The time signature (also known as meter signature) is used in most Western musical notation to tell how many beats are in each measure and which note value ”gets” one beat.

In a music score, the time signature appears at the beginning of the piece, as stacked numerals (such as 3/4) immediately following the key signature (or immediately following the clef if the piece is in C major, A minor, or a modal subset). A mid-score time signature, usually immediately following a barline, indicates a change of meter.

There are a number of different kinds of time signatures, but the most common are simple (such as 3/4 or 4/4) and compound (e.g. 9/8 or 12/8).

We can also notice something about the relative minor keys.  We can simply count down three letter names from the major key to help with memorizing them.  For example, the key signature for A major is the same a F-sharp minor: A – G-sharp – F-sharp.  It is important to identify the pitch names with the accidentals of the key signature to make sure we get to the correct relative minor.  In the above example, its F-sharp minor, not F minor.

Let’s now take a peek at the flat keys.  We have already memorized the key signature with one flat:  F major/D minor.  We can observe that there is also a progressive order to these keys:  B-flat major has the same key signature as F major, plus an E-flat.  The order of the first four flats is:  B E A D-flat.

There is a simple trick to recognizing the major flat keys:  its name is the second last flat in the key signature.  A-flat major has four flats, the second last flat is A-flat.

So that’s a big key to learning how to read music notes. Once you are able to recognize key signatures up to four sharps and flats, you will find the remaining keys quite easy to learn.  During this learning process you will probably discover similar patterns as those presented here.

Below are the key signatures for up to four sharps and flats in both treble and bass clefs.  Take a few minutes to study these key signatures and then we will make some observations:

Notice that as we look at the sharp keys in the order presented, each new key builds on the previous one.  D major has F-sharp/C-sharp,  while A major includes the F-C-sharp of D major,  plus G-sharp.  From this, we can also observe that there is an ordering of sharps, the first four being:  F C G and D-sharp.

Remaining with the sharp keys for a moment, we can notice something else in the key signature that will help trigger our memory when identifying them.  The last sharp in a key signature is actually the leading note of the major scale.  The leading note is the last note of the scale before the note-names begin to repeat.  In the key of A major, the G-sharp leads back up to A.

There are many more observations we can learn, but this is enough for one post. More tomorrow to help you learn How To Read Music Notes!

There are seven sharp key signatures, seven flat key signatures, plus the one with no sharp or flats.  Each key signature represents two possible keys, one major, and one minor.  The key signature with one sharp, for example, can mean that the music is in G major or E minor.  In either case, this particular key signature tells us that all Fs are actually played as  F-sharp.

Learning to recognize key signatures requires a little memory work.  Start with modest goals and work with flash cards.  Here we will be focusing on key signatures up to four sharps and flats. More on this next time!

We’ll be covering the following: reading music notes, musical time and key signature, basic music theory, and reading music for beginners, and much more…

Basically, we’ll cover everything you need to know to Learn to Read Music and answer any questions you may have about learning to read music. For more great information in the next day or two as we get ramped up, visit this other great free blog at Learning to Read Music.