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Each major and minor key has an associated key signature, showing up to seven flats or seven sharps, that indicates the notes used in its scale. Music was sometimes notated with a key signature that did not match its key in this way—this can be seen in some Baroque pieces, [ 1 ] or transcriptions of traditional modal folk tunes.
Treble clef C major scale, treble clef. Play ⓘ The only G-clef still in use is the treble clef, with the G-clef placed on the second line. This is the most common clef in use and is generally the first clef learned by music students. [2] For this reason, the terms "G-clef" and "treble clef" are often seen as synonymous.
Notes that are shown as sharp or flat in a key signature will be played that way in every octave—e.g., a key signature with a B ♭ indicates that every B is played as a B ♭. A key signature indicates the prevailing key of the music and eliminates the need to use accidentals for the notes that are always flat or sharp in that key. A key ...
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.
Accidentals alter the pitch of individual scale tones in a given key signature; the sharps or flats in the key signature itself are not considered accidentals. An accidental applies to the note that immediately follows it, and to subsequent instances of that note in the same measure unless it is canceled by another accidental.
For example, the treble clef puts the G above middle C on the second line. The interval between adjacent staff positions is one step in the diatonic scale. Once fixed by a clef, the notes represented by the positions on the staff can be modified by the key signature or accidentals on individual notes.
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).
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 ...