Why fifth and why circle? Children's vocal and pop group columbine What are the signs in D flat.

Major keys

minor keys

Parallel Keys

Enharmonic equal keys

Enharmonic equal keys- keys are the same in sound, but different in name.

Comments:

03/29/2015 at 14:02 Oleg said:

I did not see a table with all the characters in the key in all POSSIBLE keys. There is a table, but what you need is not!

04/05/2015 at 23:54 Svetlana said:

Hello. Write specifically what tone you are interested in, I will answer you.

01/21/2016 at 16:06 Julia said:

Keys are missing in the table - G-dur and e-moll

01/21/2016 at 16:17 Svetlana said:

Fixed, thanks!

02/19/2016 at 18:59 Maksim said:

I'm interested in C flat major. And could you make a separate article where different chords are built in different keys?

02/19/2016 at 22:25 Svetlana said:

Hello Maxim. There are seven flats in C-flat major. I recommend that you replace B major with the key, they are enharmonically equal, and there will be fewer signs - 5 sharps.

There are no plans to write such an article in the near future.

08/30/2017 at 04:52 I need to build a d7 with calls in 24 keys, and everywhere for some reason I find 30 keys on the Internet. Why? said:

I accidentally wrote my question in the name.

25.04.2018 at 14:25 Peter said:

Guys, in fact, all of the above is very useful, and it is necessary for practical application, I simply do not understand those who, due to insufficient understanding of the topic, leave bad reviews.

08.10.2018 at 17:36 Julia said:

Good afternoon,

the child was given a pre-task: signs in keys up to 3 with # and b.

Unfortunately, already the 4th solfeggio teacher in 3 years, the material is given in pieces. The daughter does not understand at all what it is and what they want from her.

Tell me please.

01/02/2019 at 21:33 morozalex2018 said:

G-dur and e-moll are in the table, look carefully

02/09/2019 at 09:16 Eve said:

Thank you! Very useful article, saved 👏🏻👍🏻

04/16/2019 at 19:33 Lida said:

What are the signs in F flat minor?

04/21/2019 at 23:48 Oleg said:

Useful advice

04/21/2019 at 23:49 Oleg said:

Useful information

04/21/2019 at 23:55 Oleg said:

Let's analyze the key in F flat minor. So, in the key of F minor - 4 flats, and in F flat minor there are 7 flats more, that is, 4 + 7 = 11b. Some may say that this cannot be. I answer - maybe! There are 4 double flats in F flat minor: -sibb, mibb, labb and rebb. As well as solb, dob and fab.

04/22/2019 at 00:05 Oleg said:

Keys with a large (more than six) number of key characters can be replaced with a key with fewer characters. The main thing is that the sum of the original and replaced signs is equal to 12, and also that they are opposite. For example, if you have 8 flats, then do: 12-8b= 4# (F flat major 8b. A E major - 4#). Such tonalities are called enharmonic equal, that is, equal in sound. But by name and by recording notes (scales) - they are different.

This lesson is rather intended for those who are already studying in music school or even school. From many years of practice, I can say that circle of fifths tonality - the topic that is not assimilated by students in any way, which causes problems with mastering the material and performing any work. Yes, yes, not knowing what key we are playing in, it is extremely difficult to navigate, and for some reason it is difficult to play it. Therefore, before performing any piece, it is necessary to determine in what key it is written. Believe me - then you will sort it out much faster.

So, what is tonality, we talked in detail in, and now I will explain to you the system by which they are located. If to speak plain language- then in each key there are some signs, that is, when playing a scale or a piece, we also use black keys. And here are some - a harmonious and logical system will help - a fifth circle of keys.

In the study of music theory, there are moments that need to be understood, but there is information that you just need to memorize like a rhyme. Here is the rule below in the picture you need to memorize.

The order of attaching key characters is always the same:

If you notice, then this is the same sequence that is read from two sides - in one direction - sharps, in the opposite direction - flats. Here it must be memorized in both directions. On the musical staff it looks like this

Now let's answer the first question - why fifth?

Here is the next rule, which should be easy to understand.

With each fifth built up, one sharp is added.

In the picture it looks like this:

We start from C major (or A minor, more on that below) and go clockwise.

We know that there are no signs in C major and A minor. This is an axiom that must be remembered. However, all beginners already know C major, because it is played only on white keys, which is very convenient. So, in C major. If we build a fifth from “to” upwards, we get the note sol. So, in G major there will already be one sharp. Which? We look above at the order of joining sharps - the first sharp is fa. So, in G major - F sharp. And when we play the G major scale, we raise the F note in it and instead of the white key we will play the black one.

