The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #151012   Message #3522264
Posted By: Tattie Bogle
03-Jun-13 - 10:37 AM
Thread Name: Minor key signatures are wrong
Subject: RE: Minor key signatures are wrong
There was some discussion on another forum about what key signature to use when you were notating e.g. a Scottish pipe tune in a modal scale with flattened 7ths. i.e. in the key of A all Gs would be naturals, therefore some people would only put 2 #s in the key signature.

To me, having laboriously and faithfully learned standard music theory nearly 60 years ago, this was confusing and "wrong" (dare I say it?), and would suggest the key was either D or Bm. My take on it was that you should still use the usual A key sig of 3 #s and then write a natural in front of each G in the score: (or if there had to be any compromise it would be to write the key sig as F#, C#, Gnat, but I would still prefer the first option of 3 #s.)

(And I'm not talking about "bagpipe notation" which is another can o' worms entirely and I won't even go there!)

Yes, Don, if it ain't broke, don't fix it!