Identifying the key of a passage

[lingyai]

As for your original question as to whether there is any software which can help, I found these two pages online:

http://www.scales-chords.com/chordscalefinder.php

http://www.scales-chords.com/scalefinder.php

No idea how worthy they are. Free to use though.

[lingyai]

I just tried them by entering in some chords from a progression. It came up with a list of candidates. This would suggest that there are not hard and fast rules. But better to ask the knowledgeble folks here.

[lingyai]

It gives you the same answers as the Chord Wheel from that book I mentioned, and also goes beyond it by suggesting 4 and 5 note chords.

[luafc11]

I just got and read this


http://www.amazon.com/Chord-Wheel-Ultim ... 568&sr=1-1

which in less than 15 very clear pages answers a lot of your questions... So many questions I had about basics, including not only large and small roman numerals, but also about a basic context for understanding music theory -- about which the hard-core music theory folks have said, "Ooooh... you'll have to study for years and master an instrument to understand" -- this book answered.

I realise -- as the book points out -- that mastering music theory is a long long road; but it least it got my shoes on, and me out on the pavement. The book won't begin to answer every "why" you might have, but it does fill you on a lot of essential "what". In so doing, it gives a great framework on which further learning can be layered.

It is also amazingly and immediately practical, in that it gives you a device -- an expanded version of the circle of fifths -- which provides a great start for devising chord progressions. I used it straight away, and came up with a few, quite pleasing to my ears anyway, which would have taken me forever by trial and error, or by struggling to teach myself from longer but less effective theory books.

Note that many of the Amazon reviwers say that while the device is great, the text is poorly written. I must have gotten a revised edition, as the writing's fine to me

Anyway, have a look.

+1 for everything you say about this. For years I struggled to go beyond anything in the key of C and ended up totally bored and frustrated with the same old chords and my own laziness. For me, music theory always seemed too dry a subject and I never had the self confidence to think I could grapple with it!

Anyway, I grabbed the nettle a couple of weeks ago and got this and I have to say it has truly opened up my eyes at the possibilities and whetted my appetite to learn more. Plus, got the bare bones of a song worked out using chords I would never have known were it not for this.

Everybody is different I suppose. This book is very basic but very practical for somebody who has barely scratched the surface.

[lingyai]

luafc11-- you might want to check this out as well:

http://www.mucoder.net/en/tonespace/

It is a free, rather amazing piece of software, both as an educational and very useable composition tool. It goes beyond the chordwheel from the book in that it handles minor keys too.

You do need to read the manual, which is not too long (apx. 30 pages) to fully get it, but that's actually a bonus, as the manual is a super-clear primer on applied music theory. (It does repeat some of the things found in the chordwheel book).