Now we are building a fifth from G up (we stopped in the key of G major). It turns out the note D. Here in D major there are already two sharps - which ones? We look at the order of sharps - the first two are F and C.

From re we build another fifth, we get the note la. Here in A major there are already three sharps - F, C, G. They are the first three.

From la - the next fifth - it turns out the note mi. In E major, the first four sharps are already - F, C, G, D.

From mi - fifth up and you get the note si - in B major there are 5 sharps - fa, do, sol, re, la.

Quint from si - and a new key F sharp (why not fa - read here) - F sharp major - 6 sharps - fa, do, sol, re, la, mi.

And the last fifth from F sharp to sharp. So it turned out the key to sharp major - 7 sharps - fa, do, sol, re, la, mi, si. Oh how. In fairness, I want to say that keys with 7 sharps are rare in practice, but they do happen.

The same thing will happen if we build fifths in minor keys, taking the note la as the starting point - that's where 0 signs are.

We build a fifth from la - it turns out the tonality of e minor. There is one sharp in E minor. Which? We look at the order - F - the first sharp.

From mi one more fifth and we get B minor, in which there will already be two sharps - F and C.

From si, after 5 steps, the note F sharp is formed (be careful - not F, namely F sharp). In F sharp minor, there are 3 sharps - F, C, G.

From F # Quint - C # minor, in which there are already 4 sharps.

From up to # 5 steps we skip - and we get a new key with 5 sharps - G # minor.

From G # fifth - D # minor - 6 sharps.

From re#quint - la#. And in A sharp # - 7 sharps.

Keys with flats in key

In this picture, we go counterclockwise.

With each fifth built down, one flat is added.

From to down the fifth - we get the note F. In the key of F major, one flat. Which? Let's look at the order of the flats. We see that this is B flat.

We build one more fifth down from fa and get the note si flat. In the key of B major, there are already two flats - si and mi.

From si b we build another fifth and get to the note mi b. And in E b major there are already 3 flats - si, mi, la. And so on.

If you understand this principle, then it will not be difficult to determine the number of characters in any key. Now it’s clear why “quint”? Because it is built in fifths. Why a circle? Look carefully at the pictures above - we start with the keys of C major, and end with C # major or C major - not quite, of course, a circle, but still. The same is with minor keys - it starts from la, and ends with la# or lab in minor.

For ease of perception, I divided the keys and separately showed sharp and flat. In theory textbooks, the circle of fifths of keys is presented in the form of such a picture.

And finally, I suggest you listen to Frederic Chopin's waltz in C minor. Highly famous work, beautiful, flying and in a magnificent performance by Alexander Malkus.

This article will discuss how to memorize keys and their key signs. Everyone remembers differently: some try to remember the number of characters, others try to memorize the names of keys with their key characters, others come up with something else. In fact, everything is much simpler and you only need to remember two things, the rest will be remembered automatically.

Key signs - what is it?

People advanced in their music lessons, probably already not only know how to read notes, but also know what tonality is, and that composers put key signs in notes to indicate tonality. What are these key signs? These are sharps and flats, which are recorded on each musical line next to the key and are valid throughout the entire work or until they are canceled.

The order of sharps and the order of flats - you need to know this!

As you may know, the key marks are not displayed randomly, but in a certain order. Sharp order: fa, do, salt, re, la, mi, si . Flat order th - reverse: si, mi, la, re, sol, do, fa . Here's what it looks like in music notation:

In these rows, in both cases, all seven basic steps are used, which are well known to everyone: do, re, mi, fa, sol, la, si - only they are specially arranged in a certain sequence. We will work with these two orders in order to learn how to identify key signs in one key or another easily and correctly. Look again and remember the order:

How many keys are used in music?

Now let's move on to the tones. In total, 30 keys are used in music - 15 major and 15 parallel minor. Parallel keys such keys are called that have the same key signs, therefore, the same scale, but differ in tonic and their mode (I remind you that the tonic and mode determine the name of the key).

Of these 30 keys:

2 no signs(this is C major and La Minor- we just remember them);
14 sharp(7 are major keys and 7 are parallel minor keys);
14 flat(also 7 major and 7 minor).

Thus, from 0 to 7 key characters (sharps or flats) may be required to indicate the key. Remember that there are no signs in C major and A minor? Also remember that in C-sharp major(and A-sharp minor) and in C flat major(and parallel A flat minor) respectively 7 sharps and flats.

What rules can be used to identify key signs in keys?

To determine the signs in all other keys, we will use the already known order of sharps or, if necessary, the order of flats. We will focus only on major keys, that is, in order to determine the key signs of a minor key, you must first find the major tonic parallel to it, which is located on minor third above the original minor tonic.

