The Language of Keys Trivia Quiz

Answer: F minor

French and Italian key nomenclatures both rely on a fixed-do system, where C is do or ut, D is ré or re, E is mi, etc. Fa is F, a fourth away from Do (C). Mineur is French for minor.

Answer: Three

French-English translation: Mi = E, bémol = flat, and majeur = major. The key of Eb major has three flats.

Music for wind ensemble is often written in flat keys, as the instruments have an easier time playing therein (for reasons I need not go into here). Many of the "dreamier" or more "beautiful" works for solo piano - nocturnes, impromptus, etc. by Mendelssohn, Chopin, Schubert, Fauré and Scriabin - also appear frequently in the flat keys of Eb, Ab, Db, and Gb.

Answer: German-English

Yes, H is a German note name: it means B. Moll means minor in German, and comes from the Latin word meaning "soft," referring to the rounded or "soft" contour of the flat sign. This contrasts with dur (major), from the Latin durum (hard), referring to the sharp edges of the natural and sharp signs.

Note the conventional usage of lowercase letters for minor keys, capital letters for major keys, and the hyphen between the letter name and the quality (major or minor) of the key.

Answer: Bb major

Since H in German translates to B in English, German B of course must refer to English Bb. I try not to think about it too much - I just memorize the facts and use them when they're needed. German "dur" = English "major".

Bb is another very common key for military and marching bands and wind ensembles. In fact, none of my students can play in sharp keys, as their band experiences have permanently entrenched flats into the very cores of their musical beings.

Answer: Four

C# minor is the relative minor of E major, and has four sharps.

In German, adding "is" to the key letter makes it sharp: cis-moll = C# minor. Compare this to the French equivalent: ut dièse mineur. The German word for the sharp SIGN (#) is "Kreuz."

Answer: Studies in A major

La is a not only a lovely syllable to sing when you don't know the words, it is also the syllable denoting A, the sixth note from do (C) in the fixed-do system of keys. Therefore, Italian la maggiore = English A major, which has three sharps: F#, C#, and G#.

In a movable-do system (sometimes used for singing, but not to name scales or keys of pieces), do becomes the tonic note of whatever key you are singing in. For example, if your piece was in A major, and you wanted to sing syllables using movable-do, you would assign the syllables as follows: A = do, B = re, C# = mi, D = fa, etc. Composer Percy Grainger wrote a piece called "The Immovable Do," but that is another story.

Answer: The key of ut majeur has no sharps and no flats

French ut = Italian do = English C. One of my theory teachers always referred to C major as "The People's Key of C Major," since the lack of sharps or flats supposedly makes music in this key simpler to analyze and perform.

Answer: G# minor

The Italian word for sharp is "diesis," and flat is "bemolle," but these are not usually written out when naming keys: the Italian convention for written text is to use the symbols b (flat) and # (sharp), so sol# minore is G# minor, which has a manageable five sharps (not counting leading-tone and submediant inflections).

The key of E# minor is essentially an impossibility (you would need an F double-sharp in the signature); its enharmonic equivalent, F minor, is much more practical, having a mere four flats.

Answer: D# minor

French-English translation: Ré = D, dièse = sharp, mineur = minor. D# minor has six sharps, plus leading-tone and submediant inflections - not easy to play. An alternative would be to think in the enharmonic key of Eb minor, and use naturals for raised sixths and sevenths.

Answer: Six

A Konzertstück is a concert piece.

German Ges-dur = English Gb major = six flats. To flatten a note in German, add the letters "es" after the note name. If the note name is a vowel, just add "s". The final exception, remember, is Bb: English Bb is German B, and English B is German H. Two more examples: As-moll = Ab minor, Des-dur = Db major. The German word for the flat SIGN is "Be."

The first four flats in a flat key signature spell out the word BEAD. The flats proceed in fourths, so to get the next three, just continue on up in fourths: G,C, and F.