Key Signatures Explained: All 15, With a Chart

A key signature is the set of sharps or flats written at the start of each staff. It sets the default sharps or flats and, in major or minor music, points to a major key and its relative minor. There are 15 key signatures, from seven flats to seven sharps.

You open a piece of sheet music and see a few sharps or flats right after the clef. Those symbols are the key signature, and reading them narrows down the likely key.

Key signatures look like homework, but they follow one pattern you can learn in an afternoon. This guide gives you the full chart of all 15 key signatures, the order the sharps and flats arrive in, and a two-step method to read any signature at sight. It also shows what a key signature does when you move a song to suit a singer.

If the wider picture of scales and chords is new to you, start with Music Theory for Artists. Then come back here for the reference chart.

What a Key Signature Tells You

Every major scale uses a fixed set of notes. The C major scale uses only white keys on a piano. Every other major scale needs at least one black key to keep the same pattern of whole and half steps.

Instead of writing a sharp or flat beside every note, the composer writes them once, at the start of the staff. The key signature sets the default pitch for each named note in every octave until the signature changes. An accidental beside a note can override that default.

With two sharps (F# and C#), play F# and C# in every octave unless an accidental indicates otherwise. You do not see the sharp again next to each F. That keeps the page readable and points to D major or B minor.

Two details are worth knowing early. First, a major scale and its relative natural minor scale share the same notes and key signature. Minor-key music can alter those notes with accidentals. Second, the signature sits next to, but is separate from, the time signature, which describes meter. If that second one is the one you need, see Time Signatures Explained for Artists.

A key signature also says nothing about whether the song is happy or sad by itself. It only fixes the notes. The ear decides whether the home note feels major or minor, which is why you pair the signature with a quick listen.

All 15 Key Signatures in One Chart

There are 15 because the signatures run from seven flats through none to seven sharps. Three of them sound identical to another: B major (5 sharps) matches Cb major (7 flats), F# major (6 sharps) matches Gb major (6 flats), and Db major (5 flats) matches C# major (7 sharps). So you get 15 written signatures but only 12 different-sounding major keys.

Start by practicing signatures with zero to four sharps or flats. C# major and Cb major have equivalents with fewer signature symbols: Db major and B major. F# major and Gb major each use six.

The Order of Sharps and Flats

Sharps and flats never appear in random order. They always land in the same sequence, and that sequence is the whole secret to reading a signature.

Order of sharps: F, C, G, D, A, E, B. A common phrase to remember it: Father Charles Goes Down And Ends Battle.

Order of flats: B, E, A, D, G, C, F. This is the sharps sequence reversed, so the phrase reverses too: Battle Ends And Down Goes Charles' Father.

Each new key adds the next note in the sequence. G major adds F#, the first sharp. D major keeps F# and adds C#, the second. The same goes for flats: F major has Bb, and Bb major adds Eb.

This is also why the circle of fifths and key signatures are two views of one idea. The circle puts keys in a ring so you can see how they relate, and Circle of Fifths Explained for Songwriters covers that tool and how to use it for chords. This page stays on the signatures themselves.

Read Any Key Signature in Two Steps

You do not need to memorize the chart. Use this method instead.

Step 1: Count and identify the accidentals. Are they sharps or flats, and how many? With no sharps or flats, C major and A minor are the usual major or minor possibilities. Modal music can use the same signature.

Step 2: Apply the matching rule.

• Sharps: find the last sharp in the signature and go up a half step. That note is the major key. With F# and C#, the last sharp is C#, a half step up is D, so the key is D major.

• Flats: find the second-to-last flat. That note names the major key. With Bb, Eb and Ab, the second-to-last is Eb, so the key is Eb major. One flat is the exception: it is always F major.

To get the relative minor, go down three half steps from the major key. D major goes down to B minor. Eb major goes down to C minor. You can also count to the sixth note of the major scale.

Now decide between major and minor with your ears. Play or hum the song, listen for the note that feels like home, and check the final chord. A tune ending on D is probably D major, and one ending on B minor points to the minor reading. The song key finder guide covers finding a key from a recording.

Key Signatures in Songs You Know

Real songs make the pattern stick. These are commonly listed keys for well-known tracks, with the signature each one carries. Different arrangements and live versions sometimes shift the key, so treat them as reference points.

Notice how Someone Like You and Billie Jean share a signature. One sits in A major and one in F# minor, yet both use F#, C# and G#. That is the relative major and minor pair at work.

Key Signatures When You Transpose for a Singer

Key signatures are useful when you move a song into another key for a singer. A singer cannot reach the chorus, or sits too low in the verse, and the key changes. When you transpose, the whole song shifts by the same distance, and the key signature changes with it.

Say your song is in G major (one sharp, F#) and sits too high. Here is how the signature changes if you move it.

A shortcut helps here: moving up a perfect fifth adds one sharp or removes one flat, and moving up a perfect fourth adds one flat or removes one sharp. Players also like to choose keys with friendly chord shapes, and a capo lets a guitarist keep familiar shapes while the sounding key changes. For the full process of moving chords and lyrics, see How to Transpose a Song.

A modulation establishes a new key within a piece. The notation may introduce a new key signature or keep the existing one and use accidentals. What Is a Key Change in Music? explains the five common types and when each one works.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many key signatures are there?

There are 15 written key signatures: seven with sharps, seven with flats, and one with none. Because three pairs sound the same, they cover 12 different-sounding major keys, each with a relative minor.

How do you remember the order of sharps and flats?

Learn the sharps in the order F, C, G, D, A, E, B with a phrase such as "Father Charles Goes Down And Ends Battle." The flats run in exactly the reverse order.

How do you tell if a song is major or minor from the key signature?

You cannot tell from the signature alone, because each one fits a major key and its relative minor. Listen for the home note and check the final chord to decide between them.

What is the key signature with no sharps or flats?

C major and A minor have no sharps or flats. On a piano, the C major scale uses only the white keys, which is why it is the usual starting point for learning theory.

Read Next

• Music Theory for Artists: What You Actually Need

• Circle of Fifths Explained for Songwriters

• How to Read Music: A Practical Guide for Artists

• What Is a Key Change in Music? 5 Types of Modulation

• How to Transpose a Song

How to Plan a Music Release: Step-by-Step Checklist is the next step when you're ready to put what you've learned into practice.