Revised by:

I hear many of our singers saying things like: "Oh, I can't read music." or "Don't try to teach me music." This is almost flaunting their own ignorance. It's like saying to the world that you can't read. I was in a quartet with a bass for two years when he said to me, "What does a key signature do?" At the time, I though it was a stupid question. Now I'm not so sure. Reading music is a necessary skill if you want to sing. And it's not that hard.

Let's start with the above question, what does a key signature do? Simply put, it sets where DO is on the piano, and on the sheet music. That is, as in DO, RE, MI, etc.

There are Three simple skills that, if mastered, will move you close to being able to read music. These are 1) understanding the key signature, 2) finding DO on the scale, and 3) figuring out where your starting note is in relation to DO.

There are some shorthand skills that I will adress later to figure out how to read the key signature but let's face it, there are twelve notes in an octave. On the piano, this is the seven white keys and the five black ones. That means that there are only twelve key signatures. How hard is it to just learn them. And in barbershop, we only really use a few. Most of our songs are in Ab, Bb, C, F, and G. Learn these five key signatures by heart and you will cover nearly all of the songs we sing. Ab is four flats, Bb is two, C is none, F is one. G, on the other hand is one sharp.

Then, the next simple skill is finding DO on the printed page. If you are a lead or a tenor, your music is in the treble clef, that thing that looks like the big fancy S at the left of the score. There are five lines in a staff. Each line and each space in between represent the notes. The lowest line on your staff is an E. The lines starting at the bottom and going up are E, G, B, D, and F. The spaces from the bottom represent F, A, C, and E. If you have trouble remembering this, use this mnemonic trick: Every Good Boy Does Fine. The space spell FACE.

If you are a bass or baritone, you sing the lower or bass clef. This is the one with the symbol that looks like a big backward C. Your lowest line is a G and the lines represent G, B, D, F, and A while the spaces represent A, C, E, and G. Your mnemonic for the lines would be Good Boys Do Fine Always and for the spaces All Children Eat Goodies.

Finally, figuring out your starting note is a matter of counting the lines and spaces between your note and DO. For instance, if the key signature is two flats (Bb), then DO is on the second line of the bass clef and the third line of the treble clef. If your note is on the third line of the bass clef, that means the note is D (Good Boys Do) Starting with the DO note on the second line, you would count one space and one line getting to your starting note. This means your note is on MI or the third note of the scale. Think to yourself: DO, RE, MI. That's your note! Not hard is it? If you can do just those three things, then you are very close to being able to read music.

Now the shortcuts to desciphering the key signatures: If the key is a flatted key, then DO is on the next to last (left to right) flat of the key signature. But what if the signature has only one flat, you ask. Well, you just have to remember that that is the key of F. For sharped keys, the very rightmost sharp is on the seventh note of the scale. In other words, DO, RE, MI, FA, SOL, LA TI. So, all you have to do is go UP one note to get to DO. For example, one sharp is the key of G. The one sharp will appear on the line or the space representing F. So, if you see two sharps, the rightmost sharp is on the line or space representing C. Just go up one note and you will know that the key is D.

If you have a better way of explaning this, please edit this article. Just add your name and date to the revised line above so I'll know who is doing it.