Do key signatures actually matter?

[NER]

I argue it doesn't.

Its the relation between notes that changes the emotion of music, not the absolute pitch.

This is easy enough to understand; C major and A minor have the exact same key signatures, but sound completely different.
Modes in general are an example of this. C major (ionian), D dorian, E Phrygian, F lydian, G mixolydian, A minor (aeolian), and B locrian are all in the key of C but because they have different tonal centers they sounds different.

I have been debating with myself whether I should try writing stuff not in the key of C. Its much easier to stay on the white keys and to learn all the chord notes that way, and if it doesn't make a difference, why bother?

There are things like key changes when its obvious that you have to leave C or whatever.

What are y'all thoughts on this?

[Meffy]

I think that absolute pitch has something to do with it. However, the differences among keys are a lot less significant under modern TET than it was back in the days when unequal temperaments ruled -- when the intervals between notes were NOT all the same. Speaking of Western music here, of course.

As to whether or not you should try writing in various keys, sure, why not? You can explore whether you get a feel for different keys that way, far better than just discussing how others think on the topic (not that there's anything wrong with discussion, just that it can't replace actual hearing and feeling).

[vurt]

What are y'all thoughts on this?

use whatever works for what it is you are trying to achieve, not whatever works to fit you into some rules.
obviously it depends on your final goal.

[VicDiesel]

I have been debating with myself whether I should try writing stuff not in the key of C. Its much easier to stay on the white keys and to learn all the chord notes that way, and if it doesn't make a difference, why bother?

Key signatures mostly matter if you have to accomodate singers and instruments with a limited range. They have no intrinsic meaning.

That said, leaving your comfort zone is generally considered a good idea. If you stick to one key, you may stick to what feels comfortable in that key. Playing in Db, your fingers have to move in a different way to play the same scale, which may suggest different licks, chords, whatnot.

Since I'm familiar with quite a bit of keyboard repertoire, keys have association value, and some of that comes through in what I write. In spirit, or because my fingers do something they're familiar with in that key.

But if you think you can have infinite inspiration in that one key, go for it. There is no objective reason to use other keys.

Victor.

[sockofgold]

You guys can't honestly think that key signatures don't matter???

Play something in C. Transpose it to any other key. It's a completely different song. Aside from the fact that the notes are different, it changes the overall feel of the song. People always mock the line from Spinal Tap: "D Minor is the saddest key." But I don't think it's that unreasonable to consider one key sadder than another. It's the idea of tonalities being colors.

For instance, when I hear something in G Major, I see orange. When I hear something in C Major, I see a pale, blueish-white. It could be the exact same riff transposed, but it inflects a different overall musical color. Saying key doesn't matter would be like telling a painter that it doesn't matter what colors he uses, so long as the shapes are recognizable.

Perhaps I sound like a hippie, but it's true. Absolutely, 100% true.

[Meffy]

You guys can't honestly think that key signatures don't matter???

Only the people who said that in their replies. (I don't see any.)

Personal responses to key are exactly that: personal. Hence the advice to the OP to try and see.

[sockofgold]

I argue it doesn't.

Wow. Really, you don't see it in any replies? Not the first line of the thread, perhaps? Not trying to be a dick here, but honestly...

[sockofgold]

What I will add (since I could have come across as a little pompous before) to the OP's question of writing in a different key:

Try writing in one key and then transposing to another key. It can honestly take what you have written and make it a whole new song. It's fascinating. Also look into chord inversions if you're not familiar with the concept. That's another easy way to make essentially the same thing sound like something completely new.

[Meffy]

I hate to be Captain Obvious, but the first line of the thread is not a reply. :-}

In any case, the content of the replies should make it clear that each person who did reply has a different opinion of how much key matters to perception of mood, etc., but that all agree that there's at least some pragmatic (if not artistic) reason to consider writing in various keys. Which was the point of the post, though my initial response was to go all historical-theoretical and such. I do tend to do that, and must bring myself back to practical matters at hand.

[Caysi]

I'd say it matters if it matters to the instrument player, with software out there that can sort key signature for you so I guess if it matters to them then it matters. If it doesn't matter to you then so be it.

Edit, I think we know who didn't read the op....

[sockofgold]

I hate to be Captain Obvious, but the first line of the thread is not a reply. :-}

No, but it is an answer to the question at hand.

[VicDiesel]

For instance, when I hear something in G Major, I see orange. When I hear something in C Major, I see a pale, blueish-white.

That sort of argument is tricky. It may be how you experience it, but it's probably not what the composer had in mind. If it were, there'd be serious problems with the interpretation of renaissance music, when the standard pitch is about a semi-tone below what it is now.

On the other hand, if a different key puts you in a different mood, making you write something you wouldn't have done in another key, then it's been fruitful to switch keys. No matter that the listener didn't heard something as orange when you did.

Victor.

[jopy]

I have been debating with myself whether I should try writing stuff not in the key of C. Its much easier to stay on the white keys and to learn all the chord notes that way, and if it doesn't make a difference, why bother?

There are things like key changes when its obvious that you have to leave C or whatever.

That last part of what you said is really central to why other keys can be important to learn even if you're not playing with anyone else. If you only know C well you can't modulate to anything except the modes in the same key signature. That limits a lot of pretty conventional and interesting chord movements. Moving back and forth out of a key and into other keys provides an nearly unlimited set of possibilities.

If you're playing an instrument, some things are a lot easier in some keys than others--for example, some things that are really a pain in the key of C on the piano can be easier to get to in E or Bb, depending on what you're doing. But that's only important if you're playing in real time.

Then again, AC/DC is pretty much all in E and they've managed to keep in business for quite some time.

[Dean Aka Nekro]

yes it matters within my world. Even if your using a load of commercial loops of a sample disc then they will have a common key (c usually i think) apart from untuned percussive loops...etc

Nekro

[jancivil]

Pitches, and of course by extension keys, do vibrate differently.

While transposition in 12-tone equal temperament seems to give equal distances, this is only *absolutely* true if you are dealing with pure fundamentals, or say tuning fork to tuning fork. IE: the harmonics (overtones) are going to be a different set when you transpose any pitch. This is to say that 'key of E' is not going to have the same overall 'color' as 'key of C'. The harmonic series is a pyramidic structure, and a different fundamental gives a narrower (or wider) set accordingly to moving it, up or down.

[However, a signature for a key is merely a convention formulated to convey information, like a slide rule or something, and has no intrinsic reality.]