If you start at the top of the circle of fifths and work your way around clockwise, the scales and their key signatures are as follows: Key Signatures of Major Scales with Sharps The circle of fifths puts the scales in increasing order of accidentals. When talking about scales and key signatures, most musicians like to organize and represent the scales on the circle of fifths. The key signature shows which sharps or flats are in each scale. Key Signatures of Major ScalesĮach major scale has its own key signature. So I like to mentally save F# for my list of minor scales, and therefore use G flat for my list of major scales. When you start practicing minor scales, you'll learn that there is no Gb minor scale, but there is an F# minor scale. But I like to focus on the G flat major scale. Enharmonic Scales F sharp Major and G flat Majorīoth have the same number of accidentals, so neither one wins over the other in terms of simplicity. It has 5 flats, while the C sharp major scale has 7 sharps. Again, this is because the D flat major scale is generally considered easier to notate and read. Many musicians practice the D flat major scale instead of the C sharp major scale. Enharmonic Scales D flat Major and C sharp Major This is because the B major scale has 5 sharps, which is generally considered easier to notate and read than the 7 flats in the C flat major scale. Many musicians practice the B major scale instead of the C flat major scale.

So from each of the 3 enharmonic pairings, which scale should you pick for your scales practice routine? Enharmonic Scales C flat Major and B Major After all, they're identical on the keyboard, so if your fingers can play one, they can also play the other. There are some situations where one or the other will be more musically appropriate to the piece of music.īut when it comes to scales practice, we tend to pick one of the 2 to practice. When composing music, there are reasons why it's useful to have both key signatures of an enharmonic pairing. There are 3 pairs of enharmonic scales or key signatures. This means they have different names and they are notated differently on the music staff, but they look and sound the same on the piano. The reason we say there are 12 is because some of them are enharmonic.

But the truth is, there are actually 15 major scales! List of Major ScalesĮveryone talks about the 12 major scales. Using this formula, you can figure out any major scale, starting on any note.

F sharp major scale g flat major scale