span> and C<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-sharp">♯</span></span>.<sup id="cite_ref-12" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-12"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>12<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> (The pipes are incapable of playing F<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-natural">♮</span></span> and C<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-natural">♮</span></span> so the sharps are not notated.) 20th century composers such as <a href="/wiki/B%C3%A9la_Bart%C3%B3k" title="Béla Bartók">Bartók</a> and <a href="/wiki/Frederic_Rzewski" title="Frederic Rzewski">Rzewski</a> (see below) experimented with non-diatonic key signatures. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Historical_notation">Historical notation</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Key_signature&action=edit&section=11" title="Edit section: Historical notation"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <figure class="mw-halign-right" typeof="mw:File/Thumb"><a href="/wiki/File:Earlykeysig.png" class="mw-file-description"><img src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6d/Earlykeysig.png/80px-Earlykeysig.png" decoding="async" width="80" height="360" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6d/Earlykeysig.png/120px-Earlykeysig.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6d/Earlykeysig.png/160px-Earlykeysig.png 2x" data-file-width="330" data-file-height="1485" /></a><figcaption>Variant key signatures in a <a href="/wiki/Tomas_Luis_de_Victoria" class="mw-redirect" title="Tomas Luis de Victoria">Victoria</a> motet. In the <i>superius</i> (soprano) part the E<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-flat">♭</span></span> appears first, and in two other parts a flat occurs in two octaves.</figcaption></figure> <p>In music from the Baroque period, it is common to see key signatures in which the notes are annotated in a different order from the modern practice, or with the same note-letter annotated for each octave. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Unusual_signatures">Unusual signatures</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Key_signature&action=edit&section=12" title="Edit section: Unusual signatures"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1236090951"><div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable">Further information: <a href="/wiki/Anhemitonic_scale#Modes_of_the_ancohemitonic_heptatonic_scales_and_the_key_signature_system" title="Anhemitonic scale">Anhemitonic scale § Modes of the ancohemitonic heptatonic scales and the key signature system</a></div> <p>The 15 key signatures that form diatonic scales are sometimes called <i>standard key signatures</i>. Other scales are written either with a standard key signature and use accidentals as required, or with a nonstandard key signature. Examples of the latter include the E<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-flat">♭</span></span> (right hand), and F<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-sharp">♯</span></span> and G<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-sharp">♯</span></span> (left hand) used for the С diminished (С <a href="/wiki/Octatonic_scale" title="Octatonic scale">octatonic</a>) scale in Bartók's <i>Crossed Hands</i> (no. 99, vol. 4, <i><a href="/wiki/Mikrokosmos_(B%C3%A9la_Bart%C3%B3k)" class="mw-redirect" title="Mikrokosmos (Béla Bartók)">Mikrokosmos</a></i>); the B<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-flat">♭</span></span>, E<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-flat">♭</span></span> and F<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-sharp">♯</span></span> used for the D <a href="/wiki/Phrygian_dominant_scale" title="Phrygian dominant scale">Phrygian dominant scale</a> in <a href="/wiki/Frederic_Rzewski" title="Frederic Rzewski">Frederic Rzewski</a>'s <i>God to a Hungry Child</i>; and the E<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-flat">♭</span></span> and D<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-flat">♭</span></span> (right hand) and the B<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-flat">♭</span></span>, A<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-flat">♭</span></span>, G<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-flat">♭</span></span> (left hand) in <a href="/wiki/Gy%C3%B6rgy_Ligeti" title="György Ligeti">György Ligeti</a>'s <i>Galamb Borong</i> (no. 7 from the second book of the <i>Études pour piano</i>), and B<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-flat">♭</span></span>, E<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-flat">♭</span></span>, D<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-flat">♭</span></span>,G<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-flat">♭</span></span> (both hands) in <i>Pour Irina</i> (no. 16 from the same work's third book). </p><p>There are also examples of conflicting standard signatures, as in: </p> <ul><li>no. 3 of <a href="/wiki/Sergei_Prokofiev" title="Sergei Prokofiev">Sergei Prokofiev</a>'s <i>Sarcasms</i>, op. 17 (three sharps in the right hand, and five flats in the left hand)</li> <li>and four numbers of Ligeti's <i>Études pour piano</i>: <ul><li>no. 1 from the first book (none in the right hand, and five sharps in the left hand)</li> <li>no. 10 from the second book (<i>Der Zauberlehrling</i>; none in the right hand, and five flats in the left hand in bars 67–87)</li> <li>no. 11 from the second book (<i>En Suspens</i>; five flats in the right hand and none in the left hand, with the opposite later on)</li> <li>no. 12 from the second book (<i>Entrelacs</i>; none in the right hand and five flats in the left hand, with the opposite later on)</li></ul></li></ul> <p>No sharps or flats in a key signature can indicate that the music is in the key of C major / A minor, or that the piece is <a href="/wiki/Musical_mode" class="mw-redirect" title="Musical mode">modal</a> or <a href="/wiki/Atonality" title="Atonality">atonal</a> (does not have a key signature). An example is Bartók's <a href="/wiki/Piano_Sonata_(Bart%C3%B3k)" title="Piano Sonata (Bartók)">Piano Sonata</a>, which has no fixed key and is highly chromatic. