key signature

See synonyms for key signature on Thesaurus.com

nounMusic.

(in notation) the group of sharps or flats placed after the clef to indicate the tonality of the music following.

Origin of key signature

First recorded in 1870–75

Words Nearby key signature

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use key signature in a sentence

In 2018, one group of researchers reported in Nature that they’d observed key signatures of Majoranas.
The Near-Magical Mystery of Quasiparticles | Thomas Lewton | March 24, 2021 | Quanta Magazine
Key-signature; how determine whether a major or minor key.24, 25.
Music Notation and Terminology | Karl W. Gehrkens
Key shown by key signature placed at the beginning of each staff.
Music Notation and Terminology | Karl W. Gehrkens

British Dictionary definitions for key signature

key signature

noun

music a group of sharps or flats appearing at the beginning of each stave line to indicate the key in which a piece, section, etc, is to be performed

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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