KEY SIGNATURE ESSENTIALS

The HDpiano Handbook

A supplement for the video

resource at HDpiano.com
 Click on a key to navigate to the corresponding page:
Find the four chords of pop in any key by mentally moving the blue shape around the circle.

= Number of Flats
= Number of Sharps

2 2
3 3

4 1 1 4

5 5

(LH) (RH)

Left Right
Hand Hand

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G LO SSA RY
You can use this glossary to brush up on some of the terms you might encounter
throughout the video resource at HDpiano.com or in this document.

ARPEGGIO: Adjacent chord tones played in quick succession, up or down the keyboard.

BPM: Beats-per-minute, used to indicate tempo or speed.

CHORD: A collection of notes played together, usually derived from a particular scale or tonality.

CIRCLE OF FIFTHS: The distribution of all twelve keys in a circle so that every consecutive pitch is a perfect
fifth (seven half steps) above the last (when moving clockwise). In this order, only one note changes at a
time from one tonality to the next.

DIATONIC: Harmony or melody derived from the seven notes of the predominant tonality, most often the
major scale.

FLAT ( ): A symbol used to indicate lowering a tone by a half step (semi-tone).

HARMONY: The functional relationship of chords, melodies, and tonal centers in a piece of music.

INVERSION: A re-ordering of the notes in a chord so that each note of the chord moves up or down to the
next available chord tone. For chords less than one octave, this is easily achieved by moving an exterior
note by one octave to the other side of the chord, up or down.

KEY SIGNATURE: A collection of sharps or flats used to indicate the tonal center of a piece of music.

MAJOR SCALE: A pillar of Western harmony, the major scale is a seven-note scale comprised of the
following intervals: W, W, H, W, W, W, H. (W: Whole Step, H: Half Step).

PARALLEL (SCALE): Generally used to refer to a scale starting from the same root. The parallel major of
A Minor is A Major, as opposed to the relative major which is C Major.

PENTATONIC SCALE: A five-note scale derived from the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 5th, and 6th degrees of the major scale.

PROGRESSION: An arrangement or order of chords, often seen in loops of 4 or 8 measures.

RELATIVE MINOR: A darker, ‘sister’ tonality with a root three half steps (a minor third) below the root of a
major tonality. Playing a scale from the relative minor (using the same notes as the major scale but starting
on the major scale’s 6th degree), yields the Natural Minor Scale.

SHARP ( ): A symbol used to indicate raising a tone by a half step (semi-tone).

STEP: An ascending or descending shift in pitch to a neighboring note. A half step is the smallest possible
interval on the keyboard, while a whole step is two half steps.

TRIAD: A three-note chord comprised of the root, 3rd, and 5th.

VOICE LEADING: The intentional use of inversions and register to connect successive chords
via shared chord tones.

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