Father Charles Goes Down And Ends Battle

Knowing which notes belong to a key is one of the most useful things a guitarist can know. It's what lets you find a key's degrees on the neck, build its chords, and stay in key when you solo. You can work those notes out with the circle of fifths — and one handy sentence makes it quicker still.

The circle tells you how many sharps or flats a key has: count the steps from C. The sentence tells you which. Father Charles Goes Down And Ends Battle gives you the sharps of every major key in order; read it backwards and it gives you the flats. Add one rule for where to stop, and you can work out any key's notes in your head.

1. The order never changes

Every major key is the same pattern of steps started on a different note, and to keep that pattern some letters have to be raised or lowered. Which ones is never a free choice. Sharps are always added in the order F♯ C♯ G♯ D♯ A♯ E♯ B♯, and flats in the order B♭ E♭ A♭ D♭ G♭ C♭ F♭. A key with three sharps always has the first three — F♯, C♯ and G♯ — and never any other three.

The flats sentence is the sharps sentence backwards, word for word — because the order of flats is the order of sharps backwards. One sentence, read in two directions.

2. Sharps or flats?

First decide which sentence you need. The key's name tells you:

• A ♭ in the name — B♭, E♭, A♭, D♭, G♭, C♭ — means flats. So does F, the one flat key with a plain name.
• C has neither.
• Every other key — G, D, A, E, B, F♯, C♯ — takes sharps.

3. Sharp keys: stop a half step below the name

A sharp key's last sharp is always the note a half step below the key's own name: its 7th, the note that leads back home. So say the sharps sentence until you reach that note, and stop.

In F♯ major the note a half step below the name is E♯. On the guitar that's the same fret as F, but a key uses each letter once, and F♯ already has the F — so the 7th is spelled with an E. That's why the sentence has an E♯ in it at all.

4. Flat keys: the second-to-last flat is the name

In a flat key, the second-to-last flat is the key's own name. So say the flats sentence until you reach the name — then say one more.

F major is the one exception. It has a single flat, B♭, so there's no second-to-last flat to look for. It's the one to simply know: one flat, B♭.

5. Try it with any key

Pick a key and follow the rule through, word by word.

6. Why it works: it's the circle of fifths

Go round the circle of fifths from C and every step clockwise adds one sharp, every step counter-clockwise one flat. D is two steps clockwise, so it has two sharps; E♭ is three steps the other way, so three flats. Read the circle clockwise starting from F and the letters come round as F C G D A E B — Father Charles. Read it counter-clockwise from B♭ and you get B♭ E♭ A♭ D♭ G♭ — Battle Ends And Down Goes.

Each step also changes exactly one note, and that's where the two stopping rules come from. Step up a fifth, from C to G, and only F changes — up to F♯, which is G's 7th, a half step below G. Every sharp key gets its newest sharp that way, so its last sharp is always a half step below its name. Step down a fifth, from C to F, and only B changes — down to B♭, and the next key down is named after that very flat: B♭ major, which in turn adds E♭. So a flat key's name is always the flat just before its newest one — the second-to-last.

The key quiz draws this walk round the circle whenever you miss a note.

7. Same sound, two spellings

Near the bottom of the circle, three pairs of keys sound exactly alike but are spelled differently: B major (5 sharps) and C♭ major (7 flats), F♯ major (6 sharps) and G♭ major (6 flats), C♯ major (7 sharps) and D♭ major (5 flats). Each pair adds up to twelve. On the guitar you play them in the same places. In print you'll mostly meet the spelling with fewer accidentals — B rather than C♭, D♭ rather than C♯ — while F♯ and G♭ both turn up.

Quick recap

• Sharps arrive in the order F♯ C♯ G♯ D♯ A♯ E♯ B♯: Father Charles Goes Down And Ends Battle.
• Flats arrive in the reverse order, B♭ E♭ A♭ D♭ G♭ C♭ F♭: Battle Ends And Down Goes Charles's Father.
• A ♭ in the name, or F, means flats. C has none. Every other key has sharps.
• Sharp keys: the last sharp is a half step below the name.
• Flat keys: the second-to-last flat is the name. F major just has B♭.