How To Find The Key To A Song?

This is the problem most musician's face. A person could start up a song, and it would take ages to figure out what key is, and as if you get the key but struggle with determining the pattern of the song.

Let us try to understand how to find the key to a song.

What is a key?

A key is a major or minor scale in music, around which a piece of music revolves. That relates to major and minor scales having 12 major and 12 minor keys respectively, and playing it produces a very melodic sound. People sometimes confuse keys with scale. A scale is an ordered set of notes typically used in a key, while the key is the "centre of the set of notes" established by particular chord progressions.

What is a Tonality?

Tonality is an organized system of tones of a major or minor scale in which one tone becomes the central point for the remaining tones. Skilled musicians and composers have learned to use these outside keynotes without upsetting the tonality of the music. Outside notes occur in most styles of music in many jazz solos, heavy metal riffs, or a simple pop song.

Key Signature

The easiest way to figure out the key of a song is by using its key signature. The number of sharps/flats in the key signature tells you the key of the song. A key signature with no sharps or flats is the key of C (or A minor). Helps moreover on the guitar and piano.

Chord Patterns

When key signature doesn’t help you, then chord patterns will identify the key of a song, whether it is a major/minor key. Chords of a key are chords formed from a scale. Take the C major scale as an example: C, D, E, F, G, A, B. For each note of this scale, we will form a chord. Therefore, we will have seven chords, which will be the chords of the key of C major. Chords set the tonality of a song depends on the chords present in that song.

Steps To Find The Key of a Music by Ear

• Step 1 - Listen to the song - When you listen to it, feel the song completely.
• Step 2 - Hum the song - When you do, hum along with the song.
• Step 3 - Find the note on your instrument - hum and find the note.
• Step 4 - Build the scale - once you find the key, build the scale.

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