first of all, practicing your scales is the best way to memorize them really well, because there’s more to it than just knowing the sharps and flats.
but i’ll assume you know that and will practice your scales, since you are an aspiring sd.
here is the circle of fifths
remember that as you progress from C major, you will always go up a fifth as you add a sharp. C has none, G has 1, D has 2, etc.
Now, to know which sharp is added is easy. It is always the seventh of the key. So as you go to G, f becomes sharp, when you go to D, c becomes sharp (and f remains sharp), when you go to A, g becomes sharp (f and c remain sharp).
There comes a point, where you get to the key of F# major (6 sharps), where you make the transition to flats. Now we are at the key of Gb, which has 6 flats. (remember that there is still C# major, but Db major is much easier and more common.
So now we are at the flats. We still progress upward by fifths. But instead of adding sharps, we are subtracting flats (in essence the same thing). So when we get to Db major, we will subtract a flat on the seventh scale degree (which would be c), so now c is natural instead of flat.
An easy way to remember the order of flats and sharps is this:
Flats: B E A D G C F (spell the word bead, and then gcf)
Sharps: in the opposite order F C G D A E B
if you need to know how many sharps a particular key has, just visualize the circle of fifths like a clock. if it’s 3 o’clock (A major) then there are three sharps. For the flat keys just do it counter-clockwise.
THIS IS INFINITELY EASIER IF YOU PRACTICE YOUR SCALES EVERY DAY. IT IS INEVITABLE THAT YOU WILL HAVE TO DO IT ANYWAY. YOU HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO KILL TWO BIRDS WITH ONE STONE HERE.
ALSO, IF YOU HAVE ANY MORE QUESTIONS LIKE THIS, GO TO PIANOSTREET, AND I’LL ANSWER YOU THERE.
DIZ NOT BE DA PROPAH PAD TO BE AZKIN SUCH SHEEYAT
