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In standard music notation, the order in which sharps or flats appear in key signatures is uniform, following the circle of fifths: F ♯, C ♯, G ♯, D ♯, A ♯, E ♯, B ♯, and B ♭, E ♭, A ♭, D ♭, G ♭, C ♭, F ♭. Musicians can identify the key by the number of sharps or flats shown, since they always appear in the same order.
Double flats or sharps lower or raise or the pitch of a note by two semitones. [3] An F double sharp is a whole step above an F, making it enharmonically equivalent to a G. These alterations apply to the note as if it were a "natural", regardless of the key signature (see the F in measure 2 of the Chopin example below).
Some keys (such as C ♯ major with seven sharps) may be written as an enharmonically equivalent key (D ♭ major with five flats in this case). In rare cases, the sharp keys may be extended further, G ♯ → D ♯ → A ♯ → E ♯ → B ♯ → F → C, requiring double sharps in the key signature: F, C, G, D, A, E, B. These are called ...
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 ...
Key signatures indicate which notes are to be played as sharps or flats in the music that follows, showing up to seven sharps or flats. 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 ♭.
The key signatures associated with those pitches change accordingly: the key of G has one sharp, the key of D has 2 sharps, and so on. Proceeding counterclockwise from the top of the circle, the notes change by descending fifths and the key signatures change accordingly: the key of F has one flat, the key of B ♭ has 2 flats
Some keys (such as C ♭ major with seven flats) may be written as an enharmonically equivalent key (B major with five sharps in this case). In rare cases, the flat keys may be extended further: F ♭ → B → E → A → D → G → C. requiring double flats in the key signature. These are called theoretical key signatures, based on the ...
In practice, the choice of key name is restricted to the 30 keys whose signatures have no double flats or double sharps. (Such key signatures are used for so-called theoretical keys which are almost never encountered outside music-theoretical exercises.) [b] Keys with 6 flats and 6 sharps, [c] with 7 flats and 5 sharps [d] and with 5 flats and ...