For use in cryptography, see Key signature (cryptography).
Key signature showing B♭ and E♭ (the key of B♭ major or G minor)Key signature showing F♯ and C♯ (the key of D major or B minor)
In Western musical notation, a key signature is a set of sharp (♯), flat (♭), or rarely, natural (♮) symbols placed on the staff at the beginning of a section of music. The initial key signature in a piece is placed immediately after the clef at the beginning of the first line. If the piece contains a section in a different key, the new key signature is placed at the beginning of that section.
In a key signature, a sharp or flat symbol on a line or space of the staff indicates that the note represented by that line or space is to be played a semitone higher (sharp) or lower (flat) than it would otherwise be played. This applies through the end of the piece or until another key signature appears. Each symbol applies to comparable notes in all octaves — for example, a flat on the fourth space of the treble staff (as in the diagram) indicates that all notes notated as Es are played as E-flats, including those on the bottom line of the staff.
Most of this article addresses key signatures that represent the diatonic keys of Western music. These contain either flats or sharps, but not both, and the different key signatures add flats or sharps according to the order shown in the circle of fifths.
Each major and minor key has an associated key signature, showing up to seven flats or seven sharps, that indicates the notes used in its scale. Music was sometimes notated with a key signature that did not match its key in this way—this can be seen in some Baroque pieces,[1] or transcriptions of traditional modal folk tunes.[2]
^Schulenberg, David. Music of the Baroque. New York: Oxford University Press, 2001. p. 72.. "(…) to determine the key of a Baroque work one must always analyze its tonal structure rather than rely on the key signature."
^Cooper, David. The Petrie Collection of the Ancient Music of Ireland. Cork: Cork University Press, 2005. p. 22. "In a few cases Petrie has given what is clearly a modal melody a key signature which suggests that it is actually in a minor key. For example, Banish Misfortune is presented in D minor, although it is clearly in the Dorian mode."
In Western musical notation, a keysignature is a set of sharp (♯), flat (♭), or rarely, natural (♮) symbols placed on the staff at the beginning of a...
and a private key, produces a signature. A signature verifying algorithm that, given the message, public key and signature, either accepts or rejects the...
digital signature, linked to a domain name, to each outgoing email message. The recipient system can verify this by looking up the sender's public key published...
It immediately follows the keysignature (or if there is no keysignature, the clef symbol). A mid-score time signature, usually immediately following...
The Digital Signature Algorithm (DSA) is a public-key cryptosystem and Federal Information Processing Standard for digital signatures, based on the mathematical...
When a musical key or keysignature is referred to in a language other than English, that language may use the usual notation used in English (namely the...
In music, relative keys are the major and minor scales that have the same keysignatures (enharmonically equivalent), meaning that they share all of the...
a keysignature will be played that way in every octave—e.g., a keysignature with a B♭ indicates that every B is played as a B♭. A keysignature indicates...
operations to find the private key—the size of an ECDSA private key would be 160 bits. On the other hand, the signature size is the same for both DSA and...
music theory, a theoretical key is a key whose keysignature requires double-flats (), or double-sharps (). Some musical keys are not normally used because...
sharp in its keysignature because the E natural minor scale has one sharp (F♯). Major and minor keys that share the same keysignature are relative to...
A major (or the key of A) is a major scale based on A, with the pitches A, B, C♯, D, E, F♯, and G♯. Its keysignature has three sharps. Its relative minor...
case, the keysignature will have three flats (B♭, E♭, and A♭). The figure below shows all 12 relative major and minor keys, with major keys on the outside...
(E♭), A♯ (B♭), E♯ (F), C. This order places the most closely related keysignatures adjacent to one another. It is usually illustrated in the form of a...
but are notated differently. Similarly, written intervals, chords, or keysignatures are considered enharmonic if they represent identical pitches that are...
includes the public key and information about it, information about the identity of its owner (called the subject), and the digital signature of an entity that...
G major (or the key of G) is a major scale based on G, with the pitches G, A, B, C, D, E, and F♯. Its keysignature has one sharp. Its relative minor...
A, and B. C major is one of the most common keys used in music. Its keysignature has no flats or sharps. Its relative minor is A minor and its parallel...
based on C, consisting of the pitches C, D, E♭, F, G, A♭, and B♭. Its keysignature consists of three flats. Its relative major is E♭ major and its parallel...
D major (or the key of D) is a major scale based on D, consisting of the pitches D, E, F♯, G, A, B, and C♯. Its keysignature has two sharps. The D major...
cryptography, a ring signature is a type of digital signature that can be performed by any member of a set of users that each have keys. Therefore, a message...
Global Information
