Printable worksheet
Accidentals and Key Signature Worksheet
Free accidentals worksheet: read a melody under a key signature and name each note as it sounds, including sharps, flats and naturals in the bar.
Accidentals and Key Signature Worksheet
Sheet #
Name Date Score /
Answer key
Accidentals and Key Signature Worksheet · Sheet #
How to use it
- Choose a difficulty and a task, then press New worksheet.
- Look at the key signature first and list the sharps or flats it contains.
- Go through the melody note by note, applying the key signature and any accidentals drawn in the bar.
- Show answers to check each note name, or print the answer page.
This worksheet practises reading a short melody under a key signature. Each question gives a one-bar melody with a key signature at the start, and you say how each note actually sounds.
What to remember#
- The key signature raises or lowers every note of that letter in every octave.
- A drawn accidental (sharp, flat or natural) overrides the key signature for that line or space until the barline.
- Other octaves are not affected. An F-sharp drawn on the top line does not alter an F in the bottom space.
Tasks#
- Name each note as it sounds. Write the note names including any sharps or flats the key signature or the bar’s accidentals add.
- Find the notes changed by the key signature. List which notes of the melody the signature alters and what they become.
Difficulty levels#
- Easy: one to three sharps or flats, four quarter notes, no accidentals drawn in the bar.
- Medium: one to five sharps or flats, four quarter notes, and one accidental drawn in the bar (a natural, sharp or flat that is not already in the key signature).
- Hard: one to seven sharps or flats, six notes in 4/4, two drawn accidentals, with the same pitch repeated later in the bar so you have to carry the accidental forward and, where it fits, the same letter in another octave to test you.
Pick any of the four clefs, or treble plus bass. The notes stay close to the staff, with at most one ledger line.
Frequently asked questions
What does a key signature do to the notes?
Each sharp or flat in the key signature applies to every note with that letter name, in every octave, for the whole piece. In G major, every F is played as F-sharp.
How long does an accidental last?
An accidental drawn in front of a note lasts until the end of that bar and applies only to the same line or space; the same letter in another octave is not affected. The barline cancels it, except when the note is tied across the barline.
What does a natural sign do?
It cancels a sharp or flat from the key signature (or from an earlier accidental in the bar) for that note. In D major, an F-natural plays the plain F instead of F-sharp.
What if the accidental matches the key signature?
Then it is redundant and not usually written, so the worksheet never draws one that would not change the note.