how do you tell the difference..

Discussion in 'Performing Arts' started by soulrebel51, Nov 20, 2005.

  1. soulrebel51

    soulrebel51 i's a folkie.

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    when a song is in the key of I or its tonic? like, for example, G and Em... arent all the chords in the keys the same? what would make them different?
     
  2. ziggy jones

    ziggy jones Member

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    the 1 is the key tone center, the 6 is the relative minor...in the key of G. Em is the 6
     
  3. ziggy jones

    ziggy jones Member

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    sorry man, i misunderstood, yea, in a natural minor they would be the same, the are a bit different in the harmonic minor and the melodic minor
     
  4. soulrebel51

    soulrebel51 i's a folkie.

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    no no no i mean what would make the difference in a song...
    k lemme rephrase :D...
    what makes the difference for a song being in the key of G or the key of Em? aren't the same notes in both of the keys, and how would you tell the difference?
     
  5. Sax_Machine

    Sax_Machine saxbend

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    They're not actually the same keys. They have the same key signatures, but the minors also have accidentals in their scales. For example, in G major, Chord III which is a triad built on the note B contains a D natural and an F# and is essentially a Bm triad. Yet in Em B is chord V, the dominant and therefore will always be major (not considering modal music in which the key technically wouldn't be Em anyway), as the 7 is raised from D natural to D#.

    But to spot the difference, all you really need to do is look at the last chord in the piece. Nine times out of ten a piece will end on the tonic and so you can derive the key from that. Add to that of course that it's very easy to hear whether something's in a major or minor key.

    Mind you, most music will modulate anyway which means the key won't stay the same throughout.
     
  6. forest420

    forest420 Senior Member

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    isnt a song in the key of G... starts out with a G? and a song in the key of Em start out with Em? im not too sure, but i thought i heard that somewhere before... haha im probably really wrong, but thats ok peace~
     
  7. SLammon420

    SLammon420 Senior Member

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    not always forest 420, but alot of the time yeah.
     
  8. Lozi

    Lozi Senior Member

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    wow...this is insane! i can't believe people on the performing arts section are actually talking about music :D hehe just joking hum

    listen to sax machine, he knows. The key signautes don't tell you the accidentals...like G has f shapr in it and Eb has Eb...and...well lots more


    listen to sax he can explain it better than me
     
  9. soulrebel51

    soulrebel51 i's a folkie.

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    ha, wow, i dont think i care anymore :p too freakin confusing, playing by ear is what the non-smart people do :rolleyes:
     
  10. Lozi

    Lozi Senior Member

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    hehe tis probably better than way coz then you learn by instinct
     
  11. soulrebel51

    soulrebel51 i's a folkie.

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    and i noticed that in my choir class, i'm one of the two kids who never need sheet music to sing and can sing when asked without any prior reading. :p it takes the rest of the choir like 5 times to "know" a song, i can get it in two...

    yeah anyways :rolleyes:
     
  12. Orsino2

    Orsino2 Hip Forums Supporter HipForums Supporter

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    Which is exactly what I've been telling you... :p Use theory as needed, man.
     

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