Why Find The Key Of A Song?
Finding the key of a song can have many applications. Composers could use it to transpose and modify the scale to better suit a singer’s voice or make the arrangement sound better. When using MIDI loops, it can be of tremendous help to know the key of your song so that you can transpose the MIDI loops to fit the key of your song. If you're a DJ, you could use it to make your live sets flow better. To find the key, all that is required is a very basic understanding of music theory and a musical instrument, preferably a piano or keyboard.
How To Find The Key Of A Song
First, listen to the song a number of times and hum along with the main melody. After a few listens, focus on the main note implied by the melody. Force your brain into picking just one note and try humming that one note continuously. Find that note on a piano by matching it with your humming. Keep trying different notes until it matches.
There’s a high probability that this note is the root note (also known as tonic) of the song. The other times, it usually ends up being the 3rd or 5th note of the scale. If the found the root note and it is correct, it will seem to sound like it fits almost everywhere in the song.
Once the root note is set, go up by either 3 or 4 semitones and check for the note that “sounds right”. Depending on which one fits, the scale is either minor or major. We can build the rest of the scale by using a simple guide.
Major And Minor Scales
Typically, major and minor scales are built using 7 notes. The 8th note will be the root again in the next octave. Almost every note in the scale (except the root and the 5th) will have major and minor versions, depending on the scale. Every scale starts with the root note. After that, we go up the scale using the formula below:
R = Root note
S = Semitone
T = Tone (two semitones)
Major:
R-T-T-S-T-T-T-S(R)
Minor:
R-T-S-T-T-S-T-T(R)
For example, take the root note to be C. By using the above formula, the C major scale would be:
C-D-E-F-G-A-B-C
Similarly, the C minor scale would be:
C-D-Eb-F-G-A-Bb-C
Troubleshooting, Variations And Modulation
Sometimes, a few notes might be off depending on the song. For getting them right, play around with whatever note sounds off by shifting it up or down by a semitone. After making these changes, check whether the melody of the song is built using only these notes. If so, then that is the scale being used for that song.
Similarly, there are several other scales which need not have 7 notes. For example, pentatonic scales have 5 notes. A chromatic scale has 12 notes. There are different formulae for building these scales.
It is important to note is the relationship between the major chords and relative minor chords, and how they are linked with the 6th in the scale.
For example, the A minor chord is the relative minor of C major. In the C major scale, A is the 6th. This applies to various other scales. Suppose we are in the scale of G major. The 6th is an E, so E minor is the relative minor to G major.
This approach can help you shift from one chord to another after finding the tonic of the song. In many popular songs, chord progressions are based around I-V-vi-IV, and thus, relative minors are used as part of the chord progressions. Understanding the circle of fifths helps a lot in this regard. Some songs also modulate (i.e change key) within the song. In such cases the song may change its tonal centre during the course of the song.
MIDI Piano Loops
An easy way to overcome writers block when making your music is to start with MIDI loops to help you get ideas and then tweak the loops and transpose them according to your song. Download Emotions MIDI Piano Loops to instantly help you with getting ideas for piano arrangements and chord progressions you could use to get inspired and create your songs.
Hope you found the post useful. Check out mysticalankar.com for more info and music production resources like sample packs, sound banks and templates to take your productions to the next level!