My personal favourite in a pneumonic for sharps and flats has the benefit of being reversible.
Order of sharps:
Father Charles Goes Down And Ends Battle (now reverse the pneumonic)
Order of Flats:
Battle Ends And Down Goes Charles Father
A further benefit with Battle Ends And Down Goes Charles Father is that the distance between each represented note in this pneumonic is a 4th (same as standard tuning), so it also gives you much of the layout of the actual notes on the fretboard for different strings.
Two rules to remember:
1 Moving from string 4 to 5 is a 3rd not a 4th, so move one fret higher to compensate.
2 On reaching the end of the pneumonic (Father) you need to move one fret higher before starting the pneumonic again.
Eg. Fret 2 on A String (string 2) is a B (Battle), next string down is E (Ends), next string down is A (And), next string is a third (g-b) so move up to fret 3 and continue the pneumonic, D (Down), next string is G (Goes).
Now you can easily find notes B E A D and G on frets 2 and 3.
Works all over the neck.
Fret 5 strings 6-1 A D G C (And Down Goes Charles). Charles is string 4 so F (Father) compensates up one fret on string 5. Strings 1 and 6 are the same note ie both Aās (And). Fret 5 string 5 ? Simple. Itās E (Ends And) or one semitone/fret up from F (Father). E comes before A (Ends And).
Donāt forget to double compensate at fret 10. Father is on string 4 . Down one fret for Father and one more to compensate for string 4 to 5.
Lay it out on a fretboard diagram to see how useful it can be.
Yep, in classical music thereās much more going on harmonically and melodically than in your regular 3 chord campfire ditty. Iām not a sight reading genius by any means, but as I slowly get familiar with standard notation, the conventions start to make more sense.
Here is my āpracticalā strayegy to remember the order of flats or sharps when I want to write the key signature on a staff: you are supposed to know your notes on your fretboard for the thickest 2 strings at this point, and as long as you can visualize a fretboard in your head you re good to go
FGAB (low E)
_CDE (A string)
For the flats: B E - A D - G C - F
For the sharps (itās reversed starting from the F): F - C G - D A - E B
Another tip: if you want to get sure if you didnāt forget a sharp/flat while writing or practicing your scale in general, remember this:
For the major scale
C 0
D +2
E +4
F -1
G +1
A +3
B +5
A positive number = number of sharpsāļø
A negative number = number of flatsāļø
If you want to move from a natural to a sharp in the major scale, you add 7
Examples:
C contains 0 sharps, C# major scale (0+7=+7) contains 7 sharps
F contains 1 flat, F# major scale (-1+7=+6) contains 6 sharps
From a natural to a flat in the major scale, you remove 7
Examples:
Cb contains 7 flats since 0-7=-7
B contains 5 sharps, Bb major scale contains 2 flats because 5-7=-2
There are some cases, when the addition or the soustraction gives us more than 7 (sharps or flats) , it gets tricky because double flats and sharps are used in that major scale.
An example to illustrate this:
G major scale contains 1 sharp, but G# major scale contains 1+7 = 8 sharps (in reality there 6 sharps + 1 double sharp)
The scale in this key is theoretical, and it s better to use the enharmonic equivalent of G# which is Ab (3-7=-4 there are 4 flats in the Ab major scale)
Nooo not yet, but from the look of it on google image, it looks waaaay more easier for someone who is accustomed to the circle.
I have just started studying theory recently, and since I find it hard to memorize mnemonic sentences, I prefered to apply what was taught previously and use what I already know on new stuff.
If those work for you then great, thanks for sharing some tips.
They are non conventional and look like they require a fair bit of memorisation or brain work. @Jozsef mentions the circle of fifths.
It has all the information you need in one easy to view reference guide.
It takes a little time to become familiar with it.
Allow me to introduce you to it here: The Circle of Fifths Part 1 - where does it come from?
I hope that helps.
