#Write music keys series#

When you play the white notes from A to A, you get a natural minor scale.Ĭ major and A minor as relatives scales as they are, they have the same notes.

When you play all the white notes in a keyboard from C to C, you get a major scale. Practicing is the best way to process theory. I recommend to try this out in a keyboard or any instrument you have access to. I will explain this using C major as an example, but remember this works with any other scale. Modes give the emotional color to a particular scale by starting in different degrees of the major scale formula. To talk about keys and emotions is to talk about modes. What would I like to elicit in those who listen? What is the story I want to tell? If there is any. What is the emotion that is triggering my composition? Having clear intentions makes the decision process easier when composing. To begin with, I suggest taking a little time to understand what is the desired effect you want. In a piece of music, the key is the center of gravity to which the melody and harmony tend. Let me know if you would like a dedicated article regarding instrumentation. I am not going to delve into this for us to focus on projecting emotions. Therefore, the key needs to be in the right register. Each instrument has a particular sound and ''soul''. Many factors influence the decision about the key, for example, instrumentation. What I want is to encourage an awareness exercise that can enhance our capacity to communicate and connect through music. With these articles, I am not suggesting for us to rationalize the composition process or the emotions we want to project. Composing is not necessarily a rational act. Composers are a medium for music to come alive. Note: I think of music as a living organism. Today, we will talk about choosing the right key to project the emotions we want.

#Write music keys series#

Well, this is the first article of the series that I announced. Did you read it? I hope that you liked it. Last week I posted an article called: Music, a catalyst for emotions.