So far our discussion on determining a key of a song has been somewhat biased towards major keys. There are, obviously, songs that are in minor keys and this is where developing your ear can be a great asset.
Remember when we talked about key signatures a few posts ago? Well, truth be told, even key signatures can fool you. For instance, that bit of notation with the three flats? Yes, three flats does indicate a key of Eb major, but every major key has a relative minor and the relative minor of Eb is C minor. So is that particular snippet of music in Eb major or C minor?
The trouble is that we really can’t tell, at least not given what we were given to work with in that particular example. Having some information on harmony would give us some help. For instance, if Eb major was supposed to be played over the first two measures and Bb or Bb7 over the second, then we could (relatively) safely say it was in Eb. If Cm were the chord over the first two verses and Bb over the second two, then we’d still be a little unsure of which of the two choices to go with. But if Cm were the first chord and G7 (G, B, D and F – the D and F being the melody notes here), then you could go with C minor as the key with a little more certainty.
One of the problems here is language. Many musicians use the words “key” and “tonal center” interchangeably. But any key can have different tonal centers other than the root note of the key, as we see all the time with relative minors.
To give yourself a better grip on minor keys, you might want to take a look at an old Guitar Column at Guitar Noise called Minor Progress. There you’ll read about the fact that there are three minor scales to deal with! Each has a different way of resolving the feeling of “home” or of the tonal center, if you will. Â
Another easy (and obvious!) thing you can do to familiarize yourself with chord progressions in minor keys is to listen to songs in minor keys. Listen, for instance, to a song like Neil Young’s Like a Hurricane and compare it to Dion’s Runaway. Don’t laugh! They both start out with Am chords and then progress from Am to G and then to F. Like a Hurricane then changes to Em and back to G (and you might already know somewhere in the back of your mind that Em is the relative minor of G) while Runaway goes from F to E7, giving it a much different feel even though both songs share the same tonal center of A minor. Â
One last point to keep in mind is that any song can change keys. These keys changes can be temporary shifts, or modulations, or can leave the original tonal center far in the dust. This is one reason why it’s important to look at a lot of songs in segments or sections, when trying to determine just what key you may be in when soloing.
Speaking of which, we have covered quite a bit of this information (and will be covering even more in the near future) in our Turning Scales into Solos series at Guitar Noise. If you’ve not yet read any of these, you can find the very first one, Choosing Colors, here.
I realize that the discussion on this particular topic is far from complete, but hopefully you have enough to get started. Please feel free to post any further questions you might have right here or on the Guitar Noise Forum pages.
Until next time…
Peace
February 1st, 2009 @ 10:33 am
I first came to playing music through years of playng the cello which means I was trained in a classical method. That experience was marked by a very linear, non-intuitive style not the creative, spontaneous style of the roots music I which I am now (trying to) playing with the guitar. Do you have any tips about how to make this shift – ie. practice, approaching a new song, and improvising?
Thanks and keep up the good work!!
fishrock
February 14th, 2009 @ 2:13 pm
Hi Tom
Thanks for writing.
I know many musicians who have come up the same way and while each of them have a bit of a different and personal approach to improvising, one key element they share is in starting out slowly. It’s very easy to get frustrated because your technique is good but you can’t quite do what you want to as yet.
I recommend beginning with very simple songs that you already know quite well – pop songs with two to four chords or even your basic twelve-bar blues progression. Even though it’s geared for guitarists, you may find the series on Turning Scales into Solos that we’re running at Guitar Noise to be of help to you.
Try to sit in with other musicians in an informal jam session whenever possible (if you happen to live in western Massachusetss, let me know!). Usually folks are very friendly and helpful in this sort of setting and you will learn more by doing the playing than simply by getting your head in shape by reading up on things.
Be prepared to make a lot of mistakes, but also be prepared to have a lot of fun. Please keep me posted on how things are going. Good cellists (is that a word?) add so much to a jam session.
Thanks again for writing and I look forward to hearing from you again.
Peace
April 10th, 2010 @ 11:18 am
David,
I just finished reading your 3 articals on determining key signature.
What I want to know is; Can the use of diatonic scales be used to identify the key of the song? If so, then is the key of that song the first of the diatonic scale or is it the mode of the first chord?
Thank you,
Jasper Eads of Unstaggered
April 10th, 2010 @ 10:02 pm
Hi Jasper
You certainly can use the diatonic chords to determine the key of a song. The thing to remember, though, is that this isn’t a foolproof method. Many songs in any one given key often borrow chords from other keys. For example, a song like Taking Care of Business, by Bachman Turner Overdrive, which primarily uses the chords C, Bb and F is in the key of C even though those three chords are diatonic only to the key of F.
While there are lots of ways to try to determine the key of a song, no single way guarantees you the correct answer. But more times than not, going by the diatonic chords will be helpful.
Peace