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Key signatures
16 years ago
General
For the longest time I've asked myself what the hell is the point in writing in one key signature as opposed to another? Sure there's playability to take into account, but what mood differences does one key signature have over another? Well here I am bored on a Wednesday night, and I decided to do a bit of research and some thinking, and to see what each key means to me. You may see it differently; I'd love to hear your comments.
A minor - According to one composer, the key of sadness. A better word I'd choose is tragedy. Many battle themes are written in this key (final fantasy 2-6 battles). The key of tragedy...
E minor - This key matches well with the tuning of a guitar, and as a result a great many heavy metal songs have been in this key. It is as such been seen as that angry style of music. The key of anger..
B minor - Seen as the key of passive suffering, or as Schubart called it, "a quiet acceptance of fate and a very gentle complaint". Beethoven labeled a B minor melodic idea in one of his sketchbooks as a "black key". The key of suffering...
F sharp minor - Now entering the lesser known keys, this key finds very few well known pieces to associate itself with. The exception being in piano, where in many cases it's easier to play with so many sharps. Speaking from experience, I'd have to call this key very "ugly" in feeling, oft suitable for chords or great dissonance. The key of dissonance...
C sharp minor - Most famously used in Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata, otherwise typically only used in piano pieces. To me this key feels not of mere sorrow, but of outright despair. The key of hopeless despair...
G sharp minor & A flat minor - Into the barren wastelands of keys we now tread, for few composers dare write in this key. With lack of basis I'd call it hard to define, but it definitely rings of its half step up, the A minor key of tragedy. There's something more to it though... A hint of anger it seems. I think I've found it: The key of revenge...
D sharp minor & E flat minor - With 6 sharps or 6 flats to choose from, this key is perhaps best left to synthesizers. I can only speak from personal experience, as there's hardly a classical reference to make. Therefore, I deem this: The key of annihilation.
A sharp minor & B flat minor - Traditionally a dark key, and I'm inclined to agree. The key of darkness...
F minor - Traditionally associated with passion, as heard in Beethoven's Appassionatta sonata. Not a key I oft visit, perhaps I'll change that. The key of passion...
C minor - The heroic struggle, the key Beethoven's 5th was written in. This is it, the epic key, the "da da da daaaa" key. The key of the heroic struggle.
G minor - Tragic consummation... This is the key every "game over" theme ought to be in. You lost the game. The key of loss...
D minor - Tocatta and Fugue in D minor anyone? I'm running out of dramatic adjectives here... Halfway between sorrow and annihilation, what's left? Only death... Alright then: The key of death...
No longer will I write a piece in a key because "I haven't written in that key in a while". Now I have something to go by. Yay me!
Oh and...major keys are boring xD
A minor - According to one composer, the key of sadness. A better word I'd choose is tragedy. Many battle themes are written in this key (final fantasy 2-6 battles). The key of tragedy...
E minor - This key matches well with the tuning of a guitar, and as a result a great many heavy metal songs have been in this key. It is as such been seen as that angry style of music. The key of anger..
B minor - Seen as the key of passive suffering, or as Schubart called it, "a quiet acceptance of fate and a very gentle complaint". Beethoven labeled a B minor melodic idea in one of his sketchbooks as a "black key". The key of suffering...
F sharp minor - Now entering the lesser known keys, this key finds very few well known pieces to associate itself with. The exception being in piano, where in many cases it's easier to play with so many sharps. Speaking from experience, I'd have to call this key very "ugly" in feeling, oft suitable for chords or great dissonance. The key of dissonance...
C sharp minor - Most famously used in Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata, otherwise typically only used in piano pieces. To me this key feels not of mere sorrow, but of outright despair. The key of hopeless despair...
G sharp minor & A flat minor - Into the barren wastelands of keys we now tread, for few composers dare write in this key. With lack of basis I'd call it hard to define, but it definitely rings of its half step up, the A minor key of tragedy. There's something more to it though... A hint of anger it seems. I think I've found it: The key of revenge...
D sharp minor & E flat minor - With 6 sharps or 6 flats to choose from, this key is perhaps best left to synthesizers. I can only speak from personal experience, as there's hardly a classical reference to make. Therefore, I deem this: The key of annihilation.
A sharp minor & B flat minor - Traditionally a dark key, and I'm inclined to agree. The key of darkness...
F minor - Traditionally associated with passion, as heard in Beethoven's Appassionatta sonata. Not a key I oft visit, perhaps I'll change that. The key of passion...
C minor - The heroic struggle, the key Beethoven's 5th was written in. This is it, the epic key, the "da da da daaaa" key. The key of the heroic struggle.
G minor - Tragic consummation... This is the key every "game over" theme ought to be in. You lost the game. The key of loss...
D minor - Tocatta and Fugue in D minor anyone? I'm running out of dramatic adjectives here... Halfway between sorrow and annihilation, what's left? Only death... Alright then: The key of death...
No longer will I write a piece in a key because "I haven't written in that key in a while". Now I have something to go by. Yay me!
Oh and...major keys are boring xD
I like folk scales, like hungarian minor scales and persian scales (though I don't upload those pieces since they get too complex for me to play and record).
Major scales are nice, but you know, you need to use certain scales for certain pieces, you can't really choose favorites between modes/major/minor/folk etc.
Having a system to go by is always good though!
Romantic music (1800's has lot of music in E flat minor.
but now, they just tune the violins differently (flatten every string or what not) and these key signatures become more common
(though they still aren't nearly as common as the others)
About your comments on E minor, it's also worth thinking about the way that metal is often tuned down one tone from the standard guitar tuning, making identical fingering D minor (the key of death metal, then?)
I think that if G sharp minor's the key of revenge, it's surely the key of getting revenge on all musicians that have wronged you by forcing them to keep track of that many sharps.