Hello!
How do I know what scale or mode my song is in?
Determine what scale my song is in
Though it may sound like an arbitrary distinction, the better question may be "what KEY is my song in", only because more than one scale CAN be used for any one key.
The key is IMO decided more by the composer than the listener. It's something that is pretty academic in that it doesn't matter to the listener what key you say it's in!
There are plenty of folks who will be happy to tell you what key your song is in, and in most cases it will be obvious to many. But in other cases you'll get more than one opinion, which is why I say in the end it's the composer's choice.
As for what scale to use for a key, that can change over the course of the song depending on the chord used. For the most part, I've never thought about this, not coming from a jazz background where this is taught (to clarify, I played jazz drums for years, but never keys). My music theory was limited to freshman year theory, but I've never found my "basic" background in theory to have limited my musical composition abilities in any way.
As for choosing the notes to play, it's simple: I know what I like, and I'm sure you do too. I simply play notes and when I hear one I don't like, I choose not to use that note. But one bar later, that same note could sound awesome to me!
It, like most things in music and in life, is based on context. Or as they say, it's all relative…
Sorry for the non answer, I'm sure there are others happy to give rules to identifying the proper key of a song. I just wanted to preset the opinion that it may not matter in most cases.
Selig Audio, LLC
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RandomSkratch
- Posts: 447
- Joined: 10 May 2016
Without having pretty in-depth theory knowledge this can be a tricky task. I'm not an expert and struggle with this often. Check out Captain Chords by mixed in key
https://mixedinkey.com/captain-plugins/captain-chords/
It has the ability to narrow down your key based on the chords you input into it (say you come up with a cool chord progression it would show you potential keys based on the notes). It's not 100% but does get you close. It can then suggest other chords to use.
https://mixedinkey.com/captain-plugins/captain-chords/
It has the ability to narrow down your key based on the chords you input into it (say you come up with a cool chord progression it would show you potential keys based on the notes). It's not 100% but does get you close. It can then suggest other chords to use.
I can't help you sorry. This is not an answer but there is a RE dev who might help you (and all of us) one day, if you want to stay in the Reason echo system that is. Maybe you could get in touch and ask him if it is a tool he could develop one day as a RE.
Static Cling
https://shop.propellerheads.se/browse/? ... ic%20Cling
I'll be getting a few of his tools.
757365206C6F67696320746F207365656B20616E73776572732075736520726561736F6E20746F2066696E6420776973646F6D20676574206F7574206F6620796F757220636F6D666F7274207A6F6E65206F7220796F757220696E737069726174696F6E2077696C6C206372797374616C6C697A6520666F7265766572
Might I ask why you want to know the key of your song? Unless it's something complicated, the most likely answer is in the first chord of the song. For example, in many cases if the first chord is a C Maj, the song is in C Maj.
Selig Audio, LLC
The more you know about music theory, the easier it will be to determine a song's key.
Can you name all the chords used in the song? If so, there are some easy shortcuts to help you zero in on the key. First, look for two major chords in the song that are adjacent to each other in the scale. Assuming the song is in a major key and is constructed around the diatonic scale, these two chords will most likely be the IV and V chords of the song's root key. For example, if your song contains an F chord and a G chord, then your song is probably in the key of C (F and G are the IV and V of C major). I say "probably" because there can be many exceptions, like if your song contains "secondary dominant" chords, such as an E major chord in a C major song, then this shortcut becomes less reliable unless you really know what else to look for.
The next shortcut, is to look at the last chord of the song. If the song ends on a chord that sounds like "home", it's probably the tonic chord of the song. For example, a song in the key of C will sound "complete" if it ends on a C chord. But of course, there are a gazillion exceptions to this, and you really need to rely on your ear to tell you if the final chord sounds like it resolves the song.
All of the above assumes a diatonic chord progression in a major key. If that's not the case, then rely on your ear to find a chord that sounds like it "finishes" or resolves the composition. And keep in mind, as has already been mentioned in other posts, a song's key can be subject to multiple interpretations.
There's a very inexpensive VST plugin (about $10) that can analyze your song and suggest possible keys - Hornet SongKey MK2. It works pretty well:
https://www.hornetplugins.com/plugins/h ... ngkey-mk2/
Once you know the key, you can attempt to identify the modes, or scales, used in the song. Start by looking at all the notes used in the melody. If the notes all belong to the the root scale, then you're likely using the Ionian mode. But if the melody contains notes that are outside the diatonic scale, then these notes will give you clues to the mode. At this point, I would consult a table of modes to see which might be a match for your melody notes. For example, if your song is in the key of C major, but the melody contains an F# note, then you're probably in Lydian mode (at least for this portion of the song), which is defined as a major scale with a sharp IV.
All of the above is just scratching the surface, and is open to some interpretation - there's a lot more to this subject, but this should at least get you started.
Can you name all the chords used in the song? If so, there are some easy shortcuts to help you zero in on the key. First, look for two major chords in the song that are adjacent to each other in the scale. Assuming the song is in a major key and is constructed around the diatonic scale, these two chords will most likely be the IV and V chords of the song's root key. For example, if your song contains an F chord and a G chord, then your song is probably in the key of C (F and G are the IV and V of C major). I say "probably" because there can be many exceptions, like if your song contains "secondary dominant" chords, such as an E major chord in a C major song, then this shortcut becomes less reliable unless you really know what else to look for.
The next shortcut, is to look at the last chord of the song. If the song ends on a chord that sounds like "home", it's probably the tonic chord of the song. For example, a song in the key of C will sound "complete" if it ends on a C chord. But of course, there are a gazillion exceptions to this, and you really need to rely on your ear to tell you if the final chord sounds like it resolves the song.
All of the above assumes a diatonic chord progression in a major key. If that's not the case, then rely on your ear to find a chord that sounds like it "finishes" or resolves the composition. And keep in mind, as has already been mentioned in other posts, a song's key can be subject to multiple interpretations.
There's a very inexpensive VST plugin (about $10) that can analyze your song and suggest possible keys - Hornet SongKey MK2. It works pretty well:
https://www.hornetplugins.com/plugins/h ... ngkey-mk2/
Once you know the key, you can attempt to identify the modes, or scales, used in the song. Start by looking at all the notes used in the melody. If the notes all belong to the the root scale, then you're likely using the Ionian mode. But if the melody contains notes that are outside the diatonic scale, then these notes will give you clues to the mode. At this point, I would consult a table of modes to see which might be a match for your melody notes. For example, if your song is in the key of C major, but the melody contains an F# note, then you're probably in Lydian mode (at least for this portion of the song), which is defined as a major scale with a sharp IV.
All of the above is just scratching the surface, and is open to some interpretation - there's a lot more to this subject, but this should at least get you started.
since 2.5
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RandomSkratch
- Posts: 447
- Joined: 10 May 2016
@NekujaK I would love to have your knowledge permanently in my brain! Great post!
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