Stratocaster4life
TDPRI Member

Is it a C# or Db?
First "F" I have ever received in theory.Sorry to grade so harshly
First "F" I have ever received in theory.
I'm just quoting what I was taught 45 years ago.
Things change.
I did, however, fail to mention relative minors which, of course, have the same signatures.
Ok. Thanks.Er, I meant F major![]()
D can be sharp in the keys of E major, B major, C# minor and G# minor and a couple oither keys. However in a key like C minor that has Eb as part of the scale, I can't see a situation where you would use D#.It's kind of weird that D is never sharp. E is flat. OTOH, you can have both F# and Gb in your musical language. C can be sharp and D can be flat. Traditions.
Aah, you know about the H! Not many people I've met in music know about it. I only know because my dad who taught me music came to the US from Europe in his 20s and was educated in their system. H is used in place of B in German and some Scandinavian countries. However a Bb is called B not H flat. Don't ask me whyBut C is really just H#, and Eb is H####
There is a key of C# major, but it is very rarely used. If you look up the circle iof 5ths in a harmony or theory book, it will show C# as well as Db, and F# as well as Gb. https://www.classicfm.com/discover-music/music-theory/what-is-the-circle-of-fifths/There is no key of C# major. Or were you just being facetious?
...nice lady sending me chord charts.
Got some gigs coming up, adding lead guitar and vocals to a former duo, now wanting to go out as a trio.
It shouldn't bother me, but it does. Cm is 3 flats -- Eb, Ab, Bb. The scale is C D Eb F G Ab Bb. Eb is right there. D#? Nope.
I stand corrected.There is a key of C# major, but it is very rarely used. If you look up the circle iof 5ths in a harmony or theory book, it will show C# as well as Db, and F# as well as Gb. https://www.classicfm.com/discover-music/music-theory/what-is-the-circle-of-fifths/
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I agree, don't think I've ever seen a piece written in C#. However a modulation to C# might happen on a rare occasion. I learned on piano too and I do remember seeing some compositions in B natural and Db. They were a bear to play, at least on piano. On guitar, probably easier to play in a key with a lot of sharps or flats for some reason.I stand corrected.
My theoretical education, such as it was, tended to be piano- centric and rarely used equalled frowned upon; or at least disliked by the majority.
Not sure how it would have been received if I had turned in a composition in the key of Cflat, for instance.
As per a previous post, a whole step modulation from Bmajor (5sharps) to C# major (7 sharps) makes sense in spite of the unwieldy signature.
So, um, excuse me...
Also some keys are more popular on guitar due to open strings or open position chords that are available on the guitarI've heard that the reason that some keys get used more than others is because guitar players like to play where the dots are on their necks more than in between the dots, lol. Maybe there's some truth to it.
G# minor would be most likely used because it is 5 sharps. But Ab minor, which is 7 flats could also be used. I follow the reasoning that if the guitar was detuned, the piece would be played with the fingerings and on the frets that would be a higher key on a standard tuned guitar, however the title of the piece would be in the key that it sounds in. However there are some exceptions. There are some orchestras that play Baroque music with old Baroque style instruments which are tuned lower than today's pitches and tunings. In those cases the pieces would be titled in the keys that existed in the 1600s which sound lower by today's standards,I hated it when people in a band start arguing over note and chord spellings. It wastes time and creates confusion.
Not everyone in the band is using the same spelling system. Sometimes SRV thinks he's in G, but it is sounding Gb or F# due to tuning. Yngwie, in his concerti, plays Am in his guitar fingerings, but the poor violinists' work is made more difficult and less sure when they have to play in Ab minor. When someone writes a concerto for detuned guitar and standard-tuned orchestra, how do you title the work? Concerto in Am or Concerto in Abm?