Key Signatures

Inserting a key change

To add a key change to the score, do the following:

  1. Select the note which you want the key signature to be placed after.
  2. From the menus choose Create > Key Signature (shortcut K).
  3. Use the major and minor radio buttons to make the lists show major or minor keys.
  4. Choose a key from the lists of sharp keys or flat keys.
  5. Press the OK button.
  6. The dialog closes and the key signature will be selected.

It’s important to stress that the key signature is placed after the selected note and not before it.

Choosing major or minor keys makes no difference to the appearance of the key signature itself (E minor and G major both have one sharp), but Sibelius will spell notes differently if you are playing notes in from a MIDI device. For instance, if you play the note a semi-tone below B natural, then it would be spelt as a B-flat in G major and as an A-sharp in E minor.

To add a key change of F-sharp minor before bar 20, do the following:

  1. Move to the last note of bar 19.
  2. From the menus choose Create > Key Signature (shortcut K).
  3. Tab to the only group of radio buttons in the dialog.
  4. If the major keys button is checked then press down arrow once to select “minor keys”. If the minor keys button is checked then leave it as it is.
  5. Shift+Tab back to the sharp keys list.
  6. Use the up and down arrows to select F-sharp minor.
  7. Press enter to close the dialog and add the key signature.

The position of key signatures

If a key signature occurs in the middle of a bar then its position is obvious. For instance, a key signature at quarter 3 will only affect the notes after and including the third quarter note of the bar.

However, if the key change occurs between bars, then things are a little different. The key signature is added to the very end of the bar before the first note of the new key. For instance, if the key change takes place between bars 9 and 10, then the key signature is at the end of bar 9, even though none of the notes in bar 9 are affected.

Temporary changes of key

You may want to change key for a few bars and then change it back again. To do this, just select a passage which includes the notes that you want to be in the temporary key (you only need to do this on one staff). Then use the key signature dialog to choose the temporary key, as you would for an ordinary key change.

When you close the dialog, two key signatures will have been added to the score, one, immediately before the selected notes and the other, immediately after them. The first will be the new (temporary) key, and the second will be the original key that the music is returning to.

For example, if you have a score in D major and you want bars 21 to 30 to be in F major, then you would do the following:

  1. Move to the first note of bar 21.
  2. Keep pressing Control+Shift+RightArrow until you’ve selected bar 30.
  3. From the menus choose Create > Key Signature or press the letter K.
  4. Choose F major and OK the dialog.

Two key signatures will be added. F major at the end of bar 20, and D major at the end of bar 30.

Transposing instruments

You don’t need to worry about using different keys for transposing instruments like the clarinet or trumpet. When you add a key signature to all staves, Sibelius will automatically change the key signatures to match the written keys. One thing to be aware of is that JAWS will always report the concert key of the entire score, not the written key of the individual staff. See transposing instruments.

Key signatures on one staff only

When you check the one staff only box the key signature will only be created on the staff which contains the selected notes. The other staves will remain unchanged. There are two reasons why you might want to do this:

  1. It is sometimes necessary to write one instrument in an enharmonic key. For example, if an orchestral piece in B-major includes a harp, then the harp will need to be written in C-flat major.
  2. Some modern music is written in several different keys. This is not the same as writing parts in different keys for transposing instruments, the music actually sounds in several different keys. For instance, a piano piece might have the right hand playing in C major, whilst the left hand plays in D-flat major.

Deleting key signatures

Key signatures which are entered on all staves are system items, whereas key signatures created on one staff only are staff items. To remove a key signature, just select it and press the delete key.

To select a system key signature, do the following:

  1. Press Control+F1 to open the access menu and choose system objects.
  2. From the list of system objects, choose the key signature that you want to select.
  3. Press enter to close the dialog.

To select a staff key signature, just move to the note which is immediately before the key signature and then press tab until the key signature is selected.

Initial key signatures

The initial key signature is the one which appears at the very beginning of the piece. There is always an initial key signature, even if it doesn’t have any accidentals in it. In other words, C major, A minor and “atonal” are all key signatures which will change the way in which Sibelius spells notes.

Initial key signatures are not objects like other key signatures, they are a property of the system or staff so you cannot select or delete them.

Changing the initial key

It is best to choose the initial key when you use the new score dialog to create the score, however you can change the initial key at any time. All you need to do is press Control+A to select the entire score and then use the key signature dialog as though you were adding a normal key change.

Initial key signatures in one staff only

To add an initial key signature to one staff only, do the following:

  1. Select the first bar in the desired staff.
  2. Open the key signature dialog and choose the desired key.
  3. Check the “one staff only” check box.
  4. OK the dialog.
  5. Select the second key signature in the staff and then delete it.

Cautionary key signatures

If a key signature appears at the beginning of a system, then that same key signature is placed at the end of the previous system, immediately before the last bar line. This cautionary key signature is the same as the new key signature, and warns the players that the next system will be in a new key.

Sibelius does this automatically, and this is normally the desired behaviour, however, if you are starting a new movement, in a new key, then you will not want this cautionary key signature to be added. You can easily avoid this by checking the hide check box in the key signature dialog. This creates the key signature without the cautionary key signature.