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="History">History</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Key_signature&action=edit&section=13" title="Edit section: History"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>The use of a one-flat signature developed in the <a href="/wiki/Medieval_music" title="Medieval music">Medieval</a> period, but signatures with more than one flat did not appear until the 16th century, and signatures with sharps not until the mid-17th century.<sup id="cite_ref-13" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-13"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>13<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>When signatures with multiple flats first came in, the order of the flats was not standardized, and often a flat appeared in two different octaves, as shown at right. In the late 15th and early 16th centuries, it was common for different voice parts in the same composition to have different signatures, a situation called a <b>partial signature</b> or <b>conflicting signature</b>. This was actually more common than complete signatures in the 15th century.<sup id="cite_ref-14" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-14"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>14<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> The 16th-century motet <i>Absolon fili mi</i> by <a href="/wiki/Pierre_de_La_Rue" class="mw-redirect" title="Pierre de La Rue">Pierre de La Rue</a> (formerly attributed to <a href="/wiki/Josquin_des_Prez" title="Josquin des Prez">Josquin des Prez</a>) features two voice parts with two flats, one part with three flats, and one part with four flats. </p><p>Baroque music written in <a href="/wiki/Minor_key" class="mw-redirect" title="Minor key">minor keys</a> often was written with a key signature with fewer flats than we now associate with their keys; for example, movements in C minor often had only two flats (because the A<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-flat">♭</span></span> would frequently have to be sharpened to A<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-natural">♮</span></span> in the <a href="/wiki/Minor_scale" title="Minor scale">ascending melodic minor scale</a>, as would the B<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-flat">♭</span></span>). </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Table">Table</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Key_signature&action=edit&section=14" title="Edit section: Table"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <table> <tbody><tr> <td> <table class="wikitable" style="background:white; text-align:center; margin:0.5em auto"> <tbody><tr> <th>Key signature </th> <th>Major key </th> <th>Minor key </th></tr> <tr> <td align="center"><span typeof="mw:File"><a href="/wiki/File:Key_Signature_C_major.jpg" class="mw-file-description" title="C Major key signature"><img alt="C Major key signature" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a4/Key_Signature_C_major.jpg/100px-Key_Signature_C_major.jpg" decoding="async" width="100" height="76" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a4/Key_Signature_C_major.jpg/150px-Key_Signature_C_major.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a4/Key_Signature_C_major.jpg/200px-Key_Signature_C_major.jpg 2x" data-file-width="594" data-file-height="451" /></a></span><br />no sharps or flats </td> <td><a href="/wiki/C_major" title="C major">C major</a> </td> <td><a href="/wiki/A_minor" title="A minor">A minor</a> </td></tr></tbody></table> <table class="wikitable" style="background:white; text-align:center; margin:0.5em auto"> <tbody><tr> <th>Key signature </th> <th>Added <span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-sharp">♯</span></span> </th> <th>Major key </th> <th>Minor key </th> <th>Key signature </th> <th>Added <span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-flat">♭</span></span> </th> <th>Major key </th> <th>Minor key </th></tr> <tr> <td align="center"><span typeof="mw:File"><a href="/wiki/File:Key_Signature_G_major.jpg" class="mw-file-description" title="G Major key signature"><img alt="G Major key signature" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6b/Key_Signature_G_major.jpg/100px-Key_Signature_G_major.jpg" decoding="async" width="100" height="76" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6b/Key_Signature_G_major.jpg/150px-Key_Signature_G_major.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6b/Key_Signature_G_major.jpg/200px-Key_Signature_G_major.jpg 2x" data-file-width="594" data-file-height="451" /></a></span><br />1 sharp </td> <td>F<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-sharp">♯</span></span> </td> <td><a href="/wiki/G_major" title="G major">G major</a> </td> <td><a href="/wiki/E_minor" title="E minor">E minor</a> </td> <td align="center"><span typeof="mw:File"><a href="/wiki/File:Key_Signature_F_major.jpg" class="mw-file-description" title="F Major key signature"><img alt="F Major key signature" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a2/Key_Signature_F_major.jpg/100px-Key_Signature_F_major.jpg" decoding="async" width="100" height="76" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a2/Key_Signature_F_major.jpg/150px-Key_Signature_F_major.