Key signature · 2♯
D major key signature and B minor
D major and its relative minor, B minor, share a key signature of two sharps: F♯ and C♯.
- Sharps2
- WhichF♯ C♯
- Relative minorB minor
- Home chordD–F♯–A
The key signature
The sharps come right after the clef, on every line of music. In the treble clef: F♯ on the top line and C♯ on the third space. In the bass clef the same sharps appear, in the same order, on the bass staff’s F and C.
Each one changes that letter everywhere in the piece, in every octave and on both staves: in D major, every F and C is sharp, though no sign is written beside the note.
How to recognise it quickly
Look at the last sharp, the one furthest right: C♯. The major key is a half step above it: D major. For the minor key, go down three half steps from there: B minor.
Sharps always come in the same order, so two sharps are always F♯ and C♯:
- F♯
- C♯
- G♯
- D♯
- A♯
- E♯
- B♯
Father Charles Goes Down And Ends Battle: the order of sharps, and backwards, the order of flats.
The D major scale
D – E – F♯ – G – A – B – C♯ – D. On the piano that’s two black keys (F♯ and C♯) and five white (D, E, G, A and B). Its home chord is D–F♯–A.
More on this key: the D major scale with fingering · the D major chord
B minor, the relative minor
B minor uses the same two sharps, starting from B, the sixth note of D major: B – C♯ – D – E – F♯ – G – A – B. That’s the natural minor scale. Its home chord is B–D–F♯.
Pieces in B minor usually raise the seventh note, A, to A♯ (the harmonic minor), so it leads up to B. That A♯ is written as an accidental, not in the key signature: the sharp beside the note is often the quickest clue that a piece is in B minor rather than D major. Pieces also often begin or end on B or its chord.
More on this key: B minor natural minor · B minor harmonic minor · the B minor chord
Music in D major and B minor
Pachelbel’s Canon is in D major.
Chopin’s Prelude Op. 28 No. 6, with the melody in the left hand, is in B minor.
On the circle of fifths
One sharp more is A major, a fifth higher; one sharp fewer is G major, a fifth lower. Keys next to each other on the circle of fifths share all but one note, which is why music in D major moves to them most easily.
D minor, with the same home note but a minor scale, has a different key signature: one flat, the same as F major.
Quiz: name the key signature
Ten key signatures in the treble or bass clef, from all fifteen. Choose the key, or play its home note on the piano below, a MIDI keyboard or your computer keys (any octave).
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Questions
How many sharps are in D major?
Two sharps: F♯ and C♯. Every F and C in the piece is played sharp, in every octave, unless an accidental says otherwise.
What is the relative minor of D major?
B minor. It shares the key signature (two sharps (F♯ and C♯)) and starts on the sixth note of the D major scale, three half steps below D.
What are the notes of the D major scale?
D, E, F♯, G, A, B, C♯, D.
Which key has two sharps?
D major and its relative minor, B minor.
How do you recognise the D major key signature quickly?
Look at the last sharp, the one furthest right: C♯. The major key is a half step above it: D major. For the minor key, go down three half steps from there: B minor.
Keys, one at a time
Pianomi, a free sight-reading app for piano, brings in key signatures one at a time and notices when you play a note as if the key signature weren’t there.