Keys, key signatures, music-keys, changing keys – what does it all mean?To give you an introduction, first, let's listen to a C scale (push play).
Okay, here it is.
Now it feels as if we are home again, and all is right with the world. The notes we played are in the key of “C” because “C” (both the note and the chord) feel like home.
So that's what a key is – a home. It's named for the note that feels like home. It's where the notes in a particular piece of music feel comfortable. It's often the note where they start (at the beginning of the song) and always where they end up (the last and lowest note). All of the notes in the middle are related in one way or another to that home base. They get together to form all kinds of harmonies and melodies and may seem that they will never come back, but they always do.
Since my marriage 32 years ago I have moved about 21 times. With each move I feel very strange at first. I certainly don't feel at home. But once my own furniture is set up and familiar pictures are on the walls, I start to feel at home. Music can move in just the same way.
It's called a key change. Do you want to hear one?
Did you hear the music-keys change? The sample started in the key of C, but changed to the key of F.
You might see a moving van pull up in the middle of a song like that, and for a moment it will sound unsettling. Just wait, and soon you'll hear the notes making themselves at home once again. Each time it happens, the address changes.
What's the address of a key? Its key signature. It is found at the beginning of every piece of music just inside the first bracket. It is an arrangement of flats or sharps sitting on the lines of the staff. You just have to know how to read the address. (We'll save that for another article.)
Here are some examples.
There are 12 homes possible in what we call “major” keys or music-keys. But the possibilities aren't limited to those 12. Imagine their home being a nice ranch-style with a basement. The biggest (major) part is the ground floor where the Mom and Dad and their 5 little grace notes live. The basement, however, has also been made into a nice little (minor) apartment, perfect for the newlyweds: the niece and her new husband.
So now we have one address, but two homes - two music-keys. Is it possible to have one key signature for two keys? Yes! For every key signature there are two possible keys: one major and one minor, with the minor always being in the basement (or three half-steps below the major). For instance C Major and his niece, A Minor share the same key signature (address).
Listen to C Major first, then A Minor.
The two may be related (just like the niece is related to the family upstairs), and have the same key signature, but they really don't sound the same.
Two music-keys – one major and one minor – that share a key signature are called “related” keys.
What about keys that share a name? My name is Kathy. There are lots of Kathy's in my town, but only one that lives at my address. Keys also sometimes share names. There can be a “C Major” and a “C Minor” key. They may share the name, but they don't share a key signature. C Major's key signature has no sharps or flats, but C Minor's has 3 flats.
Two music-keys – one major and one minor – that share a name, but not a key signature are called “parallel” keys. Would you like to hear two parallel keys? Here is C Major, then C Minor.
So there you have it. Keys are like homes where the notes live. It's where a song feels comfortable, but it is possible for a song to set up house and feel fine in another home, too, through a key change. Key signatures are like the address that identifies the music's home key. Key signatures can be the home for two keys – one major and one minor, which are related but don't share a first name. Keys, or music-keys, that do share a name never have the same address (key signature).
The great thing is that the key of “C” is only one option. Each key has its own character, like the paint on the outside of their house. Some keys are bright, and some are dark-sounding. Some feel warm, and some a bit cool. Composers paint their music with these colors to create marvelous rainbows of sound.
Kathleen Briggs
is a contributing composer/arranger for Music House Publications.
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