writing in different keys

L

luckicharm

New member
ok...my question is a little hard to put into words but ill try...

im new to piano, but ive picked it up very quickly. i understand the key signatures and chords and all that...basically i get the basics of songwriting on the piano. what im having trouble with is writing in different keys and how to decide which key to write in.

of course i started playing in the easy key of C. how did all of you learn to write in the different chords and do you decide your key before you write the song or after?
 
Writing in different keys is dependant on many factors. Certainly one key factor is a consideration of vocals. If you're writing for vocals you must consider the key that works best for the vocalist.

Another consideration iinvolves technique. As you've already indicated, C can be a very simple key if you stick to a I-IV-V since the chording does not require dealing with black keys, etc. However, C can sound rather bland given that the tonality of the flat keys is missing.

Often different keys (and the related chords) can create different "feeling" which can dictate a direction of a melody, etc.

I am self taught on keys (although I later took some theory lessons, etc.). I too started in the esay keys such as C & G. What worked for me was some fundamental things such as:

1. Learn 3 and 4 chord progressions in each key. Once you can quickly figure out the I-IV-V-vi in each key, the rest can come easier
2. Learn the circle of 5ths - it make step 1 so much easier
3. Learning scales in each key - in particular the "main" scales such as major scale, the pentatonic, and the minor blues scales - with those you can vamp out some lead riffs for almost any genre.
 
thanx for the reply! actually right now i am going through all the pentascales and cadences for all the major keys. i know the basics of the circle of fifths, but i havent really got into it too deep yet.
do u typically know which key u want to write in before u start writing the song?
 
mikeh said:
Certainly one key factor is a consideration of vocals. If you're writing for vocals you must consider the key that works best for the vocalist.

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there's your answer... are you writing specifically for yourself??? what's your range??(highest/lowest) next... though opinions differ IMO the next step is the melody... right i and alot of people write the melody first and it works ... example i read somewhere (an interview with quincy IIRC) that "Q" wouldn't even listen to "MJ's" ideas until he could whistle them and be interesting by themselves... and the record had like 10 tracks of which 8 went platinum !!!!
so ya got the melody? now take the highest note and put in the key where that note is like 3-4 notes short of your range... make sense?? this will allow you some room to adlib when you want and not tax your chops when you dont feel it... make sense??? good luck and BTW cool question for a newbie... props brother... :cool:
 
dementedchord said:
there's your answer... are you writing specifically for yourself??? what's your range??(highest/lowest) next... though opinions differ IMO the next step is the melody... right i and alot of people write the melody first and it works ... example i read somewhere (an interview with quincy IIRC) that "Q" wouldn't even listen to "MJ's" ideas until he could whistle them and be interesting by themselves... and the record had like 10 tracks of which 8 went platinum !!!!
so ya got the melody? now take the highest note and put in the key where that note is like 3-4 notes short of your range... make sense?? this will allow you some room to adlib when you want and not tax your chops when you dont feel it... make sense??? good luck and BTW cool question for a newbie... props brother... :cool:
Click to expand...

^ im a sister :)
your advice actually makes good sense. thanx for the replies guys!
 
Furthermore, each key *sounds* different., In general (to me anyways), flat keys sound darker than sharp keys.

Also, in general, different keys fall better on different instruments. Guitar and bass players love sharp keys. Brass players prefer flat keys mainly.

And lastly, the impact of a different ranges applies not only to vocalists, but to instrumentalists as well. Stuff sounds very different depending on where is sits on the instrument. String players thsi is critical - each string on a voilin, viola, or cello sounds different, as do the open strings.

Just a little food for thought.
 
so i should keep on playing each scale until i get more familiar with each one before i should start trieng to write in different keys...i wish i could just automatically sit and play in any key i wanted. the only key i can do that in is C and G...it sux!
 
luckicharm said:
so i should keep on playing each scale until i get more familiar with each one before i should start trieng to write in different keys...i wish i could just automatically sit and play in any key i wanted. the only key i can do that in is C and G...it sux!
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It takes time and effort but it is worth it.

I spent hours every day doing scales in all keys and all types: major, minor (harmonic, natural, etc), modal, and jazz scales. You get out of music what you put in.
 
my bad baby... as an aside... the great composer Irving Berlin could only play in C as they obviously didnt have midi transpose... he had a piano where the whole keydeck could shift to accomodate his playing... :eek: :eek:
 
Actually, as I recall, Berlin couldn't even play, could he? I though he had a ghost write who he sang his melodies to.

I could be wrong.

No one is saying that you HAVE to master all keys to write a song. But the more tools you have, the better off you'll be. And it's really hard to modulate if you can only play in one or two keys :D


dementedchord said:
my bad baby... as an aside... the great composer Irving Berlin could only play in C as they obviously didnt have midi transpose... he had a piano where the whole keydeck could shift to accomodate his playing... :eek: :eek:
Click to expand...
 
I'll share a key transpose horror story that resulted in me swearing I would learn to play in every key and never, ever again use a transpose.

My main axe is the drum kit but I'm a pretty decent keyboard player (now). However, back in about 1991 I had just enough keyboard chops that I was able to join one of the hottest 60's-80's cover bands in town (backing several national acts, playing large festivals, etc). I did not think I was good enough, but keyboard players are alway in demand - and I figured what better way to really improve my chops, playing in a good band with very good players.

So I woodshedded all the tunes and worked harder than the other guys each time we had to learn a new tune (I often had to cover horn lines, strings, etc. in addition to the standard piano & organ lines) - I had two keyboards and two modules, so I was earning my pay. But I was also getting better as a player in leaps and bounds.

Well, maybe a couple of months into the gig a couple of horn players from another well known group sat in and we were going to do a few R & B tunes. The first tune they called off was originally recorded in Bb (horn songs are often in flat keys) - however, I had learned the song in C and I was not yet good enough to transpose on the fly - so, I used the transpose button.

I got through the 1st song OK - but then - at the start of the next song I forgot to adjust the transpose, naturally I started the next song 1/2 step flat (and even a deaf person could have heard the chaos). I had to drop out of the song while trying to get into the correct key (occasionally hitting a note here and there as quietly as possible to figure out what key I needed to be in. For some reason, I could not recall that I had transposed down 1/2 step - so I was not able to logically simply transpose up 1/2 step. I pretty much fell into a panic mode, all rathional thought failed me and I no doubt had that "deer in the headlights look".

The guys in the band kept looking at me as if I were a troll and the sound guy finally took me out of the mains. Every single person in the crowd (a couple of thousand people) could see (and hear) that I was having a problem - and if I did not believe that "the show must go on" - I would have crawled under that stage into a fetal position until the next morning.

I never, ever used a transpose button after that and the next day I learned that friggin tune (whatever tune it was) in Bb!!!

Bottem line - learn how to play in every key!!
 
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