2) For FLAT keys, the last flat in the Key Signature is Fa. Count down four notes – “Fa-Mi-Re-Do” – to find the name of the Major Key. NOTE: Coincidentally, the next-to-last flat IS the name of the Major Key. This only works with Flat keys!!

In musical notation, flats are the notes made low in a given key signature. The symbol for a flat is L, which means half a tone lower than the written note. The first flat key signature is the key of F, or its relative minor, which is D minor (Dm).

In standard music notation, the order in which sharps or flats appear in key signatures is uniform, following the circle of fifths: F♯, C♯, G♯, D♯, A♯, E♯, B♯, and B♭, E♭, A♭, D♭, G♭, C♭, F♭. Musicians can identify the key by the number of sharps or flats shown, since they always appear in the same order.

With flat key signatures, all you have to do is look to the second flat from the right to determine the major key. In the example above, notice that a D-Flat is highlighted in green. And just like that, D Flat Major is the key!

One of the easy ways to find out a key with flats is to see what the penultimate flat is. This will give you the major key! E.g. if there are 5 Flats in a key signature (B, E, A, D, G) just take the penultimate flat (D flat) and you have the key which is D flat major!

Song Key Finder is a great little free app that will help you find your keys in any way imaginable. You can play the song through your device’s microphone to the app for analysis, you can upload the song to the app, or you can manually enter the chords you have been playing.

A-flat minor

More videos on YouTube In this new video, Rick shows us what he calls “the darkest scale ever”, the Double Harmonic Major scale. It’s a scale that features a b2 and major 7, which puts a cluster of 2 half steps right in a row (so 3 notes right next to each other), which makes it sound pretty gnarly.

6 sharps

A-sharp minor