Music notation glossary · Accidentals
Key signature
the accidentals at the start of the line
In the score
What it means
They stand between clef and time signature and apply to the whole piece, in every octave. Their order is fixed: sharps F C G D A E B, flats B E A D G C F.
Accidentals
One sharp at the start of the line — four raised notes in two registers
Right at the front, immediately after the clef, stands something that looks exactly the same and yet works differently: the key signature. It does not last until the barline but for the whole piece, in every octave and every bar — until a new key is written in.
The picture has a single sharp at the start. Four notes follow in two different registers, and all four sound raised although none of them carries a sign. That is the whole difference: an accidental inside the bar applies to one pitch until the barline, a key signature to one note name in every register.
Related pages
Anotona does this for you
Photograph a page of sheet music or play the melody — Anotona finds the key, engraves the notes and transposes them into any other. Free.
See AnotonaEvery note on this page is computed, not typed in — following the rule that also makes F# major spell its seventh degree E#, not F.