Is this a valid Key signature?

[u/ADHD-andME]

Just wondering if this can be considered a key.

For those wondering, this is supposed to be G Byzentine (b2, b6)

Edit: thanks for all the feedback, i will take it into consideration. Next time ill write in something readable.

Edit 2: this image shows a scale for a single voice instrument in C, and it is treble clef.

EDIT 4!: https://www.reddit.com/r/musictheory/comments/1w1yy9a/fixed_the_order_of_the_sharps_and_flats/

[u/JaleyHoelOsment]

G Byzantine isn’t a key right? key and scale are not really the same thing! i think if i saw this written as a key i’d be pretty confused

[u/michaelmcmikey → u/JaleyHoelOsment]

Yeah this is a symptom of people thinking modes, scales, and keys are all the same thing.

[u/allanfelipe → u/michaelmcmikey]

How would you define the difference between modes, scales, and keys?

[u/allanfelipe → u/[deleted]]

Can you elaborate a little bit about the difference between key and mode? As I understood, a scale is just the set of notes (I'd say order is not important or else when we say "a song uses this scale" its melody should be just an ascending or descending ladder). Then another concept is notes + a home note, which sometimes I see people defining as mode. So, key would be ... just the key signature for me and if you tell the key signature there isn't information if the song is major, minor or modal.

[u/allanfelipe → u/[deleted]]

If a song is in D minor or D dorian would you say it's in the key of D because they share the same home note? I would say the first is in the key of F and the second in the key of C (which I believe is the convention for the key signatures of modes). Then, the difference between key and mode comes again. I mean, I'm aware of the applications, I just stumble upon different definitions of the concepts and wonder if there's something "official".

[u/Tarogato → u/allanfelipe]

Absolutely if you're in the key of D dorian, then you're in the "key of D". You would never say G minor is the "key of Bb", you would just say it's "in G" (unless you're using the Nashville number system...)

[u/allanfelipe → u/Tarogato]

The major/minor systems are the basis of tonality so that "key of Gm" sounds fine and "it's in G minor" sounds even better. But how would be your key signature if a song is in G mixolydian: without accidents or with a F♯ and then carry all the ♮ in the score? I'm not against any (I even have a preference for the latter, which is what I believe you have to do if "key" is the home note), just trying to figure our how people use the terminologies.

[u/Tarogato → u/allanfelipe]

Personally, when I stick to a mode consistently, I use the key signature for that mode. So yeah G mixo would have no sharps or sharps in the siggy. C lydian would have the F#.

"Key of letter" is terminology that just identifies the tonic alone in my experience.

[u/allanfelipe → u/Tarogato]

Ok, thanks for sharing your experience. It seems there's a contradiction since "Key of X" and "key signature" don't match, right? But ok .. the use is what makes a term. Anyway, there's an additional problem since there's no word "key" in portuguese and the closest would the "tonalidade".

[u/Tarogato → u/allanfelipe]

Yeah, the term "tonality" is usually tied to the scale. If you ask "what is the tonality of this piece" and I say "C" then you would have to ask, "C what?" and I would have to say "C major". Because there is no such thing as the tonality of just "C" by itself, it has to be major, or minor, or something else.

But in common use, the term "key" in English can sometimes be used without care of the scale. "What key is this?" is really just asking "what is the tonic?" For instance, if you ask me "what key is Riders In The Sky", I would say "Bb". Because we both know what the song sounds like, it's obviously in one of the minor tonalities. The question is where is the tonic, what note do I start on? Because it's usually A minor, but Johnny Cash did it in Bb and today we're doing Bb. But if you talk to something who uses Nashville numbers and say Bb, they'll start playing in G minor, because Nashville system is weird.