key signature

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR key signature ON THESAURUS.COM

noun Music.

(in notation) the group of sharps or flats placed after the clef to indicate the tonality of the music following.

Origin of key signature

First recorded in 1870–75

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for key signature

key, tonality

Examples from the Web for key signature

Historical Examples of key signature

Key-signature; how determine whether a major or minor key.24, 25.
Music Notation and Terminology
Karl W. Gehrkens

British Dictionary definitions for key signature

key signature

noun

music a group of sharps or flats appearing at the beginning of each stave line to indicate the key in which a piece, section, etc, is to be performed

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012