Understanding Piano Scales and Key Signatures in 5 Easy Steps
Piano scales and key signatures are two of the most foundational aspects of music theory. They are so important that nearly every music student starts off learning scales – and it is usually always the C Major scale. This is one of the easiest as it avoids all black keys on the piano.
Then, what happens? That is right – scales get tougher. Sharps and flats begin appearing and things can get a bit scary and intimidating. Before you know it, you are missing the black keys, the sound is not enjoyable, and your head feels like it is spinning. For new players, this can all be a bit discouraging.
Music teachers don’t push scales and key signatures for no reason. They allow you to play anything you want because you have an understanding of what notes that, in a sense, go together. Once you know what key a song is in, you automatically know every accidental it entails. From there, you can do anything. Whether you are creating a melody or simply playing chords in accompaniment, you can do it all with a key signature.
The real struggle comes with understanding and remembering these scales. There are a lot of them and they can get confusing. Let’s look at 5 easy steps you can take to understand piano scales and key signatures.
1. Start By Memorizing Your Key Signatures
Ok, so here’s the deal – there are 15 Major and 15 minor key signatures that you can memorize. Before you shake your head feeling that it is too much to remember, think of all the songs you have memorized lyrics to or how many movies you can recite word-for-word.
It just seems like it is a lot because it is something unfamiliar, but the more you practice reciting it, the easier it gets. And for this method, using words is often a lot easier than memorizing by looking at key signatures themselves. Though, this is just a starting point in learning since you do need to be able to recognize key signatures quickly when you are presented with them.
Try this method: Below is a list of the key signatures and the number of sharps they have. Then, there is a list of the sharps as they appear. So, a key signature of G has 1 sharp and that would be F. A key signature of D has two sharps, and they would be F and C. And so on.
| C | 0 |
| G | 1 sharp |
| D | 2 sharps |
| A | 3 sharps |
| E | 4 sharps |
| B | 5 sharps |
| F# | 6 sharps |
| C# | 7 sharps |
Sharps: F,C,G,D,A,E,B
Consider memorizing the sharps using a sentence like Frank Can Get Dessert After Eating Breakfast. This always makes things easier to memorize.
2. Memorizing Your Sharps and Flats
Well, just like we talked about above, memorizing these sharps and flats and the particular order they go in can make things a bit easier. Learning key signatures is all about these notes so the better you can learn them in their order, the easier it will be to learn.
The order of sharps is listed in number 1 above, so let’s take a look at the order of flats.
Flats: B,E,A,D,G,C,F
Again, you can use any acronym you’d like just so it is easy for you to remember. Here’s an example: Blanket Exploded And Dad Got Cold Feet.
3. Learn the Circle of Fifths
Regardless of how new to music theory you are, there is a good chance that you have encountered the circle of fifths – even if just a glance. Having a copy of it handy and understanding how it works can be a great way to better understand scales and key signatures. In fact, it gives you everything you need to know.
The circle of fifths lists the Major key signature and its corresponding minor key signature as well as its sharps or flats.
Take some time using this tool and getting a better understanding of all the key signatures you are sure to encounter.
4. Pay Attention to Key Signatures
When you get a new piece of sheet music, look at the key signature. You are going to notice sharps or flats and know what you need to play, but what key is it in? The more you can begin associating the sharps and flats with their correct key, the easier it will become for you to associate the two together.
Not sure what key it is? Here’s how you can tell.
For sharps: Find the last sharp listed in the key signature. You know, the sharp all the way to the right. If you go up a half step, that’s your key. For instance, if your key signature has an F#, going up a half step will take you to G. This is in the key of G-Major.
For flats: Find all your flats in the key signature. The second to last flat on the right is the key of your piece. So, if the 2nd to last flat is an E-flat, then your key is E-flat Major.
5. Whole and Half Steps
On the piano, if you are playing the scale in the key of G Major, then you would start your scale on G. Now, every scale uses the same format: W-W-H-W-W-W-H (with W = whole steps and H = half.) So, when you are playing you would start on G and play whole step, whole step, half step, whole step, whole step, whole step, half step. While doing that, you would have had to play an F# to fulfill the whole step. Try playing a few scales this way, counting out the whole and half steps until you get comfortable with the pattern.
Conclusion
If you want to understand piano scales and key signatures, it is going to take practice. Try these different methods and see which one works well. Of course, playing different pieces of sheet music and getting used to seeing different key signatures is also a great way to get yourself comfortable with playing in different keys.