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a2/Key_Signature_F_major.jpg/200px-Key_Signature_F_major.jpg 2x" data-file-width="594" data-file-height="451" /></a></span><br />1 flat </td> <td>B<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-flat">♭</span></span> </td> <td><a href="/wiki/F_major" title="F major">F major</a> </td> <td><a href="/wiki/D_minor" title="D minor">D minor</a> </td></tr> <tr> <td align="center"><span typeof="mw:File"><a href="/wiki/File:Key_Signature_D_major.jpg" class="mw-file-description" title="D Major key signature"><img alt="D Major key signature" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c0/Key_Signature_D_major.jpg/100px-Key_Signature_D_major.jpg" decoding="async" width="100" height="76" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c0/Key_Signature_D_major.jpg/150px-Key_Signature_D_major.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c0/Key_Signature_D_major.jpg/200px-Key_Signature_D_major.jpg 2x" data-file-width="594" data-file-height="451" /></a></span><br />2 sharps </td> <td>C<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-sharp">♯</span></span> </td> <td><a href="/wiki/D_major" title="D major">D major</a> </td> <td><a href="/wiki/B_minor" title="B minor">B minor</a> </td> <td align="center"><span typeof="mw:File"><a href="/wiki/File:Key_Signature_B-flat_major.jpg" class="mw-file-description" title="B-flat Major key signature"><img alt="B-flat Major key signature" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/8f/Key_Signature_B-flat_major.jpg/100px-Key_Signature_B-flat_major.jpg" decoding="async" width="100" height="76" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/8f/Key_Signature_B-flat_major.jpg/150px-Key_Signature_B-flat_major.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/8f/Key_Signature_B-flat_major.jpg/200px-Key_Signature_B-flat_major.jpg 2x" data-file-width="594" data-file-height="451" /></a></span><br />2 flats </td> <td>E<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-flat">♭</span></span> </td> <td><a href="/wiki/B-flat_major" title="B-flat major">B<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-flat">♭</span></span> major</a> </td> <td><a href="/wiki/G_minor" title="G minor">G minor</a> </td></tr> <tr> <td align="center"><span typeof="mw:File"><a href="/wiki/File:Key_Signature_A_major.jpg" class="mw-file-description" title="A Major key signature"><img alt="A Major key signature" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c3/Key_Signature_A_major.jpg/100px-Key_Signature_A_major.jpg" decoding="async" width="100" height="76" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c3/Key_Signature_A_major.jpg/150px-Key_Signature_A_major.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c3/Key_Signature_A_major.jpg/200px-Key_Signature_A_major.jpg 2x" data-file-width="594" data-file-height="451" /></a></span><br />3 sharps </td> <td>G<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-sharp">♯</span></span> </td> <td><a href="/wiki/A_major" title="A major">A major</a> </td> <td><a href="/wiki/F-sharp_minor" title="F-sharp minor">F<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-sharp">♯</span></span> minor</a> </td> <td align="center"><span typeof="mw:File"><a href="/wiki/File:Key_Signature_E-flat_major.jpg" class="mw-file-description" title="E-flat Major key signature"><img alt="E-flat Major key signature" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Key_Signature_E-flat_major.jpg/100px-Key_Signature_E-flat_major.jpg" decoding="async" width="100" height="76" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Key_Signature_E-flat_major.jpg/150px-Key_Signature_E-flat_major.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Key_Signature_E-flat_major.jpg/200px-Key_Signature_E-flat_major.jpg 2x" data-file-width="594" data-file-height="451" /></a></span><br />3 flats </td> <td>A<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-flat">♭</span></span> </td> <td><a href="/wiki/E-flat_major" title="E-flat major">E<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-flat">♭</span></span> major</a> </td> <td><a href="/wiki/C_minor" title="C minor">C minor</a> </td></tr> <tr> <td align="center"><span typeof="mw:File"><a href="/wiki/File:Key_Signature_E_major.jpg" class="mw-file-description" title="E Major key signature"><img alt="E Major key signature" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d4/Key_Signature_E_major.jpg/100px-Key_Signature_E_major.jpg" decoding="async" width="100" height="76" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d4/Key_Signature_E_major.jpg/150px-Key_Signature_E_major.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d4/Key_Signature_E_major.jpg/200px-Key_Signature_E_major.jpg 2x" data-file-width="594" data-file-height="451" /></a></span><br />4 sharps </td> <td>D<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-sharp">♯</span></span> </td> <td><a href="/wiki/E_major" title="E major">E major</a> </td> <td><a href="/wiki/C-sharp_minor" title="C-sharp minor">C<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-sharp">♯</span></span> minor</a> </td> <td align="center"><span typeof="mw:File"><a href="/wiki/File:Key_Signature_A-flat_major.jpg" class="mw-file-description" title="A-flat Major key signature"><img alt="A-flat Major key signature" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/92/Key_Signature_A-flat_major.jpg/100px-Key_Signature_A-flat_major.jpg" decoding="async" width="100" height="76" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/92/Key_Signature_A-flat_major.jpg/150px-Key_Signature_A-flat_major.