What key is this?

[cconroy]

I'm working on a short song which has three sections. The first and third sections are in A minor. The second is in some major key, but I'm not sure how to notate it. The chord progression is as follows:

 

[first section ends on Am]

A C | G D | C Gm | D |

A C | G D | C Gm | D |

Em D/F# | G Am | Dsus4 D |

Dm Dm7 | E |

[third section starts on Am]

 

Originally I had thought this would be A major but that didn't really fit the chords. So I changed it to D major because each of the first three lines sounds like it resolves to D. (The last two measures are the transition back to Am, so I figure that part probably won't fit into the key anyway.)

 

But now that I look at it, everywhere I have a C in the melody it's a C natural. The only accidentals in the melody, ignoring the transition measures, are F# (under the D chords) and Bb (under the Gm chords). And I can't really figure out how the Gm chord fits in, though I suppose it makes more sense in, say, D major than in G major.

 

So, should I just follow the melody and make it G major to minimize the number of explicit accidentals? (Covers all F#s, and no naturals on C.) Or is it more correct to use D major, even though I'll have more natural marks that way? Can anyone tell from the chord progression what's the "best" key to notate this as?

 

-Chris

[Dave Horne]

Looking at this very quickly, the section that starts with an Em chord could be notated with one sharp ... Em or G. How you wish to notate this is up to you. A full fledged key change could be avoided if you just used accidentals/naturals to indicate what you want. The last two bars of that section lead back to A or Am, so a key change for a handful of bars doesn't seem necessary to me.

[Jeff Klopmeyer]

What type of tune is this? If it's a pop or rock tune, it's fine for the A to be considered major while still slipping in the C natural in a bluesy way.

 

It doesn't seem that the tonal center is clearly identified at all in this section, but who cares? How does it sound? How's your melody work over it?

 

- Jeff

[Byrdman]

Originally posted by cconroy:

I'm working on a short song which has three sections. The first and third sections are in A minor. The second is in some major key, but I'm not sure how to notate it. The chord progression is as follows:

 

[first section ends on Am]

A C | G D | C Gm | D |

A C | G D | C Gm | D |

 

Key of D. You are "backcycling" (C G D) which is a gospel kind of thing. If you remove that ornament your have two perfect cadences (A D) in the key of D.

 

Em D/F# | G Am | Dsus4 D |

Dm Dm7 | E |

 

Stays in D (ii I | IV v | I I | i i | am: V

 

The E at the end of this is just the V of A minor (probably should be E7). The minor I (Dm) chords are preparing the way since those are the iv chords of A minor. So you could notate that as ... I I | am: iv iv | V

as well. There is a certain amount of ambiguity here with hints at G that are never actually made solid. After the D major, the ear anticipates G but the modulation is interrupted in favor of a return to Am.

 

[third section starts on Am]

 

[marino]

Cconroy,

those chords, taken without a melody, simply don't establish one key center. Try starting from the melody, finding its tonic note or 'rest point', and see if one of the traditional major or minor keys fit.

Otherwise, simply write it out in a way to reduce the temporary accidentals to a minimum. Your melody could very well be in some Dorian or Mixolydian flavor - but if you're only writing down a lead sheet, I see no reason to worry about giving its key a name.

[cconroy]

Thanks for the tips, everyone. Marino, you may be right about the melody. It basically centers around A (starting and ending there in each of the first two lines), which I think makes it A Dorian mode.

 

I may just end up going with whichever way "looks" best. I'll probably write some harmony parts eventually, so I might defer the decision until then. Either way, there are already a lot of unavoidable accidentals in the other two sections, so I suppose a few more wouldn't hurt.

 

Jeff, to answer your question: this is actually a church piece, a musical setting of a particular prayer. It's kind of upbeat but not too "modern". I don't know if it will ever be used; I was just trying to get the ideas down on paper before I lost them.

 

IMHO, it sounds pretty good. I'm proud of the fact that I've worked in a substantial time signature change (3/4 to 4/4 back to 3/4), which is pretty rare among the music we normally play, as well as this key change. The chord progression is considerably more complex than what I usually come up with when I'm messing around with something. In fact, should this ever be performed, I don't think the guitarists (even with capo'd chords) will be too happy with me...

 

-Chris

[Dan South]

The entire song is in Am. Use accidentals where necessary, but I think that you'll only need a few of them.

 

A C G D has an Am feel, because only the A chord contains the major third. This is a common rock progression. The Gm is a little odd in this instance. That's one area where you'll need to notate with an accidental.

 

I see no reason to change the notation away from Am in this middle section.

 

As an alternative, you could add one sharp (F#) to the key signature and make it A dorian. Does the rest of your song fit A dorian? Does it contain Dm and F chords (Am), or D chords (A dorian)?

[Jeff Klopmeyer]

Originally posted by Dan South:

The entire song is in Am. Use accidentals where necessary, but I think that you'll only need a few of them.

Yes.

 

A C G D has an Am feel, because only the A chord contains the major third. This is a common rock progression. The Gm is a little odd in this instance. That's one area where you'll need to notate with an accidental.

Agreed. The Gm could function in a couple of ways. Resolving to the D, the minor IV is a common borrowed chord and has been used in plenty of church-type tunes.

 

- Jeff

[cconroy]

Originally posted by Dan South:

As an alternative, you could add one sharp (F#) to the key signature and make it A dorian. Does the rest of your song fit A dorian? Does it contain Dm and F chords (Am), or D chords (A dorian)?

The rest of the song (first and third sections) is closer to Am than A dorian. There are a couple Fs. It does go through D once near the end, but only as a "changeup" from where it would normally go through C.

 

Actually, those sections start and end in Am, but temporarily switch to Eb or Ab a couple times in between. I didn't notate them with key changes because the changes are quick (only a couple bars each) and might clutter the score. I figured it would be easier to follow just using accidentals.

 

The second section is more consistent and self-contained, and since it already has a time signature change I thought I would also notate a key change if applicable.

 

-Chris