Cheers
| Richard_close2u | JustinGuitar Official Guide, Approved Teacher & Moderator
If I look at this, I understand that certain keys have a specific number of sharps or flats.
But what does "The Order of (sharp / flat) tell me if Iāve memorized the what sharp and flat notes are in a key? Yeah - Iām now officially confused.
If you learn the order of sharps/flats and you know that the key you play in has e.g. 4 sharps/flats in the key signature, then youāll know you play in [insert the tonic] major and that the accidentals (sharps or flats) are on notes x, y, z, etc.
The goal is to āimmediatelyā know the notes/chords in a major key. This is possible if you know:
how many sharps / flats there are in a key
the order of the sharps / flats
which chords in a key are major (1-4-5), minor (2-3-6) and diminished (7)
Letās apply this to the key of B major. Itās a less common key, so chances are that you have to think about the chords in that key.
You have memorized that B major has 5 sharps.
You have memorized the order of the sharps, so you know that those 5 sharps are F#, C#, G#, D# and A#. The other notes are natural notes. So now we know the notes of the B major scale: B, C#, D#, E, F#, G#, A#
Now you just need to apply the chord quality to each note and youāll have your 7 diatonic chords: B major, C# minor, D# minor, E major, F# major, G# minor, A# diminished
Iām having an epiphany moment. Sorta off topic but Iām watching the Power Chord video in PMT Grade 3. Power chords: R and the 5th.
So me - looks at Circle of Fifths to find the Root and the 5th.
And then - it hits me while looking at the COF.
There it is - The Cato Key Diagrams in a circle minus the Cb and Fb)
The Relative Minors are offset (theory I donāt understand yet) but now that I see it - I canāt āunseeā it.
Wow! Cool. I can construct the Circle of Fifths using memonics.
Have a question about how to recognize the key using the number of sharps or flats on the staff. Happened to use the method on the staff notation for the Aretha Franklin song, I say a little prayer. The staff notation had 3 sharps so i inferred its the key of A major. However the song is actually in F# minor which haopens to be the relative minor of A major. So, was wondering if thereās a way to recognize this.
There are no minor keys on sheet music. In reality there are no minor keys. There are Major and modes. Minor keys are the 6th mode of the Parent Major key
A major in this instance would be termed the Parent Major Scale.
Standard Notation only shows parent major scales.
The actual ākeyā or āmodeā that the music then is composed within is a derivative or relation of that parent major scale.
A major on the staff could mean any of:
A major (Ionian)
B Dorian
C# Phrygian
D Lydian
E Mixolydian
F# minor (Aeolian)
G# Locrian (highly unlikely)
I once had a discussion / disagreement with a trained piano player about the key for the song Dreams by Fleetwood Mac. There are only two basic chords - F major and G major. The piano player reading standard notation insisted it was in C major (no sharps and flats on his sheet music). I suggested it could be F Lydian. I also suggested it could be A minor. All three can be correct and there is no absolute correct analysis. The sheet music doesnāt give finality and our ears give the suggestion as to what is the home/ tonic chord and what key it is. The vocalistsās melody can be crucial if ambiguity exists like in this song. You wonāt find a definite answer on the internet. Listen and see what you think.
Iām glad I took a lesson on how to read music sheet, this would completely make me confuse if I just learn it for the first time. Didnāt take me long to process the tips that justin gave on how to determine what key your in. This by the way just added more knowledge for me in reading music sheets, glad justin added this topic on his music theory course.
Here is my āpracticalā strayegy to remember the order of flats or sharps when I want to write the key signature on a staff: you are supposed to know your notes on your fretboard for the thickest 2 strings at this point, and as long as you can visualize a fretboard in your head you re good to go 
If you want to move from a natural to a sharp in the major scale, you add 7
There are some cases, when the addition or the soustraction gives us more than 7 (sharps or flats) , it gets tricky because double flats and sharps are used in that major scale.
This is from an American who loves England
