How many flats in g flat major

Home Learn Resources Contact. Follow Following. Piano Music Theory. Sign me up. Already have a WordPress. Log in now. Loading Comments Email Required Name Required Website. The key signature symbols are always shown in the same order, no matter what the order of the actual notes on the staff. For a flat-based key signature like this scale , the order is easily remembered using the following phrase, whose first letters indicate the note name to be flattened:.

So if the scale contains note Bb , this is always the first flat key signature symbol shown next to the treble or bass clef in the note B staff position middle line. Then the same for Eb in the second position, and so on for all the words in the phrase. The B attle E nds.. Taking the 1st letter of the 1st word in the phrase - B , the 4th note of the major scale with its name as the tonic - B major scale is note E the 2nd word of the phrase.

Now take the 4th note of the major scale whose tonic is E - the E major scale - this is note A the 3rd word of the phrase. Now take the 4th note of the major scale whose tonic is A - the A major scale - this is note D the 4th word of the phrase , and so on. Put another way, if you see a key signature with 1 flat symbol, that flat will always be Bb the first phrase word.

Or if a key signature has 2 flats, those flats will always be Bb and Eb. To learn more about these patterns, have a look at Learn the circle of fifths. The above rules apply to flat-based key signatures - sharp based key signatures have a similar set of rules, with the above phrase reversed. Have a look at the C major key signature. The staff above is to demonstrate all possible flat symbol positions in a key signature.

In the next step, only those flat positions in this particular scale will be used. The only difference between them is that the bass clef symbols are shifted down to the next line or space and of course the note pitches are lower on the bass clef. This is to reflect the fact that all note positions on the bass clef are one line or space lower than the treble clef. For example, on the treble clef, note E 2nd note shown occupies the 1st space from the top, whereas on the bass clef, the same note is the 2nd space from the top.

For example, if the key signature consists of only F-sharp, each written note F in the piece should be played as F-sharp, even though no sharp immediately precedes the written note. Often, however, an accidental contradicting the direction of the key signature will appear immediately before the written note. An accidental immediately preceding the written note always takes precedence. For instance, in our example, if the key signature contains F-sharp but a written note F appears with a natural sign written in front of it, F-natural should be played.

In traditional notation, this influence of the new accidental applies for the duration of the measure before the key signature resumes its "dominion", or until canceled by a subsequent new accidental.

Since a the presence of a "key" in music is contingent on a certain pattern of accidentals, the key signature gives a partial indication of the key of a given passage of music. We need more than the key signature to determine the key of a passage, though -- that must be decided on the basis of contextual features to be explained elsewhere in the School of Music.

All other things being equal, though, each key signature can represent one of two musical keys: one major, and one minor. Each is termed the "relative" major or minor, respectively, in relation to the other.