Beginner D Major

[fishpond]

I have a short piece of music in front of me that I assume is in D Major.
It has F sharp and c sharp.(which is why I thought this is in D major)
Notes run from A in the normal register to A in the upper register.
All the F'S are sharps, all the c's are written as naturals (with natural sign)in each bar that c appears.
Why?

I know I have missed something here.
Is this a scale in minor, not major? (haven't done minors yet)?
Or am I having a thicker day than is normal?

Looking again at the Starting and ending on A's, would this be A minor?

Gone to lie down as I am totally confused.

 

[ArtyLady]

The relative minor of D is B. - does it sound "happy" (major) or "sad" (minor) - that should give the best clue - hth

 

[kevgermany]

A minor has no sharps or flats. Same key sig as C Major.
Two sharps in the key sig is D Major or it's relative minor, B Minor

There are rules for defining which key a piece is in, but just go by the key sig.

C# is the 7th note of the D major scale. C Natural is the flattened 7th note of the D Major scale. A flat 7th is used in some chords (e.g. D7) and the minor blues scale.

I guess you're playing arpeggios on the D7 chord or some notes from the minor blues scale at the time.

Some good info here:
http://tamingthesaxophone.com/jazz-chord-progressions.html (look at the difference betwen the Cmaj7 and C7 chords in B)

btw, A is the fifth note of D Major. Known as the dominant, because it's the strongest note in the scale. Melodies will usually make a lot of use of the 5th of the key they're in, both starting and finishing there.

 

[fishpond]

Cheers ArtyLady & Kev
Will study this tonight when I get home. Looked at Petes explanation also. I will get there eventually
Seem to be tying myself up in knots of late

 

[DaveW]

I get confused with this Major and relative Minor key sig.

Kev, Sorry but I don't think you stated which key this piece was in D Major or B minor?
Why are all the Cs written as naturals yet the key sig shows them as sharp? Is that because the tune is in B minor

 

[kevgermany]

I get confused with this Major and relative Minor key sig.

Kev, Sorry but I don't think you stated which key this piece was in D Major or B minor?
Why are all the Cs written as naturals yet the key sig shows them as sharp? Is that because the tune is in B minor

You can't tell from the key sig or these accidentals whether the key is D Major or B Minor. Given that it's starting finishing on the 5th, I believe it's in D Major. But you'd have to listen to it or get a more experienced person to see the notes, to make a decision. If the music has guitar chords, another clue would be in those chords, usually minor pieces use minor chords.

Could also be switching modes here...

To play the relative minor of any major key, use the major key fingering, but start 3 semitones lower. So for D major, the relative minor is, counting down D, C#, C, B so you play B minor as B C# D E F# G A B.

Nb, there are 3 different minor scales, this one is called the natural minor. The others (melodic and harmonic) don't use a flattened 7th, either.

If we knew the tune/could see the notes, probably someone who knows what he/she is talking about (instead of a novice like me) could tell us what's going on.