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Finding the Key of a Song with Accidentals #1: Why is This Useful?
Do you need to figure out the key for a song? Whether you have sheet music or figure out a song by ear, it’ll be useful to know the key of a song. This will help when adding harmonies, improvising, memorizing, or for just generally understanding the music. Plus, you can find out if the music changes keys during the song. Keep reading to answer the question, “How do I find the key of a song with accidentals?”
This article uses musical terms. For definitions, see the Glossary at the end of the post.
Finding the Key of a Song with Accidentals #2: What Are Accidentals and How Do We Find Them?
“How do I find the key of a song with accidentals?” Before we can answer this question, we need to define the term accidental.
In musical notation, any of the symbols used to raised or lower a pitch… or cancel a previous sign or part of a key signature. (The New Harvard Dictionary of Music 4)
In other words, they’ll be the sharps, flats, and natural signs in a song that don’t appear in the key signature.
If you have sheet music to work from, start by using the key signature to figure out the key.
- This’ll make things easier, because any sharps or flats not in the key will be your accidentals.
- Also, you can figure out if you have a modulation, chromatic harmony, incidental chromaticism, or a minor key on your hands.
These two links show you how to find the song’s key using the key signature:
What do you do if you don’t have sheet music? I had a music theory teacher in college who said you can find the key of a song by adding up all the accidentals.
- Once you’ve written down the accidentals from the song, see if all of them fit in one key.
- If they don’t, the song may have a modulation, or it may be in a minor key.
This chart will show you the sharps and flats in every major key:
Finding the Key of a Song with Accidentals #3: Final Thoughts
“How do I find the key of a song with accidentals?” To summarize if you have sheet music:
- Use the key signature tips and the major keys chart in the links in the previous section to help you find the song’s key.
- Once you know the key of the song, any leftover sharps, flats, and naturals will be your accidentals.
If you don’t have sheet music:
- Collect the song’s accidentals by ear.
- See if they fit in one key.
- Then, you can use this information to help you better understand the song.
Have fun playing!
Related Posts
- Changing Keys in Your Songwriting
- What Purpose Do Accidentals Serve in Reading Sheet Music?
- D’you Want Some Music Tips and Tricks I’ve Learned Over the Years?
- Can Someone Explain Roman Numeral Analysis in Layman’s Terms for Me? (Part 1)
© 2023 Geoffrey Keith
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