Key signature names and translations
Encyclopedia
When a particular musical key
or key signature
is not described in the English
language
, there are two main systems that are used instead:
To construct a key description, locate the note name from the pitch translation table and append a major/minor alteration from the lower table where required.
{|
|- valign="top"
|
{| class="wikitable"
|+Pitch translation table
|-
! colspan="4" | alphabetic
systems || colspan="5" | solmization
systems
|-
! English || German || Dutch || Japanese || Italian || French || Spanish || Russian || Romanian
|-
|C ||C || C || ハ (ha) ||Do ||Do (Ut) ||Do || До || Do
|-
|C sharp ||Cis || Cis || 嬰ハ (ei-ha) ||Do diesis ||Do dièse ||Do sostenido || До-диез || Do diez
|-
|C flat ||Ces || Ces || 変ハ (hen-ha) ||Do bemolle ||Do bémol ||Do bemol || До-бемоль || Do bemol
|-
|D ||D || D || ニ (ni) ||Re ||Ré || Re || Ре || Re
|-
|D sharp ||Dis || Dis || 嬰ニ (ei-ni) ||Re diesis ||Ré dièse ||Re sostenido || Ре-диез || Re diez
|-
|D flat ||Des || Des || 変ニ (hen-ni) ||Re bemolle ||Ré bémol ||Re bemol || Ре-бемоль || Re bemol
|-
|E ||E || E || ホ (ho) ||Mi ||Mi ||Mi || Ми || Mi
|-
|E sharp ||Eis || Eis || 嬰ホ (ei-ho) ||Mi diesis ||Mi dièse ||Mi sostenido || Ми-диез || Mi diez
|-
|E flat ||Es || Es || 変ホ (hen-ho) ||Mi bemolle ||Mi bémol ||Mi bemol || Ми-бемоль || Mi bemol
|-
|F ||F || F || ヘ (he) ||Fa ||Fa ||Fa || Фа || Fa
|-
|F sharp ||Fis || Fis || 嬰ヘ (ei-he) ||Fa diesis ||Fa dièse ||Fa sostenido || Фа-диез || Fa diez
|-
|F flat ||Fes || Fes || 変ヘ (hen-he) ||Fa bemolle ||Fa bémol ||Fa bemol || Фа-бемоль || Fa bemol
|-
|G ||G || G || ト (to) ||Sol ||Sol ||Sol || Соль || Sol
|-
|G sharp ||Gis || Gis || 嬰ト (ei-to) ||Sol diesis ||Sol dièse ||Sol sostenido ||Соль-диез || Sol diez
|-
|G flat ||Ges || Ges || 変ト (hen-to) ||Sol bemolle ||Sol bémol ||Sol bemol || Соль-бемоль || Sol bemol
|-
|A ||A || A || イ (i) ||La ||La ||La || Ля || La
|-
|A sharp ||Ais || Ais || 嬰イ (ei-i) ||La diesis ||La dièse ||La sostenido || Ля-диез || La diez
|-
|A flat ||As || As || 変イ (hen-i) ||La bemolle ||La bémol ||La bemol || Ля-бемоль || La bemol
|-
|B ||H || B || ロ (ro) ||Si ||Si ||Si || Си || Si
|-
|B sharp ||His || Bis || 嬰ロ (ei-ro) ||Si diesis ||Si dièse ||Si sostenido || Си-диез || Si diez
|-
|B flat ||B || Bes || 変ロ (hen-ro) ||Si bemolle ||Si bémol ||Si bemol || Си-бемоль || Si bemol
|}
{|
|- valign="top"
|
{| class="wikitable"
|+Major/minor alteration
|-
! English || German || Dutch || Japanese || Italian || French || Spanish || Russian || Romanian
|-
| major || Dur || groot|| 長調 (chōchō) || maggiore || majeur || mayor || мажор || major
|-
| minor || Moll || klein || 短調 (tanchō) || minore || mineur || menor || минор || minor
|}
|}
Note that the 'major' alteration is usually superfluous, as a key description missing an alteration is invariably assumed to be major.
In the German notation scheme, a hyphen
is added between the pitch and the alteration (D-Dur). Minor key signatures are written with a lower case letter (d-Moll).
In the Russian notation scheme, a hyphen
is also added between the pitch and the alteration, usually with no distinction made between the upper and lower cases of the letters (ре-мажор, ре-минор).
For example, to describe Bach's
Mass in B minor one could use:
Key (music)
In music theory, the term key is used in many different and sometimes contradictory ways. A common use is to speak of music as being "in" a specific key, such as in the key of C major or in the key of F-sharp. Sometimes the terms "major" or "minor" are appended, as in the key of A minor or in the...
or key signature
Key signature
In musical notation, a key signature is a series of sharp or flat symbols placed on the staff, designating notes that are to be consistently played one semitone higher or lower than the equivalent natural notes unless otherwise altered with an accidental...
is not described in the English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
language
Language
Language may refer either to the specifically human capacity for acquiring and using complex systems of communication, or to a specific instance of such a system of complex communication...
, there are two main systems that are used instead:
- Fixed do solmizationSolfegeIn music, solfège is a pedagogical solmization technique for the teaching of sight-singing in which each note of the score is sung to a special syllable, called a solfège syllable...
- used in ItalianItalian languageItalian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
, FrenchFrench languageFrench is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
(also in Belgium), SpanishSpanish languageSpanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
and RussianRussian languageRussian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...
key references. - German key notation - used in GermanGerman languageGerman is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
and DutchDutch languageDutch is a West Germanic language and the native language of the majority of the population of the Netherlands, Belgium, and Suriname, the three member states of the Dutch Language Union. Most speakers live in the European Union, where it is a first language for about 23 million and a second...
