Key signature · 7♭
C♭ major key signature and A♭ minor
C♭ major and its relative minor, A♭ minor, share a key signature of seven flats: B♭, E♭, A♭, D♭, G♭, C♭ and F♭. B major sounds exactly the same with five sharps.
- Flats7
- WhichB♭ E♭ A♭ D♭ G♭ C♭ F♭
- Relative minorA♭ minor
- Home chordC♭–E♭–G♭
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, C♭ on the third space and F♭ on the bottom space. In the bass clef the same flats appear, in the same order, on the bass staff’s B, E, A, D, G, C and F.
Each one changes that letter everywhere in the piece, in every octave and on both staves: in C♭ major, every B, E, A, D, G, C and F is flat, though no sign is written beside the note.
How to recognise it quickly
Look at the second-to-last flat: C♭. That’s the name of the major key, C♭ major. For the minor key, go down three half steps: A♭ minor.
Flats always come in the same order, so seven flats are always B♭, E♭, A♭, D♭, G♭, C♭ and F♭:
- B♭
- E♭
- A♭
- D♭
- G♭
- C♭
- F♭
Battle Ends And Down Goes Charles’ Father: the order of flats, the order of sharps backwards.
The C♭ major scale
C♭ – D♭ – E♭ – F♭ – G♭ – A♭ – B♭ – C♭. On the piano that’s five black keys (D♭, E♭, G♭, A♭ and B♭) and two white (C♭ and F♭). C♭ and F♭ are played on white keys (C♭ is B and F♭ is E), but spelt that way so every letter appears once. Its home chord is C♭–E♭–G♭.
More on this key: the B major scale with fingering · the B major chord
A♭ minor, the relative minor
A♭ minor uses the same seven flats, starting from A♭, the sixth note of C♭ major: A♭ – B♭ – C♭ – D♭ – E♭ – F♭ – G♭ – A♭. That’s the natural minor scale. Its home chord is A♭–C♭–E♭.
Pieces in A♭ minor usually raise the seventh note, G♭, to G (the harmonic minor), so it leads up to A♭. That G 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 A♭ minor rather than C♭ major. Pieces also often begin or end on A♭ or its chord.
More on this key: G♯ minor natural minor · G♯ minor harmonic minor · the G♯ minor chord
Music in C♭ major and A♭ minor
C♭ major is rare: music that sounds in it is nearly always written in B major (five sharps), which is easier to read.
A♭ minor is rare too: it’s usually written as G♯ minor (five sharps).
On the circle of fifths
One flat fewer is G♭ major, a fifth higher. Keys next to each other on the circle of fifths share all but one note, which is why music in C♭ major moves to them most easily. At this point the circle wraps round: C♭ major and B major are the same keys on the piano, written with seven flats or five 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).
The quiz needs JavaScript.
Questions
How many flats are in C♭ major?
Seven flats: B♭, E♭, A♭, D♭, G♭, C♭ and F♭. Every B, E, A, D, G, C and F in the piece is played flat, in every octave, unless an accidental says otherwise.
What is the relative minor of C♭ major?
A♭ minor. It shares the key signature (seven flats (B♭, E♭, A♭, D♭, G♭, C♭ and F♭)) and starts on the sixth note of the C♭ major scale, three half steps below C♭.
What are the notes of the C♭ major scale?
C♭, D♭, E♭, F♭, G♭, A♭, B♭, C♭.
Which key has seven flats?
C♭ major and its relative minor, A♭ minor. B major (five sharps) sounds the same, spelt differently.
How do you recognise the C♭ major key signature quickly?
Look at the second-to-last flat: C♭. That’s the name of the major key, C♭ major. For the minor key, go down three half steps: A♭ 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.