Forum Home Forum Home > Other music related lounges > General Music Discussions
  New Posts New Posts RSS Feed - Music theory Nerds! What is the best musical key?
  FAQ FAQ  Forum Search   Events   Register Register  Login Login

Topic ClosedMusic theory Nerds! What is the best musical key?
 Post Reply Post Reply Page  12>
Author
Message Reverse Sort Order
  Topic Search Topic Search  Topic Options Topic Options
mono View Drop Down
Forum Senior Member
Forum Senior Member
Avatar

Joined: May 12 2005
Location: Paris, France
Status: Offline
Points: 652 		Direct Link To This Post Topic: Music theory Nerds! What is the best musical key?
    Posted: January 08 2010 at 02:54
C, G, F and D minor (last one mostly because I play a lot with guitars and bass...)
A, Ab and Eb major.
I don't care too much for scales because scales are already written...
https://soundcloud.com/why-music Prog trio, from ambiant to violence
https://soundcloud.com/m0n0-film Film music and production projects
https://soundcloud.com/fadisaliba (almost) everything else
Back to Top
keiser willhelm View Drop Down
Forum Senior Member
Forum Senior Member
Avatar

Joined: September 14 2007
Location: United States
Status: Offline
Points: 1697 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 08 2010 at 02:42
but my mind does a flip flop from piano which ive played since i was 6 and guitar. i think diferent keys sound better on different instruments and are definitely used more/less based on what instrument the piece is written for. 
What im listening to
Back to Top
keiser willhelm View Drop Down
Forum Senior Member
Forum Senior Member
Avatar

Joined: September 14 2007
Location: United States
Status: Offline
Points: 1697 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 08 2010 at 02:38
Eb Minor, D minor. im a sucker for chopin and his best songs are in E minor  or Eb Minor
What im listening to
Back to Top
mrcozdude View Drop Down
Forum Senior Member
Forum Senior Member
Avatar

Joined: July 25 2007
Location: Devon,UK.
Status: Offline
Points: 2078 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 08 2010 at 01:55
Originally posted by darkshade darkshade wrote:

Originally posted by mrcozdude mrcozdude wrote:

I need to play in more flat keys.



E is just Fb

B is just Cb

now playing in more bb or -x- keys more be better! (double flat and double sharp for those who dont know...)


I'm doing a music degree LOL



Back to Top
topofsm View Drop Down
Forum Senior Member
Forum Senior Member
Avatar

Joined: August 17 2008
Location: Arizona, USA
Status: Offline
Points: 1698 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 08 2010 at 01:10
^Most of those scales you are talking about are phrygian dominant or harmonic minor scales. They're sort of like minor scales, though one note is tweaked so there's a minor third involved instead of a major second where it should be.
 
Translation: It's unexpected and uses a dark sounding couple of notes, and therefore sounds freaking evil!

Back to Top
Bonnek View Drop Down
Special Collaborator
Special Collaborator
Avatar
Honorary Collaborator

Joined: September 01 2009
Location: Belgium
Status: Offline
Points: 4521 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 07 2010 at 20:42
The volume key on my laptop.

Eh that was a poor one.
Anyway, never got around memorizing anything about keys, but my preference goes to Arabian scales. Don't know how they correspond to Western keys though.
Back to Top
Zebedee View Drop Down
Forum Senior Member
Forum Senior Member
Avatar

Joined: July 02 2009
Location: The Woods
Status: Offline
Points: 1588 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 05 2010 at 16:45
I've grown quite fond of both F sharp minor (Gabriel Faure's Pavane is a wonderful example) and F minor over the years. I also tend to shift between C minor and F minor a lot  in my own compositions as F minor is the best key for employing dramatic effect IMO. But anything's good as long as it's minor key Tongue


Edited by Zebedee - January 05 2010 at 17:10

Friendship is like wetting your pants: everyone can see it, but only you can feel its warmth.
Back to Top
TODDLER View Drop Down
Forum Senior Member
Forum Senior Member
Avatar
VIP Member

Joined: August 28 2009
Location: Vineland, N.J.
Status: Offline
Points: 3126 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 04 2010 at 12:27
I have always enjoyed the key of E minor. When playing all of Andrea Segovia's scales from his book of scales, E minor was the most enjoyable regarding jumping positions. It was easier to develop a clean alternate picking style when using Segovia's E minor scale. I used to play drums when I was a toddler. Ho Ho! The technique I used with the drum stick in my right hand was later applied in a percussive manner with my right handed alternate picking technique on the guitar. Especially using the E minor scale and lifting my right hand completely from the strings however without using the forearm. I developed this way of playing and it proved to be successfully powerful whenever I performed fusion pieces. A strange psychological method to use when you are about to take on a fusion solo, is to imagine you are in a straight jacket. When the time arrives for your improv, you release yourself from the straight jacket and your hands are free with endless possibilities. It was a helpful tip for me when I mastered John McLaughlin solos.   
Back to Top
himtroy View Drop Down
Forum Senior Member
Forum Senior Member
Avatar

Joined: January 20 2009
Status: Offline
Points: 1601 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 31 2009 at 14:08
Originally posted by Negoba Negoba wrote:

Well you said music theory nerds so here I go.
 
I like to play out of the phrygian mode of the harmonic minor scale in E, whatever that's called. It allows Am, Dm, E, F all to be legal chords. So it's really A harmonic minor I guess. I really like having that dominant 7 V chord available in minor.
 
Actually a pretty boring choice, but I like it.

