What is the best way to memorize the notes in each key?
I don’t know if this will be easy or not, but there is a distinct pattern to learning these. And it’s really not that hard. The main thing to remember is that they always go in sequence. If a key has two flats, for instance, one of those flatted notes is the same as the flatted note in the key with one flat. If that sounds confusing, hopefully it won’t be as we move along. First off, we agree that C has no flats and no sharps. What I like to do is to progress in either direction from there. Usually, when I hit Gb or F# I call it quits because they are the same key. Okay, flats first. The easiest thing (for me) to remember is that the keys progress in 4ths (F, for instance, is the fourth of C) and that the flatted note is also the fourth in the new scale. In the example of the key of F, Bb is the fourth. Not only is it the fourth, though, it is also the next key in the sequence! This makes things very easy: C – 0 flats F – 1 flat (Bb) Bb – 2 flats (Bb, Eb) Eb – 3 flats (Bb, Eb, Ab) Ab –
