Riff using a key signature

Key Signatures and Sharp Notes

Example 2 of this section is our first look at a key signature.

Previously, we encountered sharps and needed that little hashtag to indicate where to play the sharp note. The key signature conveys this information at the beginning of the piece.

Importance of Key Signatures

• It's advisable to use key signatures if every note we're playing is a sharp.
• For instance, if every note in F is actually F sharp, it seems unnecessary to write the sharp symbol in front of every single note.
• Instead, we place it at the start of the music, indicating that every note represented as F will be F sharp, unless a natural sign appears to indicate otherwise.

Example Breakdown

In this example:

• In the first bar, we see F sharp leading to E.
• The F note does not have a sharp in front of it because the key signature at the start, placed between the treble clef and the time signature, indicates that F is sharpened.

Rhythm and Playing Technique

This example is quite straightforward in terms of rhythms:

• We have quarter notes at the second fret on the E string for our F sharp.
• This F is an upper semitone, thus F sharp.
• There's a repetition of this for three bars.

Key Points to Watch

• At the end, in the last bar, we have an open E that lasts for two beats.
• It's a half note followed by a half note rest, so we need to be mindful of cutting that note short.

Technique Reminder

• To execute this, we can use the palm to stop the note dead by resting our palm on the string.

Practice with Backing Track

Let's give this a go, nice and slowly, before we try it with the backing track.

Count with me:

1, 2, 3, 4.
1, 2, 3, 4.