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/92/Key_Signature_A-flat_major.jpg/200px-Key_Signature_A-flat_major.jpg 2x" data-file-width="594" data-file-height="451" /></a></span><br />4 flats </td> <td>D<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-flat">♭</span></span> </td> <td><a href="/wiki/A-flat_major" title="A-flat major">A<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-flat">♭</span></span> major</a> </td> <td><a href="/wiki/F_minor" title="F minor">F minor</a> </td></tr> <tr> <td align="center"><span typeof="mw:File"><a href="/wiki/File:Key_Signature_B_major.jpg" class="mw-file-description" title="B Major key signature"><img alt="B Major key signature" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/2f/Key_Signature_B_major.jpg/100px-Key_Signature_B_major.jpg" decoding="async" width="100" height="76" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/2f/Key_Signature_B_major.jpg/150px-Key_Signature_B_major.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/2f/Key_Signature_B_major.jpg/200px-Key_Signature_B_major.jpg 2x" data-file-width="594" data-file-height="451" /></a></span><br />5 sharps </td> <td>A<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-sharp">♯</span></span> </td> <td><a href="/wiki/B_major" title="B major">B major</a> </td> <td><a href="/wiki/G-sharp_minor" title="G-sharp minor">G<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-sharp">♯</span></span> minor</a> </td> <td align="center"><span typeof="mw:File"><a href="/wiki/File:Key_Signature_D-flat_major.jpg" class="mw-file-description" title="D-flat Major key signature"><img alt="D-flat Major key signature" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f7/Key_Signature_D-flat_major.jpg/100px-Key_Signature_D-flat_major.jpg" decoding="async" width="100" height="76" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f7/Key_Signature_D-flat_major.jpg/150px-Key_Signature_D-flat_major.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f7/Key_Signature_D-flat_major.jpg/200px-Key_Signature_D-flat_major.jpg 2x" data-file-width="594" data-file-height="451" /></a></span><br />5 flats </td> <td>G<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-flat">♭</span></span> </td> <td><a href="/wiki/D-flat_major" title="D-flat major">D<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-flat">♭</span></span> major</a> </td> <td><a href="/wiki/B-flat_minor" title="B-flat minor">B<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-flat">♭</span></span> minor</a> </td></tr> <tr> <td align="center"><span typeof="mw:File"><a href="/wiki/File:Key_Signature_F-sharp_major.jpg" class="mw-file-description" title="F-sharp Major key signature"><img alt="F-sharp Major key signature" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/16/Key_Signature_F-sharp_major.jpg/100px-Key_Signature_F-sharp_major.jpg" decoding="async" width="100" height="76" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/16/Key_Signature_F-sharp_major.jpg/150px-Key_Signature_F-sharp_major.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/16/Key_Signature_F-sharp_major.jpg/200px-Key_Signature_F-sharp_major.jpg 2x" data-file-width="594" data-file-height="451" /></a></span><br />6 sharps </td> <td>E<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-sharp">♯</span></span> </td> <td><a href="/wiki/F-sharp_major" title="F-sharp major">F<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-sharp">♯</span></span> major</a> </td> <td><a href="/wiki/D-sharp_minor" title="D-sharp minor">D<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-sharp">♯</span></span> minor</a> </td> <td align="center"><span typeof="mw:File"><a href="/wiki/File:Key_Signature_G-flat_major.jpg" class="mw-file-description" title="G-flat Major key signature"><img alt="G-flat Major key signature" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a6/Key_Signature_G-flat_major.jpg/100px-Key_Signature_G-flat_major.jpg" decoding="async" width="100" height="76" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a6/Key_Signature_G-flat_major.jpg/150px-Key_Signature_G-flat_major.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a6/Key_Signature_G-flat_major.jpg/200px-Key_Signature_G-flat_major.jpg 2x" data-file-width="594" data-file-height="451" /></a></span><br />6 flats </td> <td>C<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-flat">♭</span></span> </td> <td><a href="/wiki/G-flat_major" title="G-flat major">G<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-flat">♭</span></span> major</a> </td> <td><a href="/wiki/E-flat_minor" title="E-flat minor">E<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-flat">♭</span></span> minor</a> </td></tr> <tr> <td align="center"><span typeof="mw:File"><a href="/wiki/File:Key_Signature_of_C-sharp_major.jpg" class="mw-file-description" title="C-sharp Major key signature"><img alt="C-sharp Major key signature" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4c/Key_Signature_of_C-sharp_major.jpg/100px-Key_Signature_of_C-sharp_major.jpg" decoding="async" width="100" height="76" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4c/Key_Signature_of_C-sharp_major.jpg/150px-Key_Signature_of_C-sharp_major.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4c/Key_Signature_of_C-sharp_major.jpg/200px-Key_Signature_of_C-sharp_major.jpg 2x" data-file-width="594" data-file-height="451" /></a></span><br />7 sharps </td> <td>B<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-sharp">♯</span></span> </td> <td><a href="/wiki/C-sharp_major" title="C-sharp major">C<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-sharp">♯</span></span> major</a> </td> <td><a href="/wiki/A-sharp_minor" title="A-sharp minor">A<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-sharp">♯</span></span> minor</a> </td> <td align="center"><span typeof="mw:File"><a href="/wiki/File:Key_Signature_C-flat_major.jpg" class="mw-file-description" title="C-flat Major key signature"><img alt="C-flat Major key signature" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/55/Key_Signature_C-flat_major.jpg/100px-Key_Signature_C-flat_major.jpg" decoding="async" width="100" height="76" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/55/Key_Signature_C-flat_major.jpg/150px-Key_Signature_C-flat_major.