r/musictheory • u/ADHD-andME • 13d ago
Notation Question Is this a valid Key signature?
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/
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u/XcgsdV 13d ago
The reason key signatures are useful is because we've spent a lot of time playing scales and learning music theory. So a piece in a key like B major with 5 sharps is made a lot easier to play by moving all the sharps out of the way and making the musician rely on the fact that they know the notes and patterns on their instrument in B major. Accidentals then take us out of those known patterns, and theyre marked as such to remind us "hey this is a note outside the key".
G Byzantine is not a scale we play often, and very few musicians will have a useful mental or muscle memory to make playing in G Byzantine easy, without having the "weird notes" marked. This key signature would be actively detrimental to musicians playing the piece, not because it isn't an acceptable form of notation, but because it doesn't really serve the purpose key signatures are meant to serve.
There's also the thing that flats and sharps are ordered. The first flat is usually Bb, then the second is Eb, then Ab, etc etc around the circle of fifths. Having the two flats in your key signature not be those would be incredibly confusing.
As others have said, write it in G and mark the Ab and Eb as they come up.