# Musical people: what's your favorite key? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 10, 2005, 11:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-people-whats-your-favorite-key/284027 "2005-01-10T11:54:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2005, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-people-whats-your-favorite-key/284027/41 "2005-01-12T00:53:01Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > I’m afraid the only memorable theme I’ve written is, apparently, in C Mixolydian mode: I just spent over an hour trying to find out what key, or even mode, it is in, since I havent taken formal classes for over 25 years, but apparently none of them have two semitones with only one note in between, rather than two or three. > > The “home” note is C, and it uses only these notes: > > C > A > A#/Bb > F#/Gb > F. > > Now, I can’t fit it into **any** mode or key unless I remove F#. Then it fits into the above mode, even though F sounds less natural. It sounds like an outlier to me. > > But the theme I made is very sad, yet hopeful. Perhaps I hear some similarities to D Minor, but starting on C makes it more hopeful? It’s pretty hard for me to fit that into any Western musical mode. You’ve got the notes of a C mixolydian dominant there (full scale: C D E F# G A Bb). Problem is, you have nothing to suggest major/minor tonality (E or E flat?) You could be using a blues scale (technically, C Eb F Gb G Bb C, but it’s not uncommon to add D, E natural, and A to the scale.) Without any idea of what kind of chords sit behind this melody, it’s hard to say what scale you’re using. Are you sure C is the tonic? Also, you may be using what’s called “passing tones” which are notes outside a certain scale. If you can write out the whole melody line with the chords behind it, I can tell you what scale/mode you’re using (assuming you are working within the Western framework.) ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2005, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-people-whats-your-favorite-key/284027/42 "2005-01-12T03:26:27Z")
> [@bienville](#): > > That’s exactly who I was thinking of. Thank you, **Bryan**! On further reflection, I’m not sure if Short originated the character on _SCTV_ or during his later stint on _Saturday Night Live_. ---
**Author:** ![Call\_me\_Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/90ced4/32.png) [@Call\_me\_Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Call_me_Frank)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2005, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-people-whats-your-favorite-key/284027/43 "2005-01-12T05:15:13Z")
Eb major. I played trombone for all of my secondary education career and 2 flats aren’t quite enough and 4 are too many. I might also like Eb major 'cause I was kinda partial to 3rd position (trombones do it in 7 positions, don’tchaknow). ---
**Author:** ![edwino](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/35a633/32.png) [@edwino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/edwino)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2005, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-people-whats-your-favorite-key/284027/44 "2005-01-12T06:02:15Z")
> [@Kythereia](#): > > C# minor is a real bitch to play, quoth the pianist, but it sounds wonderful. 😉 No ways. As **pulykamell** said rightly, it just feels natural. Hard to read, but once you get it, the hand just falls into the piece. The third movement of Moonlight begins with a good bit of arpeggio runs. (link to [midi file](http://www.ourlittleplace.com/sounds/MoonLte3.mid)). I haven’t actively played it since high school, but if I sit at a piano, my hands just fall into it and I can pull off at least the first page without problems. I compare that to the allegro of the first movement of Pathetique, which also has blazing runs (about two minutes into [this midi file](http://jan.ucc.nau.edu/~krr2/musan_midi/Pathiq_a.mid)). I find that piece harder, simply because of that tonic C. Not that I find Moonlight easy, but I just can fall back into it. Just try to pull of the sweeping runs of Chopin’s [Fantasie Impromptu](http://www.geocities.com/darnbi/etudbalpolmusic/impfant_c.mid) or the second page of his [C#min Waltz](http://www.geocities.com/darnbi/walznocmaz/wal_op64no2in_cmin.mid) or the second page of the [Rachmaninoff Prelude](http://www.classical.net/music/audio/midi/rachmaninoff/preludecsharp.mid) (BTW one of the most fun pieces ever to play – especially the double staved ending!) in any other key with fewer black notes or a white note tonic. ---
**Author:** ![jimpatro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b9e5f3/32.png) [@jimpatro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jimpatro)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2005, 8:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-people-whats-your-favorite-key/284027/45 "2005-01-12T08:35:14Z")
I don’t believe keys exist. Sorry bad one. Actually I prefer E, since I know the pentatonic scale backwards, forwards, upside down and it’s so easy in E(guitarwise.) ---
**Author:** ![Othersider](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/cab0a1/32.png) [@Othersider](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Othersider)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2005, 9:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-people-whats-your-favorite-key/284027/46 "2005-01-12T09:06:28Z")
> [@World Eater](#): > > “The devil’s octave” > > A to E I always thought the “devil’s octave” was the tritone (2 notes separated by 3 full steps)…for example, E and A#, or A and Eb. > [@jimpatro](#): > > I don’t believe keys exist. Does that make you an akeyist? 😉 > [@jimpatro](#): > > Sorry bad one. Actually I prefer E, since I know the pentatonic scale backwards, forwards, upside down and it’s so easy in E(guitarwise.) E major or E minor? If you meant E minor, I would agree - it’s the first key in which I became pentatonically proficient. It seems probably the most natural (don’t ask me why, but I find myself most at home in the 7th and 12th positions). ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2005, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-people-whats-your-favorite-key/284027/47 "2005-01-12T17:37:08Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > You could be using a blues scale (technically, C Eb F Gb G Bb C, but it’s not uncommon to add D, E natural, and A to the scale.) I think you’re right, since A sounds the second most “unnatural”. Furthermore, it sounds a lot like the soloes on The Wall, which seem to me to be about %50-%75 blues soloes. I was probably using the blues scale in my mind. ---
