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Author Topic: Method to finding key a song is in  (Read 33129 times)

Krane

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Method to finding key a song is in
« on: January 06, 2016, 06:17:08 am »
Hi guys, I didn't grow up playing any instrument or learning any music theory. A method to finding the key a song is in, for me at least, is opening up your DAW with a basic piano synth. Then while you are playing the song, during a melodic part, if you simply play each of the keys in the musical scale one by one, there will be a key (the tonic key) that sounds good anytime you play it, The other keys wont sound as well, besides the exception of 2 that will fit ok, but not as strong as the tonic note. You can check how you did by looking up the key of the track on a website such as beatport after.

If anyone has a method to identify these things by ear to share that would be cool, the only way I can do it is by trying notes on an instrument simultaneously while the song is playing.
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clearskys

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Re: Method to finding key a song is in
« Reply #1 on: January 06, 2016, 06:21:27 am »
It's usually a simple two step process.

1. Identify whether the song is in a major (typically happy) or minor (typically sad) key.
2. Determine the tonal centre. This is the note that every other note depends on and revolves around.

These steps aren't ordered, so feel free to work the opposite way.
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Krane

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Re: Method to finding key a song is in
« Reply #2 on: January 06, 2016, 06:28:51 am »
Quote from: clearskys on January 06, 2016, 06:21:27 am
It's usually a simple two step process.

1. Identify whether the song is in a major (typically happy) or minor (typically sad) key.
2. Determine the tonal centre. This is the note that every other note depends on and revolves around.

These steps aren't ordered, so feel free to work the opposite way.

That's what I suggested, are you able to find the tonic center by ear though without using an instrument while the song is playing to find it?
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clearskys

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Re: Method to finding key a song is in
« Reply #3 on: January 06, 2016, 06:31:52 am »
Quote from: Krane on January 06, 2016, 06:28:51 am
Quote from: clearskys on January 06, 2016, 06:21:27 am
It's usually a simple two step process.

1. Identify whether the song is in a major (typically happy) or minor (typically sad) key.
2. Determine the tonal centre. This is the note that every other note depends on and revolves around.

These steps aren't ordered, so feel free to work the opposite way.

That's what I suggested, are you able to find the tonic center by ear though without using an instrument while the song is playing to find it?

I do both, instrument + using relative pitch and ear training to guide me. Unless you have perfect pitch, you need to learn relative pitch. That way you can identify intervals much quicker and determine the key of a song more effectively.
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Joseph

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Re: Method to finding key a song is in
« Reply #4 on: January 06, 2016, 07:05:02 am »
soundcloud track check is a chrome extension that tells you the key and bpm of a track (100% accurate)
This is the easy way, which is what I do, but learning how to do everything by ear would help a lot in the long run...
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Shew

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Re: Method to finding key a song is in
« Reply #5 on: January 06, 2016, 08:25:16 am »
Quote from: clearskys on January 06, 2016, 06:31:52 am
Quote from: Krane on January 06, 2016, 06:28:51 am
Quote from: clearskys on January 06, 2016, 06:21:27 am
It's usually a simple two step process.

1. Identify whether the song is in a major (typically happy) or minor (typically sad) key.
2. Determine the tonal centre. This is the note that every other note depends on and revolves around.

These steps aren't ordered, so feel free to work the opposite way.

That's what I suggested, are you able to find the tonic center by ear though without using an instrument while the song is playing to find it?

I do both, instrument + using relative pitch and ear training to guide me. Unless you have perfect pitch, you need to learn relative pitch. That way you can identify intervals much quicker and determine the key of a song more effectively.

Do you have any tools or recommendations to learn relative pitch?
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justin

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Re: Method to finding key a song is in
« Reply #6 on: January 06, 2016, 10:21:56 am »
Music theory 101 is that the song ends on the tonic. A vast majority of songs in electronic music/pop/EDM are going to give away the key based solely off of the last chord.
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Krane

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Re: Method to finding key a song is in
« Reply #7 on: January 06, 2016, 10:31:20 am »
Quote from: justin on January 06, 2016, 10:21:56 am
Music theory 101 is that the song ends on the tonic. A vast majority of songs in electronic music/pop/EDM are going to give away the key based solely off of the last chord.

Not every melody ends on the tonic, and not every progression ends with the tonic chord. I just looked up 5 at random and none ended on the I or V chord.
« Last Edit: January 06, 2016, 10:33:25 am by Krane »
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justin

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Re: Method to finding key a song is in
« Reply #8 on: January 06, 2016, 12:03:28 pm »
Well ending on the V would be the dominant which isn't the tonic (but would still help indicate the tonic so I get what youre saying)

For every 5, I could also look up 5. He wanted an easy way to identify key and in a lot of popular music, it works. I think saying the melody/progression ends on the tonic is a fair tool to use since a lot of cadences in pop music resolve to the tonic.





