How can you tell what key a song is in?

[Rickey]

Hi all,

Does anyone know how to determine which key a song is written in? I recently downloaded some sheet music (Siciliano by JS Bach). I was having difficulty playing it so I went to Youtube to find some clips and I found the same piece being played in several different keys. While it sounded like the same song Ive been working on, the players were certainly playing different notes. By the way, in case anyone is interested, the website I downloaded the sheet music from is FREE, it’s called The Mutopia Project http://www.mutopiaproject.org/

Zbig

[Rickey]

Not familiar with that song and not even sure if I was looking at the right sheet music, but the one that popped up for classical guitar is Bb.

Have you ever heard of the circle of 5ths?

[GnLguy]

Hello to all

On the sheet music that you’ve purchased, there should be some symbols that are either sharps or flats just after the treble clef on the left. Here is a link to a chart that will tell you what key that the notation is written in. This chart is kinda neat in that it shows the relative minor as well as the major key

http://www.piano-lessons-central.com/image-files/key-sigatures-6.gif

If these sharps or flats arent on your sheet music, I wouldn’t know how to determine the key

Keith
aka Bluezhawk

[Rickey]

Darby and Bluezhawk, Thanks. The piece IS in Bflat. The circle of 5ths is interesting. Thanks for pointing me in the right direction

Zbig

[Rickey]

NP, glad it helped…

Lots of acronyms out there to help you remember it. I used:

Fat Cats Go Down Alleys Eating Birds & BEAD

[Author]

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