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WARNING: THE SURGEON GENERAL HAS DETERMINDED THAT THE FOLLOWING MATERIAL INDUCES A HYPNOTIC STATE OF BOREDOM WHEN TAKEN IN HIGH DOSES. SMALL DOSES ARE RECOMMENDED. DO NOT GIVE TO NON-MUSICIANS!

Introduction | Keys | Number System | Scales | Chords | Rhythm tips | Circle


KEY SIGNATURES, THE BUILDING BLOCKS

The foundation of music lies within keys. A key is simply a group of notes in which a scale or chord(s) is derived from. A song will generally follow one or more key signatures. (Some may argue that there can be exceptions to this, for instance where a song will contain all 12 notes of the octave, but even then the song is derived from the chromatic scale. Others may argue that a song can follow a scale that doesn't exist, but this implies that no group of notes (scale) can be named, which is patently untrue.)

To find the key signature of a particular scale, one could use the "circle of fifths". The circle of fifths is a pneumonic device that allows the user to easily remember key signatures.

Using the circle of fifths, or just memorizing key signatures, one can ascertain how many sharps or flats exist within a particular key. One can also, use the circle to tell which notes are sharped of flatted. This knowledge can then be used to construct a scale in which all of the leads/melodies and chords in that particular key, are derived from.

An example; Using the circle of fifths to find that the D major scale has 2 sharps, F# and C#, one could construct the D major scale using the following rules:

  1. All letter names (A-G) must be present in each diatonic scale (7 note major or minor scales)
  2. No letter name can appear more than once.
  3. A scale can contain sharps OR flats, but not both.

Using these rules, one could start to find the notes of the D major scale by first, writing all of the letters of the musical alphabet (obviously starting from D) out as follows:

Next, simply place a sharp next to the F and C:

With the above rules in mind, it is helpful to remember that when, for instance, the G major has an F# in it, the presence of the F# not only indicates which note is played, (the F#) it also implies (because of rule #2) that the F natural is NOT to be played. Therefore, think of each diatonic scale as containing all of the letter names, with certain letters, or notes sharped/flatted (raised or lowered a half-step).

* See the scales section for more information.



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