Major and minor keys: all 24 keys, their key signatures and their notes
There are 12 major and 12 minor keys. Each key signature, from seven flats to seven sharps, belongs to one major key and its relative minor: three flats is Eb major or C minor, two sharps is D major or B minor. Here is every key with its sharps or flats and its notes.
A key is a set of seven notes with one of them as home. Western music uses 12 major keys and 12 minor keys, one of each on every note of the octave. Each major key shares its notes, and its key signature, with one minor key called its relative minor, so one row of sharps or flats always names two keys: the home note decides which one you are hearing.
How many keys are there?
By sound there are 24: a major and a minor key on each of the 12 notes. On paper there are 15 key signatures, from no sharps or flats up to seven of either, which are sometimes called the standard key signatures. The extra three exist because three major keys can be spelled two ways: B major and Cb major, F# major and Gb major, C# major and Db major sound the same. Their relative minors pair up the same way. In practice C# major is usually written as Db major and Cb major as B major.
The 12 major keys: C, G, D, A, E, B, F# (Gb), Db, Ab, Eb, Bb and F. The 12 minor keys: A, E, B, F#, C#, G#, Eb (D#), Bb, F, C, G and D.
Key signature chart: every major and minor key
| Key signature | Keys | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| None | C major A minor | C D E F G A B |
| 1 sharp | G major E minor | G A B C D E F# |
| 2 sharps | D major B minor | D E F# G A B C# |
| 3 sharps | A major F# minor | A B C# D E F# G# |
| 4 sharps | E major C# minor | E F# G# A B C# D# |
| 5 sharps | B major G# minor | B C# D# E F# G# A# |
| 6 sharps | F# major D# minor | F# G# A# B C# D# E# |
| 7 sharps | C# major A# minor | C# D# E# F# G# A# B# |
| 1 flat | F major D minor | F G A Bb C D E |
| 2 flats | Bb major G minor | Bb C D Eb F G A |
| 3 flats | Eb major C minor | Eb F G Ab Bb C D |
| 4 flats | Ab major F minor | Ab Bb C Db Eb F G |
| 5 flats | Db major Bb minor | Db Eb F Gb Ab Bb C |
| 6 flats | Gb major Eb minor | Gb Ab Bb Cb Db Eb F |
| 7 flats | Cb major Ab minor | Cb Db Eb Fb Gb Ab Bb |
Each row names the major key first and its relative minor below it. The notes are written from the major key's home note, and the sharps or flats among them are the key signature; the relative minor uses exactly the same seven notes, starting from its own home note: A minor is A B C D E F G. Three pairs of rows sound the same: B and Cb major (G# and Ab minor), F# and Gb major (D# and Eb minor), C# and Db major (A# and Bb minor). E# and B# sound as F and C, Cb and Fb as B and E; each key uses every letter once, which is why they appear.
Minor keys and their notes
| Minor key | Notes (natural minor) | Relative major |
|---|---|---|
| A minor | A B C D E F G | C major |
| E minor | E F# G A B C D | G major |
| B minor | B C# D E F# G A | D major |
| F# minor | F# G# A B C# D E | A major |
| C# minor | C# D# E F# G# A B | E major |
| G# minor | G# A# B C# D# E F# | B major |
| Eb minor | Eb F Gb Ab Bb Cb Db | Gb major |
| Bb minor | Bb C Db Eb F Gb Ab | Db major |
| F minor | F G Ab Bb C Db Eb | Ab major |
| C minor | C D Eb F G Ab Bb | Eb major |
| G minor | G A Bb C D Eb F | Bb major |
| D minor | D E F G A Bb C | F major |
Eb minor is the same key as D# minor, and in it Cb sounds as B; its relative, Gb major, sounds the same as F# major.
How do you read a key signature?
Sharps always arrive in the same order, F# C# G# D# A# E# B#, and flats in the reverse order, Bb Eb Ab Db Gb Cb Fb. In a standard key signature, three sharps are always F#, C# and G#, never any other three. Two rules then name the major key:
- Sharps: the major key is a half step above the last sharp. F#, C# ends on C#, a half step up is D: D major.
