Key signature · 6♭
G♭ major key signature and E♭ minor
G♭ major and its relative minor, E♭ minor, share a key signature of six flats: B♭, E♭, A♭, D♭, G♭ and C♭. F♯ major sounds exactly the same with six sharps.
- Flats6
- WhichB♭ E♭ A♭ D♭ G♭ C♭
- Relative minorE♭ minor
- Home chordG♭–B♭–D♭
The key signature
The flats come right after the clef, on every line of music. In the treble clef: B♭ on the middle line, E♭ on the top space, A♭ on the second space, D♭ on the fourth line, G♭ on the second line and C♭ on the third space. In the bass clef the same flats appear, in the same order, on the bass staff’s B, E, A, D, G and C.
Each one changes that letter everywhere in the piece, in every octave and on both staves: in G♭ major, every B, E, A, D, G and C is flat, though no sign is written beside the note.
How to recognise it quickly
Look at the second-to-last flat: G♭. That’s the name of the major key, G♭ major. For the minor key, go down three half steps: E♭ minor.
Flats always come in the same order, so six flats are always B♭, E♭, A♭, D♭, G♭ and C♭:
- B♭
- E♭
- A♭
- D♭
- G♭
- C♭
- F♭
Battle Ends And Down Goes Charles’ Father: the order of flats, the order of sharps backwards.
The G♭ major scale
G♭ – A♭ – B♭ – C♭ – D♭ – E♭ – F – G♭. On the piano that’s five black keys (G♭, A♭, B♭, D♭ and E♭) and two white (C♭ and F). C♭ is played on a white key (C♭ is B), but spelt that way so every letter appears once. Its home chord is G♭–B♭–D♭.
More on this key: the G♭ major scale with fingering · the G♭ major chord
E♭ minor, the relative minor
E♭ minor uses the same six flats, starting from E♭, the sixth note of G♭ major: E♭ – F – G♭ – A♭ – B♭ – C♭ – D♭ – E♭. That’s the natural minor scale. Its home chord is E♭–G♭–B♭.
Pieces in E♭ minor usually raise the seventh note, D♭, to D (the harmonic minor), so it leads up to E♭. That D is written as an accidental, not in the key signature: the natural beside the note is often the quickest clue that a piece is in E♭ minor rather than G♭ major. Pieces also often begin or end on E♭ or its chord.
More on this key: E♭ minor natural minor · E♭ minor harmonic minor · the E♭ minor chord
Music in G♭ major and E♭ minor
Chopin’s Black Key Étude (Op. 10 No. 5), where the right hand plays almost only black keys, and Schubert’s Impromptu D. 899 No. 3 are in G♭ major.
Chopin’s Étude Op. 10 No. 6 is in E♭ minor.
On the circle of fifths
One flat fewer is D♭ major, a fifth higher; one flat more is C♭ major, a fifth lower. Keys next to each other on the circle of fifths share all but one note, which is why music in G♭ major moves to them most easily. At this point the circle wraps round: G♭ major and F♯ major are the same keys on the piano, written with six flats or six sharps.
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 flats are in G♭ major?
Six flats: B♭, E♭, A♭, D♭, G♭ and C♭. Every B, E, A, D, G and C in the piece is played flat, in every octave, unless an accidental says otherwise.
What is the relative minor of G♭ major?
E♭ minor. It shares the key signature (six flats (B♭, E♭, A♭, D♭, G♭ and C♭)) and starts on the sixth note of the G♭ major scale, three half steps below G♭.
What are the notes of the G♭ major scale?
G♭, A♭, B♭, C♭, D♭, E♭, F, G♭.
Which key has six flats?
G♭ major and its relative minor, E♭ minor. F♯ major (six sharps) sounds the same, spelt differently.
How do you recognise the G♭ major key signature quickly?
Look at the second-to-last flat: G♭. That’s the name of the major key, G♭ major. For the minor key, go down three half steps: E♭ 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.