Key

[Greg_L]

I was thinking about what greg said - and it is kind of funny - when I write a song on guitar I have absolutely no idea what key it is in.

That's all I was saying. Mr Serious Sensitive up there took it the wrong way. I know lots of chords, lots of scales, where what goes where, what sounds good together, etc, but I couldn't tell you the actual key of any of my songs. And it doesn't matter at all.

I write riffs and melodies first and they are the way they are. Usually a song is arranged and done before I think of one lyric. Lyrics generally don't mean shit to me anyway - mine or anyone else's. I figure out a way to make my voice do what I need to do. It's not like I'm singing opera or some sterile radio pop garbage. I can be a little rough with my vocals and it's all good.

 

[ido1957]

Tend to write in E Minor a lot cos I can play lead with having to think at all! Pretty good with D minor too from playing in drop D a lot and find A minor easy too. (Equally fine with the relative majors of course).

Just done a song that shifts from B minor to E minor which is fun as it's quite a subtle change but you can use the differences to make it sound really quirky as you change or avoid the differences to make it virtually un noticeable.

Writing in B flat or F sharp or something on the guitar must be akin to self harm! What's the point in making shit difficult and unfamiliar

I have written songs in Bb and F#. They were written in that key before I picked up my guitar. Like I said above, I write for my voice so whatever key it ends up in is the key. Writing in a "favorite" key based on what riffs you can play is fine if that key is in your range. If it is outside your range, then you're either going to fight to hit the high notes or sing it an octave lower and fight to stay in pitch in the lower notes. And lower might not allow you to belt out and give the melody some punch. Plus there's the previously mentioned consideration of the vocal harmonies being in your singing range.

I've seen this many times - guitar players can riff like mad in E and get peeved when the singer can't sing in that key. Then the singer gets mad because there's no consideration for his vocal range. Vocals are "usually" the focal point in songs, unless you're playing something like AC DC which is all screaming so it doesn't matter that everything is in E lol.

 

[Greg_L]

something like AC DC which is all screaming so it doesn't matter that everything is in E lol.

AC/DC uses tons of straight up open chords without many sharps and flats. Would that make most of their songs in "C"?

 

[JDOD]

AC/DC uses tons of straight up open chords without many sharps and flats. Would that make most of their songs in "C"?

Usually G or C which also equate to Em or Am respectively.

I don't really think of key which I'm initially writing stuff, although when I work it out afterwards most things happen to be in a handful of keys, just 'cos they are the way that I a most familiar with when adlibbing on the guitar. I do think of key after I've got a part written though as that can help generate interesting ideas for 2nd guitar parts, extra lead licks or strange changes.

 

[JDOD]

I have a couple songs in F#. Works just as good as any other key.. no self harm necessary.

I feel like I want to move my fretboard markers when in Bb...

 

[BroKen_H]

I'm not much of a guitar player, but are the markers that important? When I play a solo and I want it in a different key, I just slide what I'm playing up and down the fretboard...Transposing on the keys is a different story, but I've been doing that for 5 decades now (started when I was 4), so it's just second nature. Written in C and needs to move to Ab. No problem. On the guitar I just move down 4 frets (or up 8); on the piano, it's just a matter of identifying the modes and following. Sometimes you have to rewrite what you're doing because a guitar line that's played up 8 frets doesn't sound like it did originally...sometimes it sounds mo betta.

 

[fat_fleet]

I feel like I want to move my fretboard markers when in Bb...

I basically do what ido said up there where I fix the key to works with my voice, because my range is pretty small. And voice rules the roost. I can learn a new key, even if the fingerings are awkward, but I can't retrain my voice to hit out of range notes. But sometimes you gain new chord voicings switching to a wongo key, or gain a coharmonic open string that ends up sounding cool, etc.

 

[Armistice]

As a guitarist I write songs that work well in guitar - they're often chord based so they stay with the usual suspects. I think I've once and only once capoed up because it sat too low in my range - but I liked the chords better up there anyway.

I've usually always found a way to get vocals happening in whatever key the song happens to end up in, about which I never actually think, like a lot of you guys. And I have a low voice and a crap range.

 

[rayc]

I just use what chords, (or to be honest pairs or trios of notes because I only really know 10 chords but I discover after the fact that I've used an inverted M7 of and augmented 5th etc etc - discovered using a chord book when I'm trying to find grace notes for bass lines etc.. I certainly don't know what key I'm in - nor do I care) hang together and, as I can't sing at all, rely on others to create a string of notes that fit the progression.

 

[DM60]

I've been playing with key of Dm (F) on the guitar. Kind of fun to hear new chords that I rarely play. Plus, once I figure out the scale, then I just start playing different note combinations within that scale and it really gives me some sounds that are new to me. Kind of like buying a new guitar.

For Dm/F, the only area that is different from most of the other typical guitar keys, the B string can't be left open. Other than that, it is an easy key for the guitar. I just never really worked much with F/Dm and getting some cool sounds out of it.