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Pixel Blood

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Re: Method to finding key a song is in
« Reply #9 on: January 06, 2016, 01:29:10 pm »
If for some reason I don't know the key of a song I'll use Ableton live and open the Grand Piano and try find the pitch myself. Or if you really can't hear it you can open spectrum in Ableton visually checking the tonal center of the track.

Rekordbox, SDJ, or Mixed in Key are a few programs that automatically list the Key of tracks read.
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clearskys

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Re: Method to finding key a song is in
« Reply #10 on: January 06, 2016, 02:21:54 pm »
Quote from: Shew on January 06, 2016, 08:25:16 am
Quote from: clearskys on January 06, 2016, 06:31:52 am
Quote from: Krane on January 06, 2016, 06:28:51 am
Quote from: clearskys on January 06, 2016, 06:21:27 am
It's usually a simple two step process.

1. Identify whether the song is in a major (typically happy) or minor (typically sad) key.
2. Determine the tonal centre. This is the note that every other note depends on and revolves around.

These steps aren't ordered, so feel free to work the opposite way.

That's what I suggested, are you able to find the tonic center by ear though without using an instrument while the song is playing to find it?

I do both, instrument + using relative pitch and ear training to guide me. Unless you have perfect pitch, you need to learn relative pitch. That way you can identify intervals much quicker and determine the key of a song more effectively.

Do you have any tools or recommendations to learn relative pitch?

There's no easy way about it - you're going to have to train your ear. Go to the Play Store or App Store and use the keywords "Ear Training" or "Pitch Training". There's a lot of good apps that can teach you. You'll eventually start to make out the tonal difference between a semitone, a whole tone, etc.
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jaxter184

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Re: Method to finding key a song is in
« Reply #11 on: January 06, 2016, 02:47:53 pm »
Quote from: clearskys on January 06, 2016, 02:21:54 pm
Quote from: Shew on January 06, 2016, 08:25:16 am
Quote from: clearskys on January 06, 2016, 06:31:52 am
Quote from: Krane on January 06, 2016, 06:28:51 am
Quote from: clearskys on January 06, 2016, 06:21:27 am
It's usually a simple two step process.

1. Identify whether the song is in a major (typically happy) or minor (typically sad) key.
2. Determine the tonal centre. This is the note that every other note depends on and revolves around.

These steps aren't ordered, so feel free to work the opposite way.

That's what I suggested, are you able to find the tonic center by ear though without using an instrument while the song is playing to find it?

I do both, instrument + using relative pitch and ear training to guide me. Unless you have perfect pitch, you need to learn relative pitch. That way you can identify intervals much quicker and determine the key of a song more effectively.

Do you have any tools or recommendations to learn relative pitch?

There's no easy way about it - you're going to have to train your ear. Go to the Play Store or App Store and use the keywords "Ear Training" or "Pitch Training". There's a lot of good apps that can teach you. You'll eventually start to make out the tonal difference between a semitone, a whole tone, etc.

Alternatively, if you want to do it on a computer, this is the website I use: https://www.musictheory.net/exercises/ear-note
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deathy

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Re: Method to finding key a song is in
« Reply #12 on: January 06, 2016, 02:58:41 pm »
Quote from: Pixel Blood on January 06, 2016, 01:29:10 pm
Rekordbox, SDJ, or Mixed in Key are a few programs that automatically list the Key of tracks read.


Mixed in Key works pretty decently if you don't have a lot of time to futz about.  It's not perfect, but it will usually give you somewhere to start on the keyboard and you can then plink on your keys from there to suss it out.
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Bertie South

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Re: Method to finding key a song is in
« Reply #13 on: January 15, 2016, 05:55:26 pm »
Quote from: Joseph on January 06, 2016, 07:05:02 am
soundcloud track check is a chrome extension that tells you the key and bpm of a track (100% accurate)
I'm intrigued.. I thought key detection software was still pretty imperfect. Whatever Beatport uses seems to get it wrong at least a third of the time.
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Wontolla

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Re: Method to finding key a song is in
« Reply #14 on: January 15, 2016, 06:01:43 pm »
Quote from: Bertie South on January 15, 2016, 05:55:26 pm
Quote from: Joseph on January 06, 2016, 07:05:02 am
soundcloud track check is a chrome extension that tells you the key and bpm of a track (100% accurate)
I'm intrigued.. I thought key detection software was still pretty imperfect. Whatever Beatport uses seems to get it wrong at least a third of the time.
Yeah, nothing is 100% accurate except your ear. Especially when it comes to major vs minor (Beatport is terrible about this).
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