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/55/Key_Signature_C-flat_major.jpg/200px-Key_Signature_C-flat_major.jpg 2x" data-file-width="594" data-file-height="451" /></a></span><br />7 flats </td> <td>F<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-flat">♭</span></span> </td> <td><a href="/wiki/C-flat_major" title="C-flat major">C<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-flat">♭</span></span> major</a> </td> <td><a href="/wiki/A-flat_minor" title="A-flat minor">A<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-flat">♭</span></span> minor</a> </td></tr></tbody></table> </td> <td> </td></tr></tbody></table> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="See_also">See also</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Key_signature&action=edit&section=15" title="Edit section: See also"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Key_signature_names_and_translations" title="Key signature names and translations">Key signature names and translations</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Major_and_minor" title="Major and minor">Major and minor</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Parallel_key" title="Parallel key">Parallel key</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Relative_key" title="Relative key">Relative key</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Time_signature" title="Time signature">Time signature</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Theoretical_key" class="mw-redirect" title="Theoretical key">Theoretical key</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Universal_key" title="Universal key">Universal key</a></li></ul> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="References">References</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Key_signature&action=edit&section=16" title="Edit section: References"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1239543626">.mw-parser-output .reflist{margin-bottom:0.5em;list-style-type:decimal}@media screen{.mw-parser-output .reflist{font-size:90%}}.mw-parser-output .reflist .references{font-size:100%;margin-bottom:0;list-style-type:inherit}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns-2{column-width:30em}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns-3{column-width:25em}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns{margin-top:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns ol{margin-top:0}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns li{page-break-inside:avoid;break-inside:avoid-column}.mw-parser-output .reflist-upper-alpha{list-style-type:upper-alpha}.mw-parser-output .reflist-upper-roman{list-style-type:upper-roman}.mw-parser-output .reflist-lower-alpha{list-style-type:lower-alpha}.mw-parser-output .reflist-lower-greek{list-style-type:lower-greek}.mw-parser-output .reflist-lower-roman{list-style-type:lower-roman}</style><div class="reflist"> <div class="mw-references-wrap mw-references-columns"><ol class="references"> <li id="cite_note-1"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-1">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Schulenberg, David. <i>Music of the Baroque</i>. New York: Oxford University Press, 2001. <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://books.google.com/books?id=P4x3aKvOQWAC&pg=PA72&vq=%22the+key+of+a+baroque+work%22&source=gbs_search_r&cad=1_1&sig=ACfU3U3x7lhOyyIiT-O_HsTZlZxw8FrkSA">p. 72.</a>. "(…) to determine the key of a Baroque work one must always analyze its tonal structure rather than rely on the key signature."</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-2"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-2">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Cooper, David. <i>The Petrie Collection of the Ancient Music of Ireland</i>. Cork: Cork University Press, 2005. <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://books.google.com/books?id=PzrfncNnr4cC&pg=PA25-IA13&vq=%22In+a+few+cases+Petrie+has+given+what+is+clearly+a+modal+melody+a+key+signature+which+suggests+that+it+is+actally+in+a+minor+key%22&source=gbs_search_r&cad=1_1&sig=ACfU3U0BqVPTuQnnaH32iLpCvrYnyT143Q">p. 22</a>. "In a few cases Petrie has given what is clearly a modal melody a key signature which suggests that it is actually in a minor key. For example, <i>Banish Misfortune</i> is presented in D minor, although it is clearly in the Dorian mode."</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-orderofsharp-3"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-orderofsharp_3-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1238218222">.mw-parser-output cite.citation{font-style:inherit;word-wrap:break-word}.mw-parser-output .citation q{quotes:"\"""\"""'""'"}.mw-parser-output .citation:target{background-color:rgba(0,127,255,0.133)}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-free.id-lock-free a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/65/Lock-green.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-limited.id-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .id-lock-registration.id-lock-registration a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-subscription.id-lock-subscription a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4c/Wikisource-logo.svg")right 0.1em center/12px no-repeat}body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-free a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-limited a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-registration a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-subscription a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon a{background-size:contain;padding:0 1em 0 0}.mw-parser-output .cs1-code{color:inherit;background:inherit;border:none;padding:inherit}.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-error{display:none;color:var(--color-error,#d33)}.