This latest lesson on Music Theory for the Bass Guitar covers the concept of key and key signatures as well as the Circle Of Fifths.
Recap
First, let’s take a look at the major scale pattern we looked at in the first lesson.
The major scale is built up from a pattern of tones and semitones.
Tone, tone, semitone, tone, tone, tone, semitone
The intervallic construction of this scale would be:
Tonic
Major 2nd
Major 3rd
Perfect 4th
Perfect 5th
Major 6th
Major 7th
This pattern can be moved around the neck easily to create a major scale in any key.
Key Signatures
The key of a piece of music relates to the scale we use as our pallet of notes. If we use the notes of the C major scale to write a piece, then the key would be C major.
Any notes within that scale are classed as being in key or diatonic.
Any notes out of that scale are referred to as out of key or non-diatonic.
In C major, the notes C, D, E, F, G, A, and B are all diatonic and Db, Eb, Gb, Ab and Bb are non-diatonic.
This relates to a deeper concept known as tonality. Most Western music is based on the idea of tonality, meaning that the notes in a piece all relate back to one master note – the tonic. The tonic should evoke a feeling of home and resolutions. All the other notes (both in and out of the key) create varying amounts of tension that pull back to the tonic. You can hear this pull if you play a major scale and stop at the 7th. The 7th wants to resolve to the tonic as there is a strong tension that is released at the resolution.
A key signature is a label at the start of every stave to show what sharps or flats are in that key.
We have already looked at the C major scale and know that it has no sharps or flats in it. Therefore, the key signature for this key has no sharps or flats either.
In the key of G, there is an F#, so the key signature will have one sharp.
Here are some more examples of keys and their key signatures:
D Major – Two Sharps
A Major – Three Sharps
F Major – One Flat
Bb Major – Two Flats
Circle Of Fifths
The circle of fifths is a series of consecutive perfect 5th intervals that eventually work their way back round to the original note. The cycle tells us how many sharps and flats are in each key. It starts at C, which has no sharps or flats. The next note – a fifth higher – is G, which has a key signature of one sharp. Up a fifth again is D, which contains two sharps. This pattern continues until it comes back around to C.
Shortcut For Memorising Key Signatures
The circle of fifths is a really popular way to learn your key signatures, but it can be a bit hefty to memorise all in one go. I use two different sequences of note names to remember the order.
F C G D A E B
and
F B E A D G C
If you recite the first sequence over and over to yourself for a while then it will eventually stick in your head.
The second sequence is easier to remember because it is just F followed by the word BEAD and then G and C.
Once you have memorised these note orders, the next thing you need to do is remember that the first sequence is the order of sharps and the second is the order of flats.
These sequences show the order that sharps and flats get introduced into the key signatures. Let’s take A major for example. We know that A is the third point on the circle of fifths so it must have three sharps.
C – 0 sharps
G – 1 sharp
D – 2 sharps
A – 3 sharps
E – 4 sharps
B – 5 sharps
F# – 6 sharps
C# – 7 sharps
Now we can use the first sequence to find out what notes the three sharps are. To do this, we simply count the first three notes.
F C G D A E B
This means that the sharps must be F#, C# and G#. Here is the A major scale in order:
A B C#D E F#G#
This principle also applies to the flat keys, but we use the second sequence instead.
F B E A D G C
Let’s work out the key signature of Ab major.
F – 1 flat
Bb – 2 flats
Eb – 3 flats
Ab – 4 flats
Db – 5 flats
Gb – 6 flats
Cb – 7 flats
Ab is the fourth point on the circle of fourths (the circle of fifths in reverse), so it must have four flats. For this sequence, you have to ignore the F at the beginning and start from the B. From this, we can see that the flats in A major are Bb, Eb, Ab, and Db.
Here is the whole scale:
Ab Bb C Db Eb F G
I really enjoy your lessons. I am glad I found this website. thanks
Besr teacher i have seen on any instrument
Wow Mark another great lesson. Easiest to understand over any I’ve seen.. thanks
thx, Mark for that impressive lesson, it blows my mind :)
hi Mark-I never write comments,just feel I need to say thanks.I’ve just restarted last year and you’re the only one out there who makes sense.Please don’t stop and thanks again
hey Mark
great lesson and a very organised progression of lessons.Thanks a lot.
However the pdf material attached does not seem to be relating to this lesson..am I right ?could you please upload again ?
all the very best
Anand
great lessons thanks
Happy New Year,all the best to you and thanks
it’s only because of you i know how to play bass :) you are the best :)
thank u for this great lesson
Mark,
I think your videos are great and your ability to teach is some of the best that I’ve ever seen. There is one thing that I am a little confused about and that is determining what sharps are within a key (video at 11:53). The example on how to find how many sharps are within a key for F#maj and then the transition to figuring out which sharps are in F starting at the F is what’s confusing me. Why does the pattern start at the F? Could you give another example? Also, what are some advantages that are associated with know how many sharps are within a key signature?
Thanks,
Drew
Thanks Mark
Great lesson, finally i get the circle of fifths and how it works.
easy when someone explains it to you in lay-mans terms
Russell
i noticed that the order of sharps FCGDAEB, is BEAD GC F backwards. so that makes it easier to memorise.
Thanks, Mark!
I’m going to present this Circle of 5th theory lesson to my son. He is studying sax in music school and the Circle is the big problem, as usual. :-)
I think your explanation will help much – his main teacher is very good musician, but he didn’t mention those magic word “BEAD”. :-)
Thanks again!
I’ve gone cross eyed
Great lesson and super web site. Really enjoy your lessons.
Another way of getting to know the sharps and flats is to use the second tetrachord of the major scale to build the scales while keeping the same distance between each intervals (W-W-H-W-W-W-H) starting with the C major scale.
Example (first tetrachord: C-D-E-F and second tetrachord: G-A-B-C) gives:
G-A-B-C-D-E-F#-G (G major – one sharp: F#)
Take the second tetrachord of the G major scale:
D-E-F#-G-A-B-C#-D and so on.
For the flats, you have to remember that the F major scale has one flat (B flat) and use the same principle.
This is why we get, starting from C and sharps, a circle of fifths and, starting from C and flats, a circle of fourths.
Sharps (Fifths: 7 semi-tones)
C-G-D-A-E-B-F#-C#
Flats (Fourths: 5 semi-tones)
C-F-B flat-E flat-A flat-D flat-G flat-C flat
Great lessons, it’s a bitch trying to learn to read music all over again at 67 years old and these lessons help tremendously…thanks Mark…
How bad is my knowledge & how clear you explained it…. Big thanx Mark, very clear explanation, with the intervals lessons a lot to work
I just love these lessons my standard of bass improved alot…the lessons are very attractive and organized….i love these lessons watch again and again
Thank you for this website!
I am taking lessons whilst using your tutorials to re-enforce each session. I find the clarity of explanation and method equal to the person to person. It enables me to delve a little deeper into the theory and practical application. Do not underestimate the valuable knowledge you impart. Many thx