The key signature plays an important role when it comes to reading music. It tells the key of the piece by showing you how many sharps or flats there are. For instance, in the example below there are two sharps, F# and C#. For the whole song all the F’s and all the C’s are sharped unless a new key signature is introduced or if there’s an accidental.

An accidental is a sharp, flat, or natural sign that is not in the key signature but appears next to a note. Accidentals only last until the end of the measure or through tied notes across a measure.

Sharps and flats always appear in the same order, which is directly related to the circle of fifths.

Order of sharps: F C G D A E B
Fat Cats Gargle Daily After Eating Breakfast. Yea I know it doesn’t really make sense, but it really helps you remember the order of sharps.

Order of flats: B E A D G C F
I never really had a saying for this one, I just remember Bead GCF. But I suppose you could use Before Eating At Dennys Guys Can Fart.

It’s a good idea to learn all of your major and minor scales. That way when you see a key signature with two sharps (like the one above) you will know that the song is in the key of D major.

»Time Signature