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-error{color:var(--color-error,#d33)}.mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{display:none;color:#085;margin-left:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left{padding-left:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right{padding-right:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .citation .mw-selflink{font-weight:inherit}@media screen{.mw-parser-output .cs1-format{font-size:95%}html.skin-theme-clientpref-night .mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{color:#18911f}}@media screen and (prefers-color-scheme:dark){html.skin-theme-clientpref-os .mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{color:#18911f}}</style><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.dummies.com/art-center/music/guitar/how-to-read-key-signatures/">"How to Read Key Signatures"</a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=unknown&rft.btitle=How+to+Read+Key+Signatures&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.dummies.com%2Fart-center%2Fmusic%2Fguitar%2Fhow-to-read-key-signatures%2F&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AKey+signature" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-:0-4"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-:0_4-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-:0_4-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a href="https://imslp.org/wiki/Practische_Beispiele_(Reicha,_Anton)" class="extiw" title="scores:Practische Beispiele (Reicha, Anton)">Anton Reicha: <i>Practische Beispiele</i>, pp. 52-53.</a>: Scores at the <a href="/wiki/International_Music_Score_Library_Project" title="International Music Score Library Project">International Music Score Library Project</a></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-5"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-5">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.enspub.com/pages/93/93503.htm">"Ewald, Victor: Quintet No 4 in A<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-flat">♭</span></span>, op 8"</a>. imslp<span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">14 February</span> 2023</span>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=unknown&rft.btitle=Ewald%2C+Victor%3A+Quintet+No+4+in+A%3Cspan+class%3D%22music-symbol%22+style%3D%22font-family%3A+Arial+Unicode+MS%2C+Lucida+Sans+Unicode%3B%22%3E%3Cspan+class%3D%22music-flat%22%3E%26%23x266d%3B%3C%2Fspan%3E%3C%2Fspan%3E%2C+op+8&rft.pub=imslp&rft_id=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.enspub.com%2Fpages%2F93%2F93503.htm&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AKey+signature" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-6"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-6">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><a href="https://imslp.org/wiki/A_World_Requiem,_Op.60_(Foulds,_John)" class="extiw" title="scores:A World Requiem, Op.60 (Foulds, John)">John Foulds: <i>A World Requiem</i>, pp. 153ff.</a>: Scores at the <a href="/wiki/International_Music_Score_Library_Project" title="International Music Score Library Project">International Music Score Library Project</a></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-7"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-7">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFMax_Reger1904" class="citation book cs1">Max Reger (1904). <i>Supplement to the Theory of Modulation</i>. Translated by John Bernhoff. Leipzig: C. F. Kahnt Nachfolger. pp. <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://archive.org/details/supplementtotheo00rege/page/42/mode/2up">42–45</a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=Supplement+to+the+Theory+of+Modulation&rft.place=Leipzig&rft.pages=42-45&rft.pub=C.+F.+Kahnt+Nachfolger&rft.date=1904&rft.au=Max+Reger&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AKey+signature" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-8"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-8">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.hickeys.com/music/brass/brass_ensembles/brass_quintets/products/sku035994-ewald-victor-quintet-no-4-in-ab-op-8.php">"Ewald, Victor: Quintet No 4 in A<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode;"><span class="music-flat">♭</span></span>, op 8"</a>, Hickey's Music Center</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-Bower-9"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-Bower_9-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Bower_9-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text">Bower, Michael. 2007. "<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.empire.k12.ca.us/capistrano/Mike/capmusic/Key%20Signatures/key_signatures.htm">All about Key Signatures</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20100311182612/http://www.empire.k12.ca.us/capistrano/mike/capmusic/key%20signatures/key_signatures.htm">Archived</a> 2010-03-11 at the <a href="/wiki/Wayback_Machine" title="Wayback Machine">Wayback Machine</a>". Modesto, CA: Capistrano School (K–12) website. (Accessed 17 March 2010).</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-Jones-10"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-Jones_10-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Jones_10-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Jones_10-2"><sup><i><b>c</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text">Jones, George Thaddeus. 1974. <i>Music Theory: The Fundamental Concepts of Tonal Music Including Notation, Terminology, and Harmony</i>, p.35. Barnes & Noble Outline Series 137. New York City, Hagerstown, San Francisco, London: <a href="/wiki/Barnes_%26_Noble" title="Barnes & Noble">Barnes & Noble</a>. <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-06-460137-5" title="Special:BookSources/978-0-06-460137-5">978-0-06-460137-5</a>.