The Major Keys

The 15 Major Keys

Table of the 15 Major Keys

Introduction

Whilst writing music & songs I became aware that my compositions had a familiarity to them. I was using the same old keys learned years ago. Recently, I went through a sample of my own compositions noting what keys I was using. The results shocked me. Without realizing I’d gotten stuck in a ruck. For most of the time I was using the same old 3 keys. These were the Keys of A major, D Major, and G Major. Although I used other keys at times, on the whole, I was mostly using those 3 same keys.

Using a larger collection of keys gives our songs more variation. So today, I’ll look at all the major keys. A musical key holds the set of notes that belong to that key. For example, the key of C major holds all the notes that belong to the C major scale.

The 15 major keys

• There are 15 major key signatures.
• Some keys have sharps (#) whilst others have flats (b).
• Only the Key of C major has no sharps (#) and no flats (b) in the key signature.
• The other 14 key signatures can have between 1 to 7 sharps and 1 to 7 flats.

The Major key with no sharps (#) or flats (b)

• The C major key has no sharps or flats.
• Its notes are C, D, E, F, G, A, B, and C.

The 7 Major keys with sharps (#)

• The G major key has 1 sharp.
• Its notes are G, A, B, C, D, E, and F#.
• The sharp note is F#.

• The D major key has 2 sharps.
• Its notes are D, E, F#, G, A, B, and C#.
• The sharp notes are F# and C#.

• The A major key has 3 sharps.
• Its notes are A, B, C#, D, E, F#, and G#.
• The sharp notes are the F#, C#, and G#.

• The E major key has 4 sharps.
• Its notes are E, F#, G#, A, B, C#, and D#.
• The sharp notes are the F#, C#, G#, and D#.

• The B major key has 5 sharps.
• Its notes are B, C#, D#, E, F#, G#, and A#.
• The 5 sharp notes are the C#, D#, F#, G#, and A#.

• The F# major key has 6 sharps.
• Its notes are F#, G#, A#, B, C#, D#, and E#.
• The 6 sharp notes are the F#, G#, A#, C#, D#, and E#.

• The C# major key has 7 sharps.
• Its notes are C#, D#, E#, F#, G#, A#, and B#.
• The 7 sharp notes are the C#, D#, E#, F#, G#, A#, and B#.

The 7 Major keys with flats (b)

• The F major key has 1 flat.
• Its notes are F, G, A, Bb, C, D, E.
• The flat note is Bb.

• The Bb major key has 2 flats.
• Its notes are Bb, C, D, Eb, F, G, and A.
• The 2 flat notes are Bb and Eb.

• The Eb major key has 3 flats.
• Its notes are Eb, F, G, Ab, Bb, C, and D.
• The 3 flat notes are Bb, Eb, and Ab.

• The Ab major key has 4 flats.
• Its notes are Ab, Bb, C, Db, Eb, F, and G.
• The 4 flat notes are Bb, Eb, Ab, and Db.

• The Db major key has 5 flats.
• Its notes are Db, Eb, F, Gb, Ab, Bb and C.
• The 5 flat notes are Bb, Eb, Ab, Db, and Gb.

• The Gb major key has 6 flats.
• Its notes are Gb, Ab, Bb, Cb, Db, Eb, and F.
• The flat notes are Bb, Eb, Ab, Db, Gb, and Cb.

• The Cb major key has 7 flats.
• Its notes are Cb, Db, Eb, Fb, Gb, Ab, and Bb.
• The flat notes are Bb, Eb, Ab, Db, Gb, Fb, and Cb.

If you play the E# note followed by the F note you will notice they both have the same pitch. This is the same for some notes. I'll do an article about this next.

Conclusion

• I hope this helps you to be aware of all of the 15 Major keys that are available for us to write or compose in. Using a larger collection of keys helps us to give our songs more variation.