Brainlag Music

The key of an extract

Music theory, Harmony in a score, 12 minutes

Three clues that name the key of a printed extract, and how to tell a major key from its relative minor.

Three clues

One flat in the key signature, a C sharp that keeps returning, and a last chord of D minor

Three clues agree on the key: the key signature, an accidental that keeps returning, and the last chord.

Learn the three clues by heart

The key signature: it gives two possible keys, a major key and its relative minor.
An accidental that keeps returning: a raised 7th of the minor key (G sharp in A minor, for example) means the minor key.
The last chord: an extract almost always ends on its tonic chord, and often starts on it too.

The rest of this lesson and its 5 practice questions are in Brainlag Music Theory.

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