Key signature may consist of one or more sharps combined with one or more flats (such as a signature containing both F and B). Key signatures of this kind can be found in the music of Béla Bartók, for example. The effect of a key signature continues throughout a piece or movement, unless explicitly cancelled by another key signature. For example, if a five-sharp key signature is placed at the beginning of a piece, every A in the piece in any octave will be played as A sharp, unless preceded by an accidental (for instance, the A in scale 2 illustrated –
Absolute pitch may lead to playing in a tonality that is slightly different from that of the rest of the group. Absolute pitch shows a genetic overlap with synesthesia/ideasthesia, and some individuals with music-related synesthesia also have perfect pitch. They may associate certain notes or keys with different colors, enabling them to tell what any note or key is. It is unknown how many people with perfect pitch are also synesthetes. Absolute pitch is not a prerequisite for skilled musical performance or composition. However, musicians with absolute pitch tend to perform better on musical transcription tasks (controlling for age of onset and