I’ve noticed that some songs are written in C major, others in A♯/B♭ major, D major, E major, etc. What factors influence an artist’s or composer’s choice of key?
Watching videos, the same producer changes the key from song to song.
Let’s stick to electronic instrumental music, to avoid singer voice range issues.
With regards
picking the correct key
-
- KVRist
- 200 posts since 16 Jul, 2018 from Czech Republic / Prague
-
- KVRAF
- 3764 posts since 5 Mar, 2004 from Gold Coast Australia
There is no such thing as "correct" or "more betterer" Key/Scales. Nor do Scales have a vibe per se. Ok, so an Arabian Scale will feel Egyptian more than say C Maj but that is cultural, not factual as such.
So the thing is that the composer picks a Key/Scale that suits what they are doing for one of many reasons which can range from 'C Maj is easy' to 'wanting a specific turn of phrase' that requires B Min Aug to comfortably allow that sequence of notes.
Further, you can (and should) create your own Scales for pieces. The thing about Scales is they only exist to help other musicians muck in with you as y'all pick away on yer banjos and fiddles. So if you want to make a piece with C, C# and A, you may do this. The only proviso being that you can have the relevant audience understand what you are doing - not the scale but the Story being told. You do this by helping the listener understand the context and by being consistent. Show your pattern a few times and people (who want to) will follow. People with no sense of tune are inconsistent, which is what makes them a pain to listen to (and a great joke on Idol shows).
So the thing is that the composer picks a Key/Scale that suits what they are doing for one of many reasons which can range from 'C Maj is easy' to 'wanting a specific turn of phrase' that requires B Min Aug to comfortably allow that sequence of notes.
Further, you can (and should) create your own Scales for pieces. The thing about Scales is they only exist to help other musicians muck in with you as y'all pick away on yer banjos and fiddles. So if you want to make a piece with C, C# and A, you may do this. The only proviso being that you can have the relevant audience understand what you are doing - not the scale but the Story being told. You do this by helping the listener understand the context and by being consistent. Show your pattern a few times and people (who want to) will follow. People with no sense of tune are inconsistent, which is what makes them a pain to listen to (and a great joke on Idol shows).
Benedict Roff-Marsh
http://www.benedictroffmarsh.com
http://www.benedictroffmarsh.com
-
- KVRist
- 379 posts since 8 Sep, 2005 from Seattle
For an instrumentalist it can be about what feels best "under the fingers" to play. Also some instruments like guitars have interesting options like open strings/harmonics that only work in expected ways in combination with certain keys in certain contexts, depending on how they're tuned. You also have synth patches and samples that sound best for the song in certain pitch ranges. Decide your highest priority parts and pick a key that's the best compromise for all of them. A DJ might think about how it will feel if a song is in Fmin and then the next song is in a completely unrelated key or the exact same one -- either could be effective for a specific "moment" in a set.
There's also just "random" picking, sometimes just for variety, to challenge yourself, to flex, to do what some tutorial mistakenly told you to, to do what your hero does. These are valid and can interact with the instrument you're on -- the instrument feels a certain way under the fingers and the patch sounds a certain way when played in a certain range and these spawn ideas that might not occur to you otherwise. So things can go in the opposite direction -- you pick a key for "dumb" reasons and it helps define the track you come up with. All is well that ends well.
There's also just "random" picking, sometimes just for variety, to challenge yourself, to flex, to do what some tutorial mistakenly told you to, to do what your hero does. These are valid and can interact with the instrument you're on -- the instrument feels a certain way under the fingers and the patch sounds a certain way when played in a certain range and these spawn ideas that might not occur to you otherwise. So things can go in the opposite direction -- you pick a key for "dumb" reasons and it helps define the track you come up with. All is well that ends well.