Theory Question
 

For my own knowledge, I'm trying to understand the order of sharps, order of flats, and the circle of fifths, ie. how they work, how to determine a song's key, why they are in the order they're in, etc. Can anyone help me?

*to Mods: This was the best place I saw fit for this thread. If I accidentally looked over the proper place to post, please move it. Thanks!*

I'm not quite sure what the specific question you're asking is, but here is all of the info necessary. If you want me to elaborate on anything just ask!

http://fog.ccsf.cc.ca.us/~rmauleon/fifths2.gif

Order of sharps- FCGDAEB
Order of flats- BEADGCF (the opposite of sharps)

That helps a great deal, thank you. I'll edit my question to make it clearer to future readers.

How to determine a song's key- Simply look at the key signature of a song and refer to the chart above. You can tell if the song if major or minor by playing it. If you don't have a chart available, look at the last sharp in the key signature and go up a half step. If it's a flat key, the name of the key is the second to last flat in the key signature. If there is only one flat, the key is 'F'.

How it works and why it's in the order it's in- A major scale consists of a specific sequence of intervals (the distance between two tones). Whole step, whole Step, half step, whole step, whole step, whole step, and finally another half step. Starting on 'C', we don't need to alter any tones in order to perform a major scale. However if we start on another tone, say 'G', we do. 'G' is a fifth up from 'C', and we need to add one sharp, F#. If we dont add it, the pattern would be WWHWWWW. If you go up a fifth up from 'G', to 'D', you need to add two sharps to make the major scale pattern. See the pattern? Go up a fifth, add a sharp. Inversely, go down a fourth and add a flat. The circle of fifths was crafted to make the memorization of sharps, flats, and their respective key signatures easier.


Sorry if I over elaborated or stated information you already knew, I just wanted to be make sure you understood it. If you have any more questions feel free to ask!

Beautiful and clear explanation, Gunnels! Though I've played and read music for years, I never really bothered learning (or remembering) how to name the key I'm playing in. I'll print out the circle of fifths and your explanation so hopefully I'll remember it this time!

My dad can never figure out how I read music without knowing the key I'm in...but it works by just remembering the actual notes that are sharp or flat, and then using your ear to help you remember what to play. Yet being able to actually state what key I'm in or plan to change to, especially when playing music with others, would be much more efficient than my current method, which is simply to say..."So, what are the sharps or flats you want me to play?"

P.S. Oh, that avatar!!!!

Very good explanation. Throughout my experience I have found this to be invaluable information.

Learning scales holds some degree of importance in music, but it's very important to know them if you're improvising off the top of your head all the time (which is what I like to do) and this helps ease the learning process by a huge lot.

Thank you, yet again! *favorites page, then gives cookie*