Major vs. minor key signatures

Now that we know a about what a key signature is, it can be helpful to learn a little more about how we use them. Here’s a video describing the difference between major and minor keys. If you prefer to read your content, here is a written summary of that video.

A key signature can represent one major key and one minor key.

For example, the key signature of one sharp (F#) can represent:

• G major, which uses this collection of notes…

  • G, A, B, C, D, E, F#, G, or

• E minor, which uses this collection of notes…

  • E, F#, G, A, B, C, D, E

You may notice that the keys of G major and E minor use the exact same collection of notes, just written in a different order. So how are we supposed to tell if a song is written in G major or E minor?

Here’s a helpful tip:

• Songs that are written in G major tend to sound happy and will usually start or end on the note G.

• Songs that are written in E minor tend to sound sad and will start or end on the note E.

Hope this helps!