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-Kennedy-11"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-Kennedy_11-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Kennedy_11-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text">Kennedy, Michael. 1994. "Key-Signature". <i>Oxford Dictionary of Music</i>, second edition, associate editor, Joyce Bourne. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press. <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-19-869162-9" title="Special:BookSources/0-19-869162-9">0-19-869162-9</a>.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-12"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-12">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"> <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFNienhuysNieuwenhuizen2009" class="citation web cs1"><a href="/wiki/Han-Wen_Nienhuys" class="mw-redirect" title="Han-Wen Nienhuys">Nienhuys, Han-Wen</a>; <a href="/wiki/Jan_Nieuwenhuizen" class="mw-redirect" title="Jan Nieuwenhuizen">Nieuwenhuizen, Jan</a> (2009). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://lilypond.org/doc/v2.12/Documentation/user/lilypond/Bagpipes#Bagpipes">"GNU LilyPond — Notation Reference"</a>. 2.6.2 Bagpipes<span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">2010-03-28</span></span>. <q>Bagpipe music nominally uses the key of D Major (even though that isn't really true). However, since that is the only key that can be used, the key signature is normally not written out.</q></cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=unknown&rft.btitle=GNU+LilyPond+%E2%80%94+Notation+Reference&rft.pages=2.6.2+Bagpipes&rft.date=2009&rft.aulast=Nienhuys&rft.aufirst=Han-Wen&rft.au=Nieuwenhuizen%2C+Jan&rft_id=http%3A%2F%2Flilypond.org%2Fdoc%2Fv2.12%2FDocumentation%2Fuser%2Flilypond%2FBagpipes%23Bagpipes&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AKey+signature" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-13"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-13">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">"Key Signature", <i>Harvard Dictionary of Music</i>, 2nd ed.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-14"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-14">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">"Partial Signature", <i>Harvard Dictionary of Music</i>, 2nd ed.</span> </li> </ol></div></div> <div 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href="/wiki/Da_capo" title="Da capo">Da capo</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Dal_segno" title="Dal segno">Dal segno</a></li> <li><a class="mw-selflink selflink">Key signature</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Ledger_line" title="Ledger line">Ledger line</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Mode_(music)" title="Mode (music)">Mode</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Ossia" title="Ossia">Ossia</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Scale_(music)" title="Scale (music)">Scale</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Rehearsal_letter" title="Rehearsal letter">Rehearsal letter</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Repeat_sign" title="Repeat sign">Repeat sign</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Tempo" title="Tempo">Tempo</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Time_signature" title="Time signature">Time signature</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Transposition_(music)" title="Transposition (music)">Transposition</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Transposing_instrument" title="Transposing instrument">Transposing instrument</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%"><a href="/wiki/Musical_note" title="Musical note">Musical notes</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Accidental_(music)" title="Accidental (music)">Accidental</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Flat_(music)" title="Flat (music)">flat</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Natural_(music)" title="Natural (music)">natural</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Sharp_(music)" title="Sharp (music)">sharp</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Cue_note" title="Cue note">Cue note</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Dotted_note" title="Dotted note">Dotted note</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Grace_note" title="Grace note">Grace note</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Note_value" title="Note value">Note value</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Beam_(music)" title="Beam (music)">beam</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Notehead" title="Notehead">Notehead</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Stem_(music)" title="Stem (music)">stem</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Pitch_(music)" title="Pitch (music)">Pitch</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Rest_(music)" title="Rest (music)">Rest</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Tacet" title="Tacet">Tacet</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Tuplet" title="Tuplet">Tuplet</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Tremolo" title="Tremolo">Tremolo</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Interval_(music)" title="Interval (music)">Interval</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Helmholtz_pitch_notation" title="Helmholtz pitch notation">Helmholtz pitch notation</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Letter_notation" title="Letter notation">Letter notation</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Scientific_pitch_notation" title="Scientific pitch notation">Scientific pitch notation</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%"><a href="/wiki/Articulation_(music)" title="Articulation (music)">Articulation</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Accent_(music)" title="Accent (music)">Accent</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Caesura" title="Caesura">Caesura</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Damping_(music)" title="Damping (music)">Damping</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Dynamics_(music)" title="Dynamics (music)">Dynamics</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Fermata" title="Fermata">Fermata</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Fingering_(music)" title="Fingering (music)">Fingering</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Legato" title="Legato">Legato</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Marcato" title="Marcato">Marcato</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Ornament_(music)" title="Ornament (music)">Ornament</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Appoggiatura" title="Appoggiatura">Appoggiatura</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Glissando" title="Glissando">Glissando</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Grace_note" title="Grace note">Grace note</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Mordent" title="Mordent">Mordent</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Slide_(musical_ornament)" title="Slide (musical ornament)">Slide</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Trill_(music)" title="Trill (music)">Trill</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Portato" title="Portato">Portato</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Slur_(music)" title="Slur (music)">Slur</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Staccato" title="Staccato">Staccato</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Tenuto" title="Tenuto">Tenuto</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Tie_(music)" title="Tie (music)">Tie</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Tonguing" title="Tonguing">Tonguing</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%"><a href="/wiki/Sheet_music" title="Sheet music">Sheet music</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/History_of_music_publishing" title="History of music publishing">History of music publishing</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Music_engraving" title="Music engraving">Music engraving</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Music_publisher" title="Music publisher">Music publisher</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Scorewriter" title="Scorewriter">Scorewriter</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Other systems</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Braille_music" title="Braille music">Braille music</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Chord_chart" title="Chord chart">Chord chart</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Chord_diagram_(music)" title="Chord diagram (music)">Chord diagram</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Eye_music" title="Eye music">Eye music</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Figured_bass" title="Figured bass">Figured bass</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Graphic_notation_(music)" title="Graphic notation (music)">Graphic notation</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Lead_sheet" title="Lead sheet">Lead sheet</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Nashville_Number_System" title="Nashville Number System">Nashville Number System</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Numbered_musical_notation" title="Numbered musical notation">Numbered musical notation</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Klavarskribo" title="Klavarskribo">Klavarskribo</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Tablature" title="Tablature">Tablature</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Parsons_code" title="Parsons code">Parsons</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Percussion_notation" title="Percussion notation">Percussion notation</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Simplified_music_notation" title="Simplified music notation">Simplified</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Musical_system_of_ancient_Greece" title="Musical system of ancient Greece">Ancient Greek</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Chinese_musical_notation" title="Chinese musical notation">Chinese</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Ekphonetic_notation" title="Ekphonetic notation">Ekphonetic</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Gamelan_notation" title="Gamelan notation">Gamelan</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Kunkunshi" title="Kunkunshi">Kunkunshi</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Neume" title="Neume">Neume</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Swaralipi" title="Swaralipi">Swaralipi</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Shakuhachi_musical_notation" title="Shakuhachi musical notation">Shakuhachi</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Znamenny_chant#Notation" title="Znamenny chant">Znamenny</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Related</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Mensural_notation" title="Mensural notation">Mensural notation</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Music_stand" title="Music stand">Music stand</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Absolute_pitch" title="Absolute pitch">Perfect pitch</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Sight-reading" title="Sight-reading">Sight-reading</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Transcription_(music)" title="Transcription (music)">Transcription</a></li></ul> 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