[Peppermint]

Hey everyone,

Not sure if this is in the right place so mods if need be feel free to move it,

My question is how do you know what key is best for you songs?
I usually get stuck between using a lower key for my music and a higher key,
is there was a rule when it comes to choosing a song key?

When is it best to use a lower key and when is it best to use a higher key?

Hope you can all understand my question only ive been very confused as of late 

[Boydie]

A gold rule of thumb to use as a starting point is to think about the kind of vocal you want

Ie, if you intend to sing the song yourself think about what "timbre" you want your voice to have

This will help you find a suitable key - eg if I want a "driven", raw vocal I need the key to be high enough for me to "strain" a little

However, I wouldn't get too hung up about the "key" of the song - concentrate on the melody to ensure that it is suitable to sing - ie the intervals between notes and the total range of the melody

[Saeed AlSuri]

No.1 .. tune your guitar .. if you are using it .. if keyboard .. the you are OK ..

sing the song before playing any instrument .. all the high note of it and the low .. if you feel comfortable .. look for that scale of the melody .. and play your chords with it .. you feel nice then .. you are set to record it ..

mind you that scale are like modes they do have there dark and bright feels .. flat key darker the the sharp .. that sort of thing .. I wrote a song Ab key .. which is not usual to me .. couldn't change it to G or A .. it have different feel .. or should I say taste .. so recorded it in Ab .. "Nice to know you" .. I'll post it on the first of September ..

I hope this helps ..

Cheers ..

[Peppermint]

Thanks for the info Boydie and Saeed 

[Saeed AlSuri]

I have one more thing to add ..

Most musician get set on a key they learnt to play on earlier .. I did that in the beginning .. not that I couldn't play other keys .. but it's sort of a habit one picks up on the way .. I started all my melodies in Cm ..and change any song's key to that key  .. so it sticks to you and you can't get out of it .. for many years I did that .. but had to break the habit once forced to make songs for others to sing ..

So always try another key up or down to see if it's comfortable too ..

Cheers..

[GTB]

Cm ?? Saeed, Geoff Capes couldn't get Cm on the guitar I learned on!

Does anyone ever record a pure vocal track first, then work out the key?  could be a challenge :-)

GTB

[Yodasdad]

I think Boydie's right, it's about which key the vocal works best in.

My problem is trying not to let my voice limit my songs (poor voice, small range). I often find that by the time I get to the chorus I can't get up to the notes I want, but If I lower the key then it's too low in the verse.

One solution I've found is to modulate. Some of my songs go through a few different keys, which seems to work for me.

Depending on what software you're using (if any) you can always try the change key/transpose function to see what it would sound like in different keys and decide from there.

Yodasdad

[Saeed AlSuri]

Yodasdad your right ..

If you have limited rang of voice .. let say octave and half .. than you have to be aware of that limitation .. if you are the singer of your song .. but writing for others .. is as I said before .. the software thing is good to help also transposing the song .. but my advice before arrangement ..other wise the instrumentation will be too high or to low for the players ..

Cheers...

[Kafla]

I dont know if this helps but when I write something I programme it very basically, usually on the iPad Gargeband.

I can then change the key at the press of a button.

Or I put a capo on my guitar and move up and down the frets.

I then plug it in to some speakers (if I use iPad) as I feel I need that level of volume to sing at a level to determine the key - so I just sing in different keys to see what I think - sometimes I end up a few octaves up/down from where I started but I find this really useful.

Dont know if that helps but its definitely worth experimenting  

[Wicked Deeds]

I don't ever think about the key that I write in.  If I made a conscious effort to choose a key, the chords available to me and the range of my voice would determine  the pattern of the melody. I think that's a reliable approach for anyone writing for their own voice.  I deliberately try not to sing out of my range within a particular key.  I think sometimes a good song can be spoiled by stretching your vocal too far unless, you're deliberately stretching the melody because you intend to give your song to a vocalist with a better range.  Yes, you might miss out on some good melodies but there are always others to be found!