Key signature
One way to read key signatures is to use the order of sharps and flats. The order of sharps is F-C-G-D-A-E-B. This means that if a piece has two sharps at the beginning, they will be F and C. You can also find the tonic note (“do” in solfege) for key signatures with sharps by going to the note you left on (so, in our example with the two sharps, would be C) and moving up a note in the alphabet, giving us D as our home note. It’s a bit different for the order of flats, which is B-E-A-D-G-C-F. We will still count the flats, meaning that if there are two flats at the beginning they will be B and E, but we find the tonic note differently. For the order of flats, we will go back one in the order, meaning that in our example our home note is B flat. If there is only one flat in the key signature, the tonic is F since it’s at the end of the order. If there are no sharps or flats in the key signature, the tonic is C.