7 sharps key signature: which keys use seven sharps?
A 7 sharps key signature belongs to C sharp major and its relative minor, A sharp minor. The seven sharps, in order, are F sharp, C sharp, G sharp, D sharp, A sharp, E sharp, B sharp. The last sharp is B sharp, a minor second under C sharp, so that is the major name. Seven perfect fifths up from C land on C sharp. The pitches to recompute are 277.18 Hz for C sharp 4 and 466.16 Hz for A sharp 4.
What a 7 sharps key signature prints
C sharp major and A sharp minor share these seven sharps. The same sounding major is D flat major, written with five flats, on the 5 flats key signature page. One fifth below C sharp is F sharp major, on the 6 sharps key signature page. This page does not list those six signs.
| Sharp | Treble staff | Bass staff |
|---|---|---|
| F sharp | top line | fourth line |
| C sharp | third space | second space |
| G sharp | space above the staff | fourth space |
| D sharp | fourth line | third line |
| A sharp | second space | first space |
| E sharp | fourth space | third space |
| B sharp | third line | second line |
| C sharp major | A sharp minor |
|---|---|
| C sharp, D sharp, E sharp, F sharp, G sharp, A sharp, B sharp | A sharp, B sharp, C sharp, D sharp, E sharp, F sharp, G sharp |
Diatonic triads in C sharp major: C sharp major, D sharp minor, E sharp minor, F sharp major, G sharp major, A sharp minor, B sharp diminished. A sharp minor starts on A sharp minor, then B sharp diminished, C sharp major, D sharp minor, E sharp minor, F sharp major, G sharp major.
How seven sharps name C sharp
The last sharp is a minor second under the major tonic. Here the rightmost sharp is B sharp. A minor second above B sharp is C sharp. That names C sharp major. A sharp minor is the other key that prints the same seven sharps.
Upward fifths: C to G, to D, to A, to E, to B, to F sharp, to C sharp. Seven steps, seven sharps. C sharp 4 is 277.18 Hz, the same equal-temperament number as D flat 4, with the sharp spelling.
A sharp minor sits a minor third under C sharp. The catalog prelude on this page is the major. The finder, below, names those same pitches D flat major, at low confidence.
Numbers you can check
Equal temperament from A 4 = 440 Hz: pitch = 440 × 2((midi − 69) ÷ 12) Hz. C sharp 4 is midi 61, so 440 × 2(−8 ÷ 12) = 277.182… Hz, written 277.18 Hz. A sharp 4 is midi 70, so 440 × 2(1 ÷ 12) = 466.163… Hz, written 466.16 Hz.
The accidental count is seven, names F sharp, C sharp, G sharp, D sharp, A sharp, E sharp, B sharp. Seven perfect fifths above C spell C sharp. Three semitones under C sharp spell A sharp.
The arithmetic is separate from the recording. On 20 October 2026 the key finder called the whole prelude D flat major at 27% confidence, and the screen marked it low confidence.
A recorded example you can check
Wikipedia’s The Well-Tempered Clavier article, read on 20 October 2026, lists Book 1 No. 3 as Prelude and Fugue in C sharp major, BWV 848. The same entry says the prelude also appears in the Klavierbüchlein, No. 21. The Open Well-Tempered Clavier score, MuseScore edition by Olivier Miquel, version 1.0 of 19 March 2015, marked Creative Commons Zero, heads the page “Praeludium 3 / BWV 848”. The file is the whole prelude. This recording is shorter than 90 seconds, so the finder reads the whole file. The staff places in the table are the standard seven-sharp places. This page does not treat the title crop as a counted signature.
On 20 October 2026 at 08:08 EDT this site’s key finder read the whole file as D flat major, Camelot 3B, at 27% confidence, with the hint “Low — check by ear”. The next two candidates were F sharp major (Camelot 2B, 17%) and D flat minor (Camelot 12A, 13%). The screen added a low-confidence note. The percentage is this file’s estimate, not a measured accuracy rate. D flat major and C sharp major are the same pitches. Five flats and seven sharps are two spellings, and the audio does not show which spelling was used. On the score, Bach wrote seven sharps.
What our key tools tell you
The key finder names a key from a recording. Key from chords names one from chord symbols. Neither tool redraws the staff. Seven sharps still mean F sharp, C sharp, G sharp, D sharp, A sharp, E sharp, then B sharp. The finder read this whole file as D flat major, at low confidence. That name is the five-flat spelling of the same pitches.
7 sharps key signature: quick answers
What key has 7 sharps?
C sharp major, and the relative minor A sharp minor. Both use a 7 sharps key signature.
What are the 7 sharps in order?
F sharp, C sharp, G sharp, D sharp, A sharp, E sharp, B sharp. The order of sharps is F, C, G, D, A, E, B, and this signature uses every step.
Where does B sharp sit?
On the treble staff, the third line. On the bass staff, the second line. It is the rightmost sharp of the seven.
What is the relative minor of C sharp major?
A sharp minor, three semitones under C sharp. The catalog prelude on this page is the major, not that minor.
What did the finder return?
D flat major, Camelot 3B, 27%, low confidence. F sharp major at 17% and D flat minor at 13% came next. D flat major is the same pitches as C sharp major, written with five flats.
What this page leaves open
- Harmonic minor in A sharp minor raises the seventh to G double sharp. That sign is not one of the seven printed sharps.
- 277.18 Hz and 466.16 Hz are equal-temperament arithmetic. They were not measured from the piano file.
- 27% describes the whole file, and the screen marked it low confidence. The finder named D flat major, the same pitches as the C sharp major of the score, written with five flats instead of seven sharps. This recording is shorter than 90 seconds, so the finder reads the whole file.