A key signature is a series of sharps or flats at the beginning of a staff showing which notes are to be played higher or lower than the natural notes. Depending on how many sharps or flats there are at the beginning of a piece of music, you can tell which key the music is written in.

The list below shows the correspondence between sharps and flats and key signatures (shown in FIGURE 6-1):

• No sharps or flats = Key of C

• One sharp = Key of G

• Two sharps = Key of D

• Three sharps = Key of A

• Four sharps = Key of E

• Five sharps = Key of B

• Six sharps = Key of F

• One flat = Key of F

• Two flats = Key of B

• Three flats = Key of E

• Four flats = Key of A

• Five flats = Key of D

• Six flats = Key of G

Six flats (or altered notes) are just about as many notes as you need to remember. After this you'll learn about “enharmonic” notes, or notes that have the same name. An example of this would be C flat, which is really B natural.

When you're comfortable with all this, try playing the tunes shown in FIGURES 6-2 through 6-4. Listen to Tracks 13 through 15 of this book's CD as you play.