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Posted by Alice The major keys are: Notice that there are some keys that can be written as either sharp or flat keys: B/C flat; F#/G flat; C#/D flat. Pianists usually prefer to play flats, rather than sharps, although they might prefer the 5 #'s of B major to the 7 flats of C flat major. If you want to know why you can't have D# major for example, here is a basic explanation. The order of #s is: F C G D A E B (Father Charles Goes Down And Ends Battle.) (Notice that each sharp is a fifth higher than the one before) (to the tune of The Farmer in the Dell) Now, let's say you've written a piece that is in D# or possibly E flat. If it were in D#, then "ti", that is, the 7th note of the scale, would have to be C double sharp. You never have a double sharp or double flat in a key signature, so this is impossible. You would probably also do well to look up the Circle of Fifths...I can't draw it in this message! Alice
on 2/22/2004, 6:45 am, in reply to "Flat key or Sharp key? "
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There is no such key as D#, so you must be in E flat.
C (no sharps or flats)
G, D, A, E, B, F#, C# (all sharp keys)
F, B flat, E flat, A flat, D flat, G flat, C flat (all flat keys)
The order of flats is B E A D G C F (Battle Ends And Down Goes Charles' Father). (Each flat is a fifth lower than the one before) You should learn the order of the sharps and flats, then you should know this:
You call the last flat "fa", You call the last sharp "ti", and when there are no sharps or flats, the major key is C.
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