Does the song key matter?

[V'ger]

In classical music, it's like the law to point out what key the piece is in, but why should this matter at all to the listener?

Is it really true that the key decides to some extent the feeling of a song, and if so, how?

Is anyone here actively using certain keys for their pieces? With me it's completely random what key I will use, although I try to mix it up to check if it is a factor - so far I can't really tell if one makes a difference over another..

[Aleatoriac]

Instrument construction and note range can be a significant force in determining which key many performances are written in. For example, open strings on guitar / bass / violins / and so on are "easy" pull-off points but those notes are only available in certain keys. You have your Bb trumpet, a minor and C Major are all white keys on the piano, and much easier to play than say, for example, C# major, what have you.

If you're Jordan Rudess it doesn't matter, you can make a toothpick and a rubber band sound like the Second Coming.

When I attemped schooling in music I recall someone, perhaps jokingly, referring to d minor as "pathetic and sad" and E Major as "Heroic." Perhaps some can hear the differences. I am not sure I can. For me minor is sad, melancholy, and any Major is upbeat, usually triumphant. Relative pitch here, so who knows.

When I compose I make key choice based on the fact that I am a wanky hack.

[ariston]

This is a long-standing debate. What I've found is that I instinctively go for a certain key when composing. I hardly ever pick one consciously.

Don't forget: Nigel Tufnel wrote "Lick my Love Pump" in D Minor, and he's a masterful composer.

[tapler]

I've read that before equal temperament became the standard that each key had its own distinct feeling. I think that the adoption of equal temperament changed that by a large degree.

[apolo]

It is up to the composer to decide the key. Surely there are some physiological studies about the mood of certain keys and any good composers should know and understand that in order to be able to transmit his ideas and feelings he intents to the audience.

Now to know them is not the same as to use them. As a parallel, some Graphic Designers use photographs only in black and white; others only use red while others use the full color tonalities.

There is a reason why hospitals are painted different than circus. If they have background music it will be different also.

It is the same with music. Yes maybe some anti establishment genres and composers might use random keys but they remain there as experimental and in a sense that's the goal they are looking for.

[cranky]

The key of a song can be important for several reasons.

First, the central feature of most songs is the performance of the vocalist. The quality of a vocal performance is strongly affected by the key. The song needs to be in a key which avoids notes which are too high or low for the particular singer. Choosing a key which utilizes the most interesting part of a singer's range can significantly improve the vocal performance. A semitone can make a large difference.

Secondly, in the case of natural instruments (as opposed to synths and some sampled instruments) the key of the song has various consequences. Like human voices, different instruments have limits in how high or low they can play and also have optimum ranges. The tone of most instruments is significantly affected by how high or low in its range they are being played. Also - as was pointed out above - different techniques may be available to musicians depending on the key. A guitarist may be able to use a variety of pull-offs, open string chord shapes and picking techniques in, say, D maj, which are unavailable in, say, B maj. Jazz players tend to prefer flat keys, which make a variety of useful fingering techniques available to various conventional jazz instruments. When there is an ensemble of natural instruments, the key can affect different players differently. Rock players tend to prefer the keys of E, A, D and G for similar reasons.

Thirdly, for people with perfect pitch or very acute pitch discrimination, different keys played on well-tempered instruments have a different quality due to tiny differences in the different "inaccuracies" which exist in different keys. These inaccuracies are the byproducts of the compromise tuning. Scriabin and some other composers wrote about their response to different keys -but language is inefficient in describing the true quality of these subtle mental responses. Some people are acutely aware of the different qualities of different keys, others are oblivious.

Fourthly, in rock and dance production, the key can affect the relationship between the drums and the bass. Some drums, like toms, have a definite pitch component. Kick drums tend to have most low frequency energy around 80 Hz - just below low E. It's not uncommon to retune drums, physically or by software, to avoid clashes with the bass.

In purely electronic music, these issues are far less significant.

[icelizarrd]

The key of a song can be important for several reasons.

First, the central feature of most songs is the performance of the vocalist... [etc.]

...to avoid clashes with the bass.

In purely electronic music, these issues are far less significant.

This post is all true, but I would add a little to that ending bit.

Even though synthesizers don't run into the exact same kind of limitations that acoustic instruments do, two other things are worth taking into account when considering keys: the patch/preset being used, and the nature of human hearing. Depending on filter resonance settings, for example, some synths will have ranges that sound stronger or fuller than others, which you may want to use to your compositional advantage. (This is probably most obvious with patches intended to be used as basses, which are often weak or lacking character in the middle-to-upper register). The key you choose will affect this, although for very static melodic lines (those with maybe just one or two notes separated by a few half-steps), this will be less noticeable.

As an example, I was just playing around with a bass-y synth, and I wanted to jump up an octave during a certain part--and when I played that part in A minor, it developed a cheesier / more unpleasant quality than when played just a major third lower in F minor.

Of course, with synths you can often change the patch to help overcome this; but sometimes that changes the original feel too much--although maybe that's just me, because I lack the right engineering skills (so to speak).


That brings me to the other thing I mentioned, human hearing: when a synth is played far too low, you'll miss out on a lot of the important lower frequencies, just because they're too low for humans to hear (and thus, in all likelihood, for your speakers to reproduce). For an optimal bass part, you should consider where your lowest notes for the song will be, and it may help those lower notes to be more discernible (or warmer, or punchier, or deeper sounding on club speakers, etc.) if you move the key up or down a bit.

The same thing applies for the extreme ends of the upper registers, but I think that issue comes up a lot less for electronic music, especially dance-oriented music.


... This all may only matter if you're anal retentive, however. I wager the vast majority of electronic composers don't give this a second thought; but I do suspect that experienced composers/producers unconsciously gravitate toward keys that complement the feel they're going for, given the instruments they're working with.

[yellowfever]

Oh come on; if it sounds right, then it is right. Rules are made to be broken and where music / self composition is concerned, there are no rulez.

[V'ger]

Interesting points. I was aware that for certain acoustic instruments and especially vocals there were practical considerations, and maybe also for synths with patches having sweet spots (good tip about the lowest bass note), but so far no one has a 'thing' for certain keys or know why in classical music pieces the key is always stated?

Don't forget: Nigel Tufnel wrote "Lick my Love Pump" in D Minor, and he's a masterful composer.

"D minor just makes people weep" and "the piece is in between Mozart and Bach .. kind of a Mach.."

[Nystul]

A lot of the classical and baroque works don't have "proper names" as such. JS Bach didn't write just one Prelude and Fugue but dozens of them. Mentioning what key it is in kind of narrows it down so people might know what you are talking about (although there can still be multiple possibilities). Otherwise you have to know the opus number of the piece.

[sophtrazor]

interesting bump

[eduardo_b]

I tend to prefer music done in minor keys. There's a darker quality to it.

[Danno]

I've read that before equal temperament became the standard that each key had its own distinct feeling. I think that the adoption of equal temperament changed that by a large degree.

Nice, tapler... that makes perfect sense to me.

[generalstargazer]

I guess key matters when some people can't sing very high or certain instruments are easier to play.

I prefer the key of C5!

[Arkadey]

@all: EXACTLY! guys. great topic, btw!!!

"C5"? hmmm...

i've tried to make some of kind mood detector in my last audio-2-midi plug. please, let me know what you think about it. mood/character is displayed on the bottom.

LINK
[ rename notish_ft.dll to notish.dll ].