Key Signature Essay

Key Signatures

Music is a complex concept; it has the power of taking control of someone's mood, all just from what one hears. The reason for this greatly relies on what key signature a song is written in. Key signatures vary from the different pitches of keys that are used in a key signature. There are two main types of key signatures that a song can be written in; Major and Minor Keys. These two keys can be broken down into fifteen different subkeys 1-7 sharp keys and 1-7 flat keys. These fifteen subkeys can be understood and manipulated by using the circle of fifths. However, there is one thing that is behind making a key signature, a key signature, and is what is responsible for making something sound “sharp” or “flat”. These are called accidentals, they are the source for all of the different varieties of music.

To begin breaking down the concept of key signatures, the larger, more vague groups of music are called major and minor keys and they are the most known groups of music. These keys can be classified into twenty-two different subkeys consisting of major and minor versions of signatures ranging from A-G. There are also sharp and flat versions of each of these subkeys in between A-G such as; D♭, D♯, E♭, F♯, A♭, and B♭. Between the categories, there are two main differences between the way each group of keys sound. For instance, major keys tend to be “completely pure, innocent, and simple”, or in other

Major keys are generally found being used in types of music such as “warlike” and “gospel” songs. On the other hand, minor keys can be found used for many “horror songs” or “intimate and depressing” songs of that type. Love songs though, are versatile in the sense that they can be written in either major or minor keys, depending on whether or not it is going to be an “unhappy love” or a “innocent or cheerful