Lesson 3: Sharps and Flats

The chart below shows all of the possible key signatures. One to 7 sharps, or one to 7 flats may appear in the key signature. Key signatures with 5 or more sharps or flats are not frequently used. The key signature normally appears at the beginning of the staff after the clef. However, a new key signature may be inserted anywhere in the music. Return to key signatures topic in Lesson 3.
Notation	Notes affected	Name of Major key	Notes in Major scale
	None	C	C, D, E, F, G, A, B, C
	F, C, G, D, A, E, B	C sharp	C sharp, D sharp, E sharp, F sharp, G sharp, A sharp, B sharp, C sharp
	B, E, A, D, G	D flat	D flat, E flat, F, G flat, A flat, B flat, C, D flat
	F, C	D	D, E, F sharp, G, A, B, C sharp, D
	B, E, A	E flat	E flat, F, G, A flat, B flat, C, D, E flat
	F, C, G, D	E	E, F sharp, G sharp, A, B, C sharp, D sharp, E
	B	F	F, G, A, B flat, C, D, E, F
	F, C, G, D, A, E	F sharp	F sharp, G sharp, A sharp, B, C sharp, D sharp, E sharp, F sharp
	B, E, A, D, G, C	G flat	G flat, A flat, B flat, C flat, D flat, E flat, F, G flat
	F	G	G, A, B, C, D, E, F sharp, G
	B, E, A, D	A flat	A flat, B flat, C, D flat, E flat, F, G, A flat
	F, C, G	A	A, B, C sharp, D, E, F sharp, G sharp, A
	B, E	B flat	B flat, C, D, E flat, F, G, A, B flat
	F, C, G, D, A	B	B, C sharp, D sharp, E, F sharp, G sharp, A sharp, B
	B, E, A, D, G, C, F	C flat	C flat, D flat, E flat, F flat, G flat, A flat, B flat, C flat