Switching Keys in Songs

[JamesJulius]

Hi guys!

Just switched account to my new producer name here on KVR . I wanted to ask you guys something that's had me confused for a while. Why in songs do people have various key changes and what are the general rules (if any) for doing so? E.g. When someone says they start in A minor, then finish in G. I usually stay in one scale for an entire song - I'm creating House, DnB and Garage, but is this wrong? My assumption is this has to do with the circle of fifths but I'd greatly appreciate any help!


Also, if you do switch key then how can you analyse a song to be in one key?

[BERFAB]

Depends on the context.

The cliche, however, is the closing key change that signals the big finish. My mental go-to example on this is the end of Barry Manilow's "Looks like we made it." It follows a brief drum fill and then goes to a new key.

[anon404]

There are a handful of pretty iconic key changes, but many of the most interesting are highly context specific. The ones you've heard a dozen times:

1) Moving to the 4th or 5th of your current key. In "standard" theory (think major/minor scales) this only changes one note (sharp or flat), so the old and new keys are closely related.

2) more common in pop music, abrupt change by half or whole step (upwards) "adds energy" to the song. The stand-out example recently is Beyonce's "Love on Top", towards the end she sings a ridiculous number of choruses, each up a half step.

3) Moving from major to parallel/relative minor or vice versa. That is, e.g., CM -> Cm or CM -> Am respectively.

As a rule of thumb, adding sharps /modulating upward adds intensity, while adding flats will "cool off"/darken the mood. Some of the most interesting/successful key changes are a subtle and are hard to put into words... it's better to try and learn from the examples. At the top of my personal list are Beatles, Stevie Wonder and, uh, Liszt...

[BERFAB]

There are a handful of pretty iconic key changes, but many of the most interesting are highly context specific. The ones you've heard a dozen times:

1) Moving to the 4th or 5th of your current key. In "standard" theory (think major/minor scales) this only changes one note (sharp or flat), so the old and new keys are closely related.

2) more common in pop music, abrupt change by half or whole step (upwards) "adds energy" to the song. The stand-out example recently is Beyonce's "Love on Top", towards the end she sings a ridiculous number of choruses, each up a half step.

3) Moving from major to parallel/relative minor or vice versa. That is, e.g., CM -> Cm or CM -> Am respectively.

As a rule of thumb, adding sharps /modulating upward adds intensity, while adding flats will "cool off"/darken the mood. Some of the most interesting/successful key changes are a subtle and are hard to put into words... it's better to try and learn from the examples. At the top of my personal list are Beatles, Stevie Wonder and, uh, Liszt...

Yes. This.
Note how anon404 actually answers the question with useful info.
I on the other hand, give you a dated reference from the '70's and call it a day.

I promise to do better in the future...

Cheers
-B

[cryophonik]

When someone says they start in A minor, then finish in G...

...they're doing it backward.

J/k, but it's far more common, as BERFAB and anon404 mentioned, to modulate up by a half-step or whole-step to build energy than it is to modulate downward, and even less common to modulate downward from a minor key to a major key. Again, that's not a "rule", per se, just a common modulation technique that has proven effective in many musical styles.