How to determine what key a song is in

dubbeat

Hey folks, first time posting in this area of boards.

I've being trying to teach myself guitar for the past while now and recently I've gotten more interested in trying to learn the theory side of things.

I want to know how you would figure out the key of a song.

For example I learned a song named burritos by sublime. The tab I got for it lays the chrods out like so.

A D F Bb Eb C C# Dm

I played along to the song and it does sound right so I trust the tab. Whats a good method for figuring out the key of the song based on this? Or what types of things should I study to help me understand how to do this?

I had a wizz though the a,b,c,d,e,f,g major scales (pretty much all I know) and I couldnt match any up with this (I don't know what I'm doing!).

Could you offer me some advice? I really want to be able to understand stuff.

Theres probably a lot to it but I don't mind spending a Ka-gillion hours studying something so long as I know I'm going in the right direction.

Thanks!

Malice

Whassup B-dawg?

I can't say I've ever tried to figure out the key of a song myself either but this seems like it could be a useful read.

dubbeat

Ahoy hoy mr Malice.

According to this guy the chords in the song are "f'ed in the a" and comprise of actually more than 1 key.

http://www.guitarforbeginners.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=25959&view=getnewpost

Didnt know you could do that..... but I guess thats what happens when you write songs on smack.

Cheers for the link

Hendrixfan

I'm no expert myself so take this with a pinch of salt, I go over mostly rock and blues songs, most of the time I find the key of the song is the 1st chord played, song starts in A, key is A, song starts in A minor, key is A minor. Not sure if its the right way to look at it but it works my end.

dubbeat

Hendrixfan wrote: »

I'm no expert myself so take this with a pinch of salt, I go over mostly rock and blues songs, most of the time I find the key of the song is the 1st chord played, song starts in A, key is A, song starts in A minor, key is A minor. Not sure if its the right way to look at it but it works my end.

Sound's like a reasonable enough rule of thumb. I'd say it's likey the case for a lot of songs. This one in question seems a little peculiar tho

rcaz

Looks like D minor. The C# (when considered along with the two flats) is the kicker - major and minor keys always have a semitone from the 7th to the 1st/8th degree. If you're looking for a key signature, a good place to start is with a note that has a semitone before it.

Here there are two semitones, the A-Bb and the C#-D. But it isn't Bb because then the first interval of the scale, Bb-C#, would be a tone+semitone, which (usually) only happens from 6-7 in the melodic minor scale, so that works out for D minor.

Of course there's really chromatic music where the tonality mightn't be very well defined, modal music where they scales won't be the same as regular western tonal music, polytonal music where there's more than one key in there, and atonal music (but if you know it's atonal you won't be looking for a key :pac: ). There aren't any rules to say that the first chord or the last chord or any particular chord has to be the tonic, that's just easy-to-listen-to convention that might work out a lot of the time, but doesn't hold any water! Then there's modulations and transpositions and all sorts of fun stuff that could thwart a system like that. So here we're assuming the key of the song is the same the whole way through, which mightn't always be the case

A good way to go is to figure out what the key might be, play the 5th chord and the 1st chord and see if it sounds 'finished' like a typical classical music ending perfect cadence, if it does then that 1st chord is probably the tonic of the key. So for here, play A major and then D minor and it should sound like a big FI-NISHED type cadence, then you'll know

-=al=-

7th is is flattened usually, esp in blues or rock songs

u can almost always notice the chord that takes the song or progression "home" for instance i was walking through the living room with a guitar about 5 mins ago and some sky add came on, immediately i figured out it was in the key of C ust by hitting a note or 2

when it comes to keys usually stick with either flats or sharps

so Bb major would be Bb C D Eb F G A ... not Bb C D# E F G A ...im sure chords and notes in songs can be changed once stated accordingly, there is technically no rules but you can usually work out a key handy enough unless its something ridiculous on purpsose

rcaz

-=al=- wrote: »

7th is is flattened usually, esp in blues or rock songs

In some blues, sure, but definitely not 'usually'.

18AD

dubbeat wrote: »

A D F Bb Eb C C# Dm

I'd say it's in D. Probably minor. But you can't just stick to that scale. I think it modulates to Bb major in the 2nd bar as the F major acts as a V chord to resolve into Bb. The F major is also the relative major of D minor so it works as a pivot chord between the two keys.

The C C# are just a chromatic approach to the Dm. Not much to do with the key. Although I would emphasise the C natural and relegate the C# to a passing chord.
[In D] [In Bb] [ In Dm ]
V I ... V I IV ... VIIb VII Im

There may be somethings I'm not seeing.

Best.
AD

dubbeat

@18AD.

Thats a very useful breakdown. Thanks a lot!

ciaranmac

I'd say it's in D alright, but it's Phrygian mode rather than a regular minor key. Phrygian has flattened 2nd (Eb), 6th (Bb) and 7th (C) which are not flat in D minor.