Key signatures alter the notes to make them conform to the needs of Tonal Music within a key. If you are playing in the key of G Major, then you need an F# black-key "bump" in the pattern of white keys used on the piano.
This bump will give you the sequence of intervals needed to play a major scale: (G)WWHWWWH. It will also force all of the chords to be the quality that you need within the key. For instance, the fifth chord of the key of G Major is the D chord. Without the "bump" the D chord would be of the minor quality (DFA), but the bump changes the third of the chord from F to F#, thereby forcing the chord to be a major one--which is what you need from the fifth chord. The key signature has this effect on every chord in every key--making the series: I, ii, iii, IV, V, vi, vii° (...In this system, Capital letters are major chords, lower-case letters are minor chords and the last chord is diminished).
It's difficult to talk about these things in detail just now because we haven't talked through a lot of the concepts that I'm touching on in the previous paragraph. Please be patient and know that this will all connect at some point later in the semester. Work at this stuff conscientiously, get what you can, and for the things that don't make sense yet, make a mental note and look for more detailed explanations "down the road."
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