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 –
Key signature the signature. In the major key with four flats (B E A D), for example, the penultimate flat is A, indicating a key of A major. In this case each new scale starts a fifth "below" (or a fourth above) the previous one. A key signature is not the same as a key; key signatures are merely notational devices. They are convenient principally for diatonic or tonal music. The key signature defines the diatonic scale that a piece of music uses without the need for accidentals. Most scales require that some notes be consistently sharped or flatted. For example, the