How do you find "do"

by Linda Bessom
(Cambridge, MA)

How do you find "do" in the key signature with three flats?

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Mar 16, 2017
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starstar 		Actually,...
by: Anonymous

While E♭ major is a possibility, there are 6 more possibilities for Do as well:
E♭ in E♭ Ionian (aka major)
F in F Dorian
G in G Phrygian
A♭ in A♭ Lydian
B♭ in B♭ Mixolydian
C in C Aeolian (aka minor)
D in D Locrian

So Do could be any note of the E♭ major scale as long as one cannot determine what scale the song is in.
Of course, Do's most likely E♭ or C. Rarely do the other 5 modes show their faces in music, especially Phrygian and Locrian. On a test, I'd put E♭ or C.
Nov 23, 2014
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starstarstarstarstar 		Finding Do from a key signature
by: Simon

To find Do look at the penultimate flat in the key signature, in this case E flat as the 3 flats will be B, E and A.

So when there are 3 flats Do is E flat.

To find an easy way of remembering the flats watch my YouTube Video

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