## Key Signature

The key signature is the group of sharps or flats just after the clef. It applies to every note of those letter names, in every octave, for the whole piece.

It saves writing an accidental on every single altered note. Sharps always appear in the order F C G D A E B, and flats in the reverse — so the number of symbols tells you the key without counting the notes.


## How To Spot Key Signature

The symbols between the clef and the time signature. If there are none, the piece is in C major or A minor.


## Find It In Thirty Seconds

Count the sharps or flats in any piece, then name the key. One sharp is G major; two is D major; one flat is F major.

Open any piece of sheet music on this site and do it now. Reading is a recognition skill, and recognition is built by finding things, not by reading about them.