Key signature · 1♯
G major key signature and E minor
G major and its relative minor, E minor, share a key signature of one sharp: F♯.
- Sharps1
- WhichF♯
- Relative minorE minor
- Home chordG–B–D
The key signature
The sharps come right after the clef, on every line of music. In the treble clef: F♯ on the top line. In the bass clef the same sharps appear, in the same order, on the bass staff’s F.
Each one changes that letter everywhere in the piece, in every octave and on both staves: in G major, every F is sharp, though no sign is written beside the note.
How to recognise it quickly
Look at the last sharp, the one furthest right: F♯. The major key is a half step above it: G major. For the minor key, go down three half steps from there: E minor.
Sharps always come in the same order, so one sharp is always F♯:
- 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 G major scale
G – A – B – C – D – E – F♯ – G. On the piano that’s one black key (F♯) and six white (G, A, B, C, D and E). 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 one sharp, 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 sharp 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
The Minuet in G from the Notebook for Anna Magdalena Bach, a first piece for many students, is in G major.
Chopin’s Prelude Op. 28 No. 4, with its slowly sinking left-hand chords, is in E minor.
On the circle of fifths
One sharp more is D major, a fifth higher; one sharp fewer 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.
G minor, with the same home note but a minor scale, has a different key signature: two flats, the same as B♭ 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 G major?
One sharp: F♯. Every F in the piece is played sharp, in every octave, unless an accidental says otherwise.
What is the relative minor of G major?
E minor. It shares the key signature (one sharp (F♯)) 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 one sharp?
G major and its relative minor, E minor.
How do you recognise the G major key signature quickly?
Look at the last sharp, the one furthest right: F♯. The major key is a half step above it: G major. For the minor key, go down three half steps from there: 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.