In order to determine key signs in sharp major key , we act according to the rule: last sharp one note below the tonic . That is, we simply list all the sharps in order until we get to the one that is a note below the tonic.

For example, in order to determine the key signs in B major, we list the sharps in order: fa, do, salt, re, la - we stop at la, since la is a note lower than si.

Signs of flat major keys we define it as follows: we list the order of the flats and stop at the next flat after the tonic has been named. So the rule here is: the last flat covers the major tonic (as if protecting from the wind) (that is, he is the next after the tonic). To find signs for a flat minor key, you must first determine its parallel major key.

For example, let's define signs for B-flat minor. First we find parallelism, it will be the key of D-flat major, then we call the order of flats: si, mi, la, re, sol. Re is the tonic, so we stop at the next note - salt.

I think the principle is clear. For one of the flat keys - in F major- this principle works with one caveat: we take the first tonic as if from nowhere. The point is that in in F major with the key the only sign - b flat, from which the order of flats begins, therefore, to determine the key, we take a step back and get the original key - F major.

How to find out what signs to put at the key - sharps or flats?

A question that may naturally arise in your mind is: “How do you know which of the keys are sharp and which are flat”? Most major keys with tonics from white keys (with the exception of do and fa) are sharp. Flat major keys are those whose tonics are in the order of flats (i.e. B flat major, E flat major etc.). This issue will be considered in more detail in an article devoted to the whole system of keys, called the circle of fourths and fifths.

Conclusion

Let's summarize. Now you know how to correctly identify key signs in any key. I remind you that for this you need to use the order of sharps or the order of flats and follow the rules: “the last sharp one note below the tonic” and “the last flat closes the tonic» . We focus only on major keys, in order to determine the signs in minor keys, we first find its parallel.

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Greetings to all readers of our music blog! I have already said more than once in my articles that for good musician it is important to have not only the technique of the game, but also to know theoretical basis music. We already had an introductory article about. I highly recommend you read it carefully. And today the object of our conversation is signs in.
I want to remind you that the keys in music are major and minor. Major keys can be figuratively described as bright and positive, while minor keys are gloomy and sad. Each tone has its own characteristics in the form of a set of sharps or flats. They are called signs of tonality. Also, they can also be called key signs in keys or signs with a key in keys, because before writing any notes and signs, you need to depict a treble or bass clef.

According to the presence of key signs, tonality can be divided into three groups: without signs, with sharps in the key, with flats in the key. It does not happen in music that sharps and flats at the same time will be signs in the same key.

And now I give you a list of keys and their corresponding key signs.

Tonality table

So, having carefully considered this list, it is necessary to note several important points.
In turn, one sharp or flat is added to the keys. Their addition is strictly stipulated. For sharps, the sequence is as follows: fa, do, sol, re, la, mi, si. And nothing else.
For flats, the chain looks like this: si, mi, la, re, sol, do, fa. Note that it is the reverse of the sharp sequence.

You probably noted the fact that the same number of characters have two tonalities. They're called . There is a separate detailed article about this on our website. I advise you to read it.

Definition of signs of tonality

Now follows important point. We need to learn how to determine by the name of the tonality what key signs it has and how many of them. First of all, you need to remember that the signs are determined by major keys. This means that for minor keys, you will first have to find a parallel major key, and then proceed according to the general scheme.

If the name of a major (except for F major) does not mention signs at all, or only a sharp is present (for example, F sharp major), then these are major keys with sharp signs. For F major, you need to remember that B flat is with the key. Next, we begin to list the sequence of sharps, which was defined above in the text. We need to stop the enumeration when the next note with a sharp is a note lower than the tonic of our major.

• For example, you need to determine the keys of A major. We list the sharp notes: F, C, G. G is one note lower than the tonic of A, therefore, the key of A major has three sharps (F, C, G).

For major flat keys, the rule is slightly different. We list the sequence of flats up to the note that follows the name of the tonic.

• For example, we have the key of A-flat major. We begin to list the flats: si, mi, la, re. Re is the next note after the name of the tonic (la). Therefore, there are four flats in the key of A-flat major.

fifth circle

Quint circle of keys- this is graphic image connections of different keys and their corresponding signs. It can be said that everything that I explained to you before is clearly present in this diagram.

In the circle of fifths table of keys, the original note or reference point is C major. Clockwise, sharp major keys depart from it, and counterclockwise, flat major keys. The interval between the nearest keys is the fifth. The diagram also shows parallel minor keys and signs. With each subsequent fifth, signs are added to us.

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How to play the same major music from sounds of different pitches?