- Flats: with two or more flats, the second-to-last flat is the major key. Bb, Eb, Ab: the second-to-last is Eb, so Eb major. One flat is the exception to learn by heart: F major.
For the minor key, take the sixth note of the major scale, which is three half steps below the major key's home note: D major's relative minor is B minor, Eb major's is C minor. Each added sharp moves the major key up a fifth (C, G, D, A ...) and each added flat moves it down a fifth (C, F, Bb, Eb ...), which is why key signatures follow the circle of fifths.
What is the difference between a major and a minor key?
The difference is the step pattern: a major scale climbs whole, whole, half, whole, whole, whole, half; a natural minor scale climbs whole, half, whole, whole, half, whole, whole. Start both on the same note and the minor version has a lower third, sixth and seventh. The third matters most: it makes the chord on the home note major or minor, so it is the quickest way to hear which kind of key you are in.
Wikipedia's article on major and minor puts the mood difference carefully: minor keys are "sometimes said to have a more interesting, possibly darker sound than plain major scales". Treat it as a tendency, not a rule: tempo, rhythm and sound choice can change the feel as much as the key does.
Minor-key music often raises the seventh note by a half step so the music pulls harder back home. Raising the seventh gives the harmonic minor scale; raising the sixth as well, on the way up, gives the melodic minor. Both are in the scales guide.
Relative and parallel keys
- Relative keys share a key signature and all seven notes but have different home notes: C major and A minor, Eb major and C minor.
- Parallel keys share a home note but not all their notes: C major and C minor differ in the third, sixth and seventh.
Because relative keys share all seven notes, they also share their chords, so a song can move between C major and A minor without a single new note. A move to the parallel key keeps the home note and changes three notes.
How do you tell what key a song is in?
- Find home. Hum the note the song feels like it wants to land on. That home note, the tonic, is where the music sounds finished, and it is commonly where the last chord of the song or of a section lands.
- Major or minor? Play that note with the note four half steps above it, then three half steps above it, over the song. Whichever fits is the third: four half steps is major, three is minor.
- Check the notes. Find the row in the chart that contains the notes the song uses. The row gives two keys; your home note picks one. Minor-key songs often raise the seventh (G# in A minor, B in C minor), so one note may not fit the row: trust the home note.
Or drop the file into the free key and BPM finder. It compares the track's balance of the 12 notes with profiles for all 24 keys and shows the relative key next to the result, because the two share every note and only the home note tells them apart. It also says when major or minor is unclear, as it is for a bass line that plays nothing but the root. The audio is analyzed in your browser and never uploaded.
Keys in your session
Once you know the key, the rest follows from it: the chords in every key for writing, the root of an 808 or bass line (see how to tune an 808), and the notes a pitch corrector should snap to. In Burnish Vocal Chain, the TUNE station takes the key, the scale and the allowed notes, and its Amount, Speed and Humanize controls set how the vocal is corrected.
Questions
What key has three flats?
Eb major or C minor. The flats are Bb, Eb and Ab.
What key has two sharps?
D major or B minor. The sharps are F# and C#.
What key has one sharp?
G major or E minor. The sharp is F#.
What key has two flats?
Bb major or G minor. The flats are Bb and Eb.
What are the notes in the key of A?
A major is A B C# D E F# G#, three sharps; its chords are A, Bm, C#m, D, E, F#m and G#dim. A minor is A B C D E F G, no sharps or flats (G# when the seventh is raised, as in harmonic minor).
How many minor keys are there?
Twelve by sound, one on each note. Three of them have two spellings (G# or Ab minor, D# or Eb minor, A# or Bb minor), which is why a full key signature chart lists 15.
Is a minor key always sad?
No. Minor keys can sound darker to Western listeners, but the key is just one part of the mood: tempo, rhythm and sound choice can change the feel as much.