Not a boring choice at all I think.  The interesting chord progressions underneath make you capable of taking the lead to places you never could've before.  Soloing sounds so much more effective in that manner than it does vamping over the one endlessly. 
Back to Top
darkshade View Drop Down
Collaborator
Collaborator
Avatar
Honorary Collaborator

Joined: November 19 2005
Location: New Jersey
Status: Offline
Points: 10964 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 31 2009 at 12:23
Originally posted by mrcozdude mrcozdude wrote:

I need to play in more flat keys.



E is just Fb

B is just Cb

now playing in more bb or -x- keys more be better! (double flat and double sharp for those who dont know...)
My Last.fm
Back to Top
Dim View Drop Down
Prog Reviewer
Prog Reviewer


Joined: April 17 2007
Location: Austin TX
Status: Offline
Points: 6890 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 31 2009 at 11:27
Originally posted by topofsm topofsm wrote:

Now of course all of you are going to say there's really no best key, but we all know that it's subjective so just forget saying that. This is an opinion thread, god forbid!
 
Personally, IMO minor keys are the best. D minor is probably my favorite (as is it Nigel Tufnel and Tool's favorite key), though the E phrygian mode gives it a good run for its money in terms of darkness. I think C Minor and A Minor are boring and lend themselves to boring melodies, though it might be because of the bands that use them extensively. Also, B flat minor is rather epic, a lot of film score uses it.
 
What do y'all think?
 
D minor is my favorite too, maybe because the actual D minor chord is so sad sounding. I'm one of those lazy guitar players who plays more simple chord structures in drop D rather than faster technical riffs in E standard or whatever you prefer, so that may be why I like the key so much.
Back to Top
Citizen Erased View Drop Down
Forum Senior Member
Forum Senior Member
Avatar

Joined: April 25 2009
Location: Scotland
Status: Offline
Points: 192 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 31 2009 at 11:16
G Minor is my favourite. Or G.
And lo, the mighty riffage was played and it was good


<a href="www.last.fm/user/jonzo67" targe
Back to Top
Icarium View Drop Down
Forum Senior Member
Forum Senior Member
Avatar
VIP Member

Joined: March 21 2008
Location: Tigerstaden
Status: Offline
Points: 34083 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 31 2009 at 11:11
i like the Chords in Confortably Numb and on bassguitar i like to pump on A ans i like the E minor and the B string on my 5 string Bass dropp D is cool when you play Audioslave and Soundgarden songs
Back to Top
Vompatti View Drop Down
Forum Senior Member
Forum Senior Member
Avatar
VIP Member

Joined: October 22 2005
Location: elsewhere
Status: Offline
Points: 67451 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 31 2009 at 02:13
^ I'm sure I've heard buzzing sounds with no definite frequency. Maybe it's just us wombats who can hear them.
Back to Top
topofsm View Drop Down
Forum Senior Member
Forum Senior Member
Avatar

Joined: August 17 2008
Location: Arizona, USA
Status: Offline
Points: 1698 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 30 2009 at 22:22
^Of course you'll realize that the buzzing actually probably produces a regular musical tone, though the Hz frequency is probably so low that it's actually a very low note and the sound won't register, at least not for a human.
 
Of course, maybe wombats like you can hear lower notes, but I wouldn't know.

Back to Top
Vompatti View Drop Down
Forum Senior Member
Forum Senior Member
Avatar
VIP Member

Joined: October 22 2005
Location: elsewhere
Status: Offline
Points: 67451 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 30 2009 at 04:38
I can't imagine ever needing a whole key. Even a whole chord seems a bit suspicious. In fact I don't see why I should even play a single note when I can make weird buzzing sounds instead. Approve
Back to Top
mrcozdude View Drop Down
Forum Senior Member
Forum Senior Member
Avatar

Joined: July 25 2007
Location: Devon,UK.
Status: Offline
Points: 2078 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 29 2009 at 23:17
I need to play in more flat keys.

I imagine C ,I expect I don't need to explain why.



Back to Top
klvin View Drop Down
Forum Groupie
Forum Groupie
Avatar

Joined: July 16 2008
Location: Hungary
Status: Offline
Points: 56 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 29 2009 at 11:35
Well I don't know, but F major (or same minor)is the key of Close to the Edge, Tarkus, Octavarium...
Close to the Edge analized!!!
http://www.yhwh.com/ctte.htm
Back to Top
Negoba View Drop Down
Prog Reviewer
Prog Reviewer
Avatar

Joined: July 24 2008
Location: Big Muddy
Status: Offline
Points: 5210 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 29 2009 at 10:18
Well you said music theory nerds so here I go.
 
I like to play out of the phrygian mode of the harmonic minor scale in E, whatever that's called. It allows Am, Dm, E, F all to be legal chords. So it's really A harmonic minor I guess. I really like having that dominant 7 V chord available in minor.
 
Actually a pretty boring choice, but I like it.
You are quite a fine person, and I am very fond of you. But you are only quite a little fellow, in a wide world, after all.
Back to Top
Xanthous View Drop Down
Forum Senior Member
Forum Senior Member
Avatar

Joined: May 16 2009
Location: Dayton, Ohio
Status: Offline
Points: 207 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 29 2009 at 10:05
I usually prefer Major scales but my whole style is just staying on any random scale for a little while than going to any other one. (Bass).
Back to Top
 Post Reply Post Reply Page  12>

Forum Jump Forum Permissions View Drop Down



This page was generated in 0.398 seconds.
Donate monthly and keep PA fast-loading and ad-free forever.