(i.e. Holland, not in FlandersFlandersFlanders is the community of the Flemings but also one of the institutions in Belgium, and a geographical region located in parts of present-day Belgium, France and the Netherlands. "Flanders" can also refer to the northern part of Belgium that contains Brussels, Bruges, Ghent and Antwerp...
, where the French solmization system is used) key references.
To construct a key description, locate the note name from the pitch translation table and append a major/minor alteration from the lower table where required.
{|
|- valign="top"
|
{| class="wikitable"
|+Pitch translation table
|-
! colspan="4" | alphabetic
systems || colspan="5" | solmization
systems
|-
! English || German || Dutch || Japanese || Italian || French || Spanish || Russian || Romanian
|-
|C ||C || C || ハ (ha) ||Do ||Do (Ut) ||Do || До || Do
|-
|C sharp ||Cis || Cis || 嬰ハ (ei-ha) ||Do diesis ||Do dièse ||Do sostenido || До-диез || Do diez
|-
|C flat ||Ces || Ces || 変ハ (hen-ha) ||Do bemolle ||Do bémol ||Do bemol || До-бемоль || Do bemol
|-
|D ||D || D || ニ (ni) ||Re ||Ré || Re || Ре || Re
|-
|D sharp ||Dis || Dis || 嬰ニ (ei-ni) ||Re diesis ||Ré dièse ||Re sostenido || Ре-диез || Re diez
|-
|D flat ||Des || Des || 変ニ (hen-ni) ||Re bemolle ||Ré bémol ||Re bemol || Ре-бемоль || Re bemol
|-
|E ||E || E || ホ (ho) ||Mi ||Mi ||Mi || Ми || Mi
|-
|E sharp ||Eis || Eis || 嬰ホ (ei-ho) ||Mi diesis ||Mi dièse ||Mi sostenido || Ми-диез || Mi diez
|-
|E flat ||Es || Es || 変ホ (hen-ho) ||Mi bemolle ||Mi bémol ||Mi bemol || Ми-бемоль || Mi bemol
|-
|F ||F || F || ヘ (he) ||Fa ||Fa ||Fa || Фа || Fa
|-
|F sharp ||Fis || Fis || 嬰ヘ (ei-he) ||Fa diesis ||Fa dièse ||Fa sostenido || Фа-диез || Fa diez
|-
|F flat ||Fes || Fes || 変ヘ (hen-he) ||Fa bemolle ||Fa bémol ||Fa bemol || Фа-бемоль || Fa bemol
|-
|G ||G || G || ト (to) ||Sol ||Sol ||Sol || Соль || Sol
|-
|G sharp ||Gis || Gis || 嬰ト (ei-to) ||Sol diesis ||Sol dièse ||Sol sostenido ||Соль-диез || Sol diez
|-
|G flat ||Ges || Ges || 変ト (hen-to) ||Sol bemolle ||Sol bémol ||Sol bemol || Соль-бемоль || Sol bemol
|-
|A ||A || A || イ (i) ||La ||La ||La || Ля || La
|-
|A sharp ||Ais || Ais || 嬰イ (ei-i) ||La diesis ||La dièse ||La sostenido || Ля-диез || La diez
|-
|A flat ||As || As || 変イ (hen-i) ||La bemolle ||La bémol ||La bemol || Ля-бемоль || La bemol
|-
|B ||H || B || ロ (ro) ||Si ||Si ||Si || Си || Si
|-
|B sharp ||His || Bis || 嬰ロ (ei-ro) ||Si diesis ||Si dièse ||Si sostenido || Си-диез || Si diez
|-
|B flat ||B || Bes || 変ロ (hen-ro) ||Si bemolle ||Si bémol ||Si bemol || Си-бемоль || Si bemol
|}
{|
|- valign="top"
|
{| class="wikitable"
|+Major/minor alteration
|-
! English || German || Dutch || Japanese || Italian || French || Spanish || Russian || Romanian
|-
| major || Dur || groot|| 長調 (chōchō) || maggiore || majeur || mayor || мажор || major
|-
| minor || Moll || klein || 短調 (tanchō) || minore || mineur || menor || минор || minor
|}
|}
Note that the 'major' alteration is usually superfluous, as a key description missing an alteration is invariably assumed to be major.
In the German notation scheme, a hyphen
Hyphen
The hyphen is a punctuation mark used to join words and to separate syllables of a single word. The use of hyphens is called hyphenation. The hyphen should not be confused with dashes , which are longer and have different uses, or with the minus sign which is also longer...
is added between the pitch and the alteration (D-Dur). Minor key signatures are written with a lower case letter (d-Moll).
In the Russian notation scheme, a hyphen
Hyphen
The hyphen is a punctuation mark used to join words and to separate syllables of a single word. The use of hyphens is called hyphenation. The hyphen should not be confused with dashes , which are longer and have different uses, or with the minus sign which is also longer...
is also added between the pitch and the alteration, usually with no distinction made between the upper and lower cases of the letters (ре-мажор, ре-минор).
For example, to describe Bach's
Johann Sebastian Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach was a German composer, organist, harpsichordist, violist, and violinist whose sacred and secular works for choir, orchestra, and solo instruments drew together the strands of the Baroque period and brought it to its ultimate maturity...
Mass in B minor one could use:
- B minor (English)
- h-Moll (German)
- b (klein) (Dutch)
- ロ短調 (Ro tanchō) (Japanese)
- Si minore (Italian)
- Si mineur (French)
- Si menor (Spanish)
- Си-минор (Russian)
- Si minor (Romanian)