If you see a song with 2 flats, they are Bb and Eb. If you see a song with 1 flat, it's a Bb. If you see 5 sharps, they are F# C# G# D# and A#. So when you see a song with one sharp it's going to be an F# every time. Order of Sharps: F C G D A E BOrder of Flats: B E A D G C F Here is the order in which these will be added.

How? Simply click here to return to Tell Us How YOU Use the Circle of Fifths.When we progress around the circle, we are adding or removing one sharp at a time or one flat at a time. Join in and write your own page! It's easy to do. To include easy determination of key signatures containing either 6 or 7 flats (phew!) without the need to rename B Major (to C-flat), try viewing only one half of the Circle of Fifths - starting at F Major and moving clockwise 6 positions (to B Major) this semicircle, when read clockwise beginning at F Major, presents the sharp notes as they are added sequentially (F-C-G-D-A-E-B) when read in a counterclockwise manner starting with B Major, this view lists the flats by the order in which they are added (B-E-A-D-G-C-F).Īlso noteworthy (inadvertently bad pun), the final two notes listed in either direction (clockwise - E and B for the sharps counterclockwise - C and F for the flats) are the only accidentals (sharps or flats) that use natural (white) keys (on piano): as sharps, E# is F (a white/natural key) and B# is C (a white key) for flats, C-flat becomes B (a white/natural key)and F-flat is played as E (also a white key). Modified CO5 (to accommodate the extremes). So there you have it: starting between F and B-flat, the order of sharps goes clockwise around the circle, and the order of flats goes counter-clockwise around the circle.Ĭomments for Order of Sharps and Flats in Key Signatures Those are the 4 places on the staff you put the flats when writing the key signature. So you write flat signs on the B, E, A, and D lines/spaces. Looking at the imaginary line, you see going counter-clockwise from it, the letter names are B-flat, E-flat, A-flat, and D-flat. Look on the circle of fifths, the first 2 letters going clockwise from that line are F and C.Įxample #2: You are writing the key signature for A-flat. The first sharp goes on F and the second goes on C. The letters are the lines/spaces you would write the sharp/flats on when you are writing the key signature.Įxample #1: You are writing the key of D. Here is how you can use the Circle of Fifths to learn the order of sharps and flats in key signaturesĭraw an imaginary line between F and B-flat on the circle of fifths. Order of Sharps and Flats in Key Signatures

Order of flats in key signature