can you tell what key a song is in by looking at the clef and sharps flats ?

[e021708]

when looking at sheet music, can you tell what key a song is in by looking at the clef and sharps / flats's next to it? it seems i read this somewhere, duh?

[ILikeGuitar]

yep you gotta know some theory for that

but i cant read guitar music like that, just tabs

i used to play in a wind ensemble but i only knew the common keys

[bgator]

Yes.

 

C - no sharps or flats.

G, D, A, E, B -- 1 through 5 sharps, respectively.

F, Bb, Eb, Ab, Db, Gb - 1 through 5 flats, respectively.

[Stackabones]

 

Yes. C - no sharps or flats. G, D, A, E, B -- 1 through 5 sharps, respectively. F, Bb, Eb, Ab, Db, Gb - 1 through 5 flats, respectively.

 

 

There are seven sharps and seven flats. Also, you must consider the relative minors.

[bgator]

 

There are seven sharps and seven flats. Also, you must consider the relative minors.

 

 

Yes, but this seems like a little too much to get into considering the level of OP's question.

[erict]

a very easy way to tell what key someting is in is to...

 

say a song is in G MAJOR which, has 1 sharp, the sharp is recognized on the clef as being sharp. When you see the F on the clef, think about what comes next in the alphabet, which is G... the key of G

 

say a song is in A major - 3 sharps, which are F, C, G ... these will be notated on the staff, the last one notated will be the G... whats one after G? (not H - this IS music) ... ITS A - for A MAJOR.

 

When there are flats, your just go back one instead of foward... for example G to F , not G to A.

 

hope this did more help than harm

[bigboy_78]

a very easy way to tell what key someting is in is When there are flats, your just go back one instead of foward... for example G to F , not G to A.

 

 

eh? By that reasoning a Bb in the key signature makes the key of A.

 

Which its not by the way.

 

Flats is different, Bb is F, Bb and Eb is in Bb. So for flats you really need to know the circle of fifth/fourths. The key is the name of the flat before the last one to appear in order, Bb, Eb, Ab, Db would be Ab.

 

But to answer the original question, yes. If you know your scales (the notes, not the shapes) it is very easy to tell.

[gennation]

Reference the Circle of 5th's. It contains all the Keys and their signatures...

 

 

There's a few tricks to memorizing them, as far as being able to look at what notes are sharped and flatted and being able to tell what Key it is without referencing the Circle. I'll try and dig them up...

 

But remember, a Key signature is only their to allow the music to be written with the least amount of sharps or flats, and many, many, many tunes don't adhere to strict Key relations, IOW they don't always STAY in Key.

[erict]

eh? By that reasoning a Bb in the key signature makes the key of A. Which its not by the way. Flats is different, Bb is F, Bb and Eb is in Bb. So for flats you really need to know the circle of fifth/fourths. The key is the name of the flat before the last one to appear in order, Bb, Eb, Ab, Db would be Ab. But to answer the original question, yes. If you know your scales (the notes, not the shapes) it is very easy to tell.

 

 

OOPS, i didnt realize that, my BAD =X ... thanks for the correction

[1001gear]

You also need to check the modality. For instance if you have no sharps or flats and the piece starts and ends on a D minor, it might in fact be neither C major nor A minor, but D Dorian and likewise for the rest of the modes.

[dsimon665]

Technically, "key signature" and "key" are not the same thing. "key signature" is for notational purposes. "key" is a concept to describe the sounds in the music. You can use any key signature you want to notate any key. I can use the key signature of C# to describe music in the key of C. In that case, there will be a ton of accidentals.

 

The person writing the sheet music usually picks a key signature so there's not a lot of accidentals.

 

The above applies less to some types of notation. For example a lead sheet vs. a symphony score. A lead sheet is more likely to stick to key and key sig being the same thing...but things can get complicated if there are a lot of "temporary modulations." At some point you can't rely just on the key sig.

 

In general, this all ammounts to the answer of your question being: yes

[bardsley]

I like that response. Often a key signature has little to do with the actual key of the majority of the piece. And, as a composer I'll admit I'm guilty or using a key signature that ends up not being the one that describes the overall key. Sometimes you start with something and you get carried away...

[e021708]

Thanks for all the above help. For my purposes, I won't get into to it to deep. When I learn songs, I usually just listen to the original artist and reference tablature to help me along often changing things to suit myself.

 

Most of the time the key is pretty straight forword just listenng at the main chord progression. The only reason for the question is sometimes I see something with a long intro and a bunch of prechorus, chorus, melody, bridge, etc. and I'm not sure what key it is in and, maybe, for my purposes it doesn't matter. Unless, I need to call it out at a jam or something.

[JimboJ]

I have an idea... why not just say "A" if the key is A, instead of the sharps and flats? Why does it have to be so **** complicated??

[Moggo]

Because it makes infinitely more sense if you understand the theory behind it all, and then it's not an issue at all.

 

Odd question really.

[bigboy_78]

Why even give the notes names?

 

With tab and dots on strings type scale diagrams, notes have become obsolete.

[e021708]

Why even give the notes names? With tab and dots on strings type scale diagrams, notes have become obsolete.

 

You may have opened a bag of worms with those who sight read (not me). Tab does not tell you how to completely play a piece. However, for me, I like tab but need to hear or already know what the song sounds like..

[coyote-1]

And THAT's the magic of staff notation! Given a properly written piece of music, I can play the melody and the chords, and craft an arrangement that sounds essentially like what the composer heard in his head - WITHOUT EVER HAVING HEARD IT MYSELF.

 

That simply cannot be done with 'tab'. Tab is a tool of the lazy, the unintelligent, the incurious.

You may have opened a bag of worms with those who sight read (not me). Tab does not tell you how to completely play a piece. However, for me, I like tab but need to hear or already know what the song sounds like..

[WhiskeyClone]

 

Tab is a tool of the lazy, the unintelligent, the incurious.

 

 

Are YOU joking?

 

 

Seriously, both those statements are just ridiculous, but I sometimes miss sarcasm on the internet.

[deepblue]

Are you joking? Are YOU joking? Seriously, both those statements are just ridiculous, but I sometimes miss sarcasm on the internet.

 

Key signatures are musician codes to weed out the idiots

[e021708]

Key signatures are musician codes to weed out the idiots

 

that's nice. all who don't read music are not idiots nor lazy gee..

[Bubbluz]

 

Why even give the notes names? With tab and dots on strings type scale diagrams, notes have become obsolete.

 

 

that's just silly