Writing Key Signatures

When writing key signatures, it is important to be aware of the order that sharps and flats are written. There is a rhyme that I was taught to use by my teacher when learning to write key signatures, also when I wanted to work out how many flats or sharps in a scale.

The rhyme for flats is: Battle Ends And Down Goes Charles Father

In the picture below, the key is Ab major and the key signature has four flats. The order is; Battle Ends And Down. When working out how many flats in the key signature we need to say the rhyme until the name of the key we want to write, in this example A, Battle Ends And, then add the next word of the rhyme which is Down and that gives us the flats in the key of Ab major; B, E, A, D. Another example is Db major. Say the rhyme until we reach D, Battle Ends And Down, then add the next word, Goes. The flats for Db major are; B, E, A, D, G.

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The rhyme for sharps is: Father Charles Goes Down And Ends Battle

In the next picture, the key is B major and there are five sharps in the key signature. The order is; Father Charles Goes Down And. When working out how many sharps in the key signature we need to say the rhyme until the name of the key we want to write, in this example B, Father Charles Goes Down And Ends Battle, then remove the last two words which are Ends and Battle, the remaining words of the rhyme give us what sharps are in the key of B major; F, C, G, D, A. Another example is E major. Say the rhyme until we reach E. Father, Charles, Goes Down And Ends, then remove the last two words, And and Ends. The sharps for E major are; F, C, G, D.

 

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