**Author:** ![rivulus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/839c29/32.png) [@rivulus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rivulus)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2005, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-people-whats-your-favorite-key/284027/48 "2005-01-13T00:00:40Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Sharps are good! A bitch to read (especially when your start hitting double sharps), but they feel good in the hand. Do you know which key best fits the shape of the hand on the piano? B Major. Play it and you’ll see why. Shorter thumb falls on the white keys, longer fingers on the blacks. For similar reasons, jazz and blues pianists love the F blues scale. You can play wickedly fast with that. Not like C. C gives you carpal tunnel. Couldn’t agree more. Here’s an example. Art songs often appear in volumes in different transpositions according to voice type, such as high (for sopranos and tenors), medium (for mezzos and baritones) and low (for contraltos and basses). Some songs, however, should _not_ be performed in transposed versions if you have any consideration whatsoever for your accompanist. Richard Strauss’s “Standchen” (umlaut over the “a”) is a case in point. Its original key is F-sharp major, which makes the fast filigree of the accompaniment just playable, especially in the the _pp_ sections. Another key, like F major, would be nasty to deal with physically and difficult to nuance. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2005, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-people-whats-your-favorite-key/284027/49 "2005-01-13T02:31:58Z")
> [@jimpatro](#): > > I don’t believe keys exist. That’s only true if your favourite instrument is the spoons. Because there is no spoon. Okay, it’s a reach. Shaddup. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2005, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-people-whats-your-favorite-key/284027/50 "2005-01-13T02:57:02Z")
I never realized I had a favorite key; though I have excellent relative pitch, I’m totally lacking in “perfect” pitch. So I made a list of some of my favorite classical pieces (I’m thinking that most popular music is transposed). And the winner, by far, is: E minor. Interesting. ---
**Author:** ![Ms\_Boods](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5e9695/32.png) [@Ms\_Boods](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ms_Boods)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2005, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-people-whats-your-favorite-key/284027/51 "2005-01-13T04:44:48Z")
Classical guitarist who loves to sight read: anything and everything with sharps! C and Am, fine, too. But I usually go running screaming into the night if I have to sight read anything with flats except F and Dm, which is daft, I suppose. But other guitarists I know all say they prefer the sharp keys as well. You didn’t ask, but I will also add that I prefer to play and sightread compound time sigs, too. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2005, 7:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-people-whats-your-favorite-key/284027/52 "2005-01-13T07:40:58Z")
Non-music-reading longtime rock and blues guitarist (is there any other kind?). I am surprised that I seem to be the first to mention plain old simple **A**. As the aforementioned type of guitarist, this is for a lot of reasons: 1. Your classic I IV V blues/rock progression = A D E, which means lots of resonant open strings when playing chords at the nut and the ultimate cliche set of barre chords. 2. A Pent (I suppose officially A minor pentatonic) is the first scale any self-respecting cliched blues/rock lead player learns. The basic set of box-shapes moving up the neck starting at G on the low E, up to the E at the 12th fret on the high e. I remember the article in Guitar Player where Eddie Van Halen introduced this as the first scale he ever learned - that was enough for me. 3. Playing a “cheater’s A” - where instead of using three fingers to make the chord, you just use your index finger - is, like, essential to rock. You can bounce your ring finger off the D string, 4th fret to do 50’s rock, and do hammer-on’s and pull-offs on A/3rd fret and E/3rd fret for blues, rock, hard rock, etc… 4. Johnny B. Goode, Rock n’ Roll (the Zep tune), All Right Now, tons of AC/DC - it’s all A, baby! ---
