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In Western musical notation, a key signature is a set of sharp (♯), flat (♭), or rarely, natural (♮) symbols placed on the staff at the beginning of a section of music. The initial key signature in a piece is placed immediately after the clef at the beginning of the first line.
Flat The flat symbol lowers the pitch of a note by one semitone. Sharp The sharp symbol raises the pitch of a note by one semitone. Natural A natural cancels a sharp or flat. This sharp or flat may have been indicated as an accidental or defined by the key signature. Double flat A double flat lowers the pitch of a note by two semitones. Double ...
When a musical key or key signature is referred to in a language other than English, that language may use the usual notation used in English (namely the letters A to G, along with translations of the words sharp, flat, major and minor in that language): languages which use the English system include Irish, Welsh, Hindi, Japanese (based on katakana in iroha order), Korean (based on hangul in ...
The flat symbol (♭) is used in two ways: It is placed in key signatures to mark lines whose notes are flattened throughout that section of music; it may also be an "accidental" that precedes an individual note and indicates that the note should be lowered temporarily, until the following bar line.
A musical passage notated as flats. The same passage notated as sharps, requiring fewer canceling natural signs. Sets of notes that involve pitch relationships — scales, key signatures, or intervals, [1] for example — can also be referred to as enharmonic (e.g., the keys of C ♯ major and D ♭ major contain identical pitches and are therefore enharmonic).
A key signature with no sharps or flats generally indicates A minor or C major, using all natural notes with no sharps or flats. The natural sign is derived from a square b used to denote B ♮ in medieval music (in contrast with the round b denoting B ♭, which became the flat symbol).
A natural is used to cancel the effect of a flat or sharp. This system of accidentals operates in conjunction with the key signature, whose effect continues throughout an entire piece, or until another key signature is indicated. An accidental can also be used to cancel a previous accidental or reinstate the flats or sharps of the key signature.
Following the clef, the key signature is a group of 0 to 7 sharp or flat signs placed on the staff to indicate the key of the piece or song by specifying that certain notes are sharp or flat throughout the piece, unless otherwise indicated with accidentals added before certain notes.