We know that major keys use both fundamental steps and derivatives. In this regard, the necessary accidentals are set with the key. In previous articles, we compared C-dur and G-dur (C major and G major) as an example. In G-dur, we have F-sharp in order to keep the correct intervals between the steps. It is he (F-sharp) in the key of G-dur that is indicated with the key:

Picture 1. Key signs keys G-dur

So how do you determine which tone corresponds to which accidentals? It is this question that the fifth circle of keys helps to answer.

Sharp circle of fifths in major keys

The idea is as follows: we take a key in which we know the number of accidentals. Naturally, the tonic (base) is also known. Tonic next to sharp circle of fifths tonality will become the fifth step of our tonality (an example will be below). In the accidental signs of that next key, all the signs of our previous key will remain, plus a sharp VII degree of the new key will appear. And so on, in a circle:

Example 1. We take C-dur as a basis. There are no accidentals in this key. The note sol is the fifth degree (the fifth degree is the fifth, hence the name of the circle). It will be the tonic of the new key. Now we are looking for an accidental sign: in the new key, the seventh step is the note F. For her, we set the sharp sign.

Figure 2. Found the key sign of the sharp key G-dur

Example 2. Now we know that in G-dur the key is F-sharp (F#). The tonic of the next key will be the note re (D), since it is the fifth step (the fifth from the note sol). One more sharp should appear in D-dur. It is set for the 7th degree of D-dur. This is a C note. This means that D-dur has two sharps at the key: F# (remained from G-dur) and C# (VII degree).

Figure 3. Key accidentals for the key of D-dur

Example 3. Let's go completely to letter designation steps. Let's define the next key after D-dur. The tonic will be the note A (la), since it is the V degree. This means that the new key will be A-dur. In the new key, the VII step will be the note G, which means that one more sharp is added at the key: G#. In total, with the key we have 3 sharps: F#, C#, G#.

Figure 4. Key accidentals A-dur

And so on, until we get to the key with seven sharps. It will be the ultimate, all its sounds will be derived steps. Please note that the clef accidentals are written in the order they appear in the circle of fifths.

So, if we go through the whole circle and get all the keys, we get the following order of keys:

Now let's figure out what the "circle" has to do with it. We settled on C#-dur. If we are talking about a circle, then the next key should be our original key: C-dur. Those. we have to go back to the beginning. The circle is closed. In fact, it doesn’t happen like that, because we can continue building fifths further: C# - G# - D# - A# - E# - #... But if you think about it, what is the enharmonic sound of H# (imagine a piano keyboard)? Sound Do! So the circle of fifths is closed, but if we look at the signs at the key in the key of G #-dur, we will find that we will have to add F-double-sharp, and in subsequent keys these double-sharp will appear more and more .. So so, in order to feel sorry for the performer, it was decided that all the keys, where a double-sharp should be used in the key, are declared uncommon and replaced by keys enharmonically equal to them, but not with numerous sharps in the key, but with flats. For example, C#-dur is enharmonically equal to Des-dur (D-flat major) - it has fewer clef signs); G#-dur is enharmonically equal to the key of As-dur (A-flat major) - it also has fewer signs at the key - and this is convenient both for reading and for performing, and meanwhile, the circle of fifths, thanks to the enharmonic replacement of keys, really closed!

Flat fifth circle of major keys

Everything here is by analogy with the sharp circle of fifths. C-dur is taken as a starting point, since it has no accidentals. The tonic of the next key is also at a distance of a fifth, but only down (in the sharp circle, we took the fifth up). From the note to the fifth down is the note F. She will be the tonic. We put the flat sign in front of the IV degree of the scale (in the sharp circle there was the VII degree). Those. for Fa, we will have a flat before the note C (IV degree). Etc. for each new tone.

Having gone through the entire flat fifth circle, we get the following order of major flat keys:

Enharmonic equal keys

You have already understood that keys of the same height, but different in name (the second loop of the circle, or rather, already spirals), are called enharmonic equal. On the first loop of circles, there are also enharmonic equal keys, these are the following:

• H-dur (in the key of a sharp) = Ces-dur (in the key of a flat)
• Fis-dur (in the key of a sharp) = Ges-dur (in the key of a flat)
• Cis-dur (in the key of a sharp) = Des-dur (in the key of a flat)

fifth circle

The order of arrangement of major keys described above is called the circle of fifths. Sharp - up fifths, flat - down fifths. The order of the keys can be seen below (your browser must support flash): move the mouse in a circle over the names of the keys, you will see the accidentals of the selected key (we have arranged the minor keys on the inner circle, and the major keys on the outer; related keys are combined). By clicking on the name of the key, you will see how it was calculated. The "Example" button will show a detailed recalculation.

Results

Now you know the algorithm for calculating major keys, called circle of fifths.