**Author:** ![Othersider](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/cab0a1/32.png) [@Othersider](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Othersider)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2005, 10:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-people-whats-your-favorite-key/284027/53 "2005-01-13T10:52:06Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > A Pent (I suppose officially A minor pentatonic) is the first scale any self-respecting cliched blues/rock lead player learns. The basic set of box-shapes moving up the neck starting at G on the low E, up to the E at the 12th fret on the high e. I remember the article in Guitar Player where Eddie Van Halen introduced this as the first scale he ever learned - that was enough for me. The first one I learned was Em pent. Maybe I play too much Metallica or something. 😃 > [@WordMan](#): > > Johnny B. Goode, Rock n’ Roll (the Zep tune), All Right Now, tons of AC/DC - it’s all A, baby! Johnny B. Goode is in Bb (though I suppose you could play it in A if you used a capo). And I would posit that AC/DC probably did as many songs in E as they did in A. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2005, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-people-whats-your-favorite-key/284027/54 "2005-01-13T15:43:29Z")
IANAMusician. I asked this question several years ago, but this seems like a great opportunity to ask it again: Why? Why is there a different “feel” or “color” for different keys? Based on what WordMan says, it kind of makes sense for guitar, where more open strings would give different resonance. But what difference does it make to a vocalist or a piano? Why do minor keys sound “sad”? ---
**Author:** ![Kythereia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e8c25b/32.png) [@Kythereia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kythereia)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2005, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-people-whats-your-favorite-key/284027/55 "2005-01-13T18:26:50Z")
> [@jsc1953](#): > > IANAMusician. I asked this question several years ago, but this seems like a great opportunity to ask it again: Why? Why is there a different “feel” or “color” for different keys? > > Based on what WordMan says, it kind of makes sense for guitar, where more open strings would give different resonance. But what difference does it make to a vocalist or a piano? > > Why do minor keys sound “sad”? Dunno. Same reason blue is a ‘melancholy’ colour in art, or that red is an ‘angry’ colour, I suppose. It’s just a feeling. Can’t get more specific than that, I’m sure someone will be along to correct me. 😉 Am I really the only one out there who has trouble playing C# minor? ☹ ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2005, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-people-whats-your-favorite-key/284027/56 "2005-01-13T18:35:22Z")
> [@jsc1953](#): > > IANAMusician. I asked this question several years ago, but this seems like a great opportunity to ask it again: Why? Why is there a different “feel” or “color” for different keys? > > Based on what WordMan says, it kind of makes sense for guitar, where more open strings would give different resonance. But what difference does it make to a vocalist or a piano? > > Why do minor keys sound “sad”? You’ll find some (rather heated) discussion of this in [this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=296023). One point I’d make is that the majority of instruments behave differently in different keys - all string instruments have their own tuning layout, while wind instruments have a timbre that varies through their range, and in the case of valved brass throughout each octave. ---
**Author:** ![bsaucer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bsaucer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bsaucer)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2014, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-people-whats-your-favorite-key/284027/57 "2014-01-13T17:40:10Z")
> [@](#): > > One point I’d make is that the majority of instruments behave differently in different keys - all string instruments have their own tuning layout, while wind instruments have a timbre that varies through their range, and in the case of valved brass throughout each octave. As I understand it, most wind instruments prefer flat keys (F ,Bb, Eb, Ab), and most string instruments prefer sharp keys (G, D, A, E). As for my listening preference, I prefer F-major and D-minor, but I don’t care for the other flat keys. I consider C-major and the sharp keys “OK”, but I still consider F and Dm my favorites. ---
**Author:** ![bsaucer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bsaucer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bsaucer)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2014, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-people-whats-your-favorite-key/284027/58 "2014-01-13T17:49:00Z")
> [@Windwalker](#): > > Heh, I don’t really associate with colors, per se, but more with moods. And you nailed E major, as I also picture it as a royal, majestic key. A major is also bright and cheery (not cherry ;)). D major is the key of life, which is probably influenced by my listening to Pachabel’s canon one too many times, as the canon sounds like a life story to me. I’ve always associated notes and keys with colors, like C is red, D is yellow, E is green, F is blue, etc. I also associate colors to numbers, days of week the week, vowel sounds, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Nom\_de\_Plume](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/85f322/32.png) [@Nom\_de\_Plume](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nom_de_Plume)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2014, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-people-whats-your-favorite-key/284027/59 "2014-01-13T17:49:52Z")
I’m a guitarist who plays a lot of bottleneck, so I like an open G (or I’ll capo it up to A.) When I write in concert tuning, I usually still favor G, Em and A. I think it makes a difference what instrument you favor. Pianists tend to favor C I think ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2014, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-people-whats-your-favorite-key/284027/60 "2014-01-13T17:50:57Z")
I like to play songs in A minor. Just as easy as C, but sad. I like sad. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-people-whats-your-favorite-key/284027.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-people-whats-your-favorite-key/284027.md?page=4)