Emotion and Music...

[Corno Dolce]

Emotions of the Musical Keys - The following article gave me pause:


http://www.gradfree.com/kevin/some_t...sical_keys.htm


It may be subjective since no references are given as to the methodology used in the research process.

[rojo]

Looks interesting CD; I'm short on time atm, so I'll check this out later.

[Rune Vejby]

Some interesting reading, but their findings are not supported by any substantial evidence. However, I guess you could assess the various major/minor keys in relation to periods in classical music history, e.g.


C major:Completely pure. Its character is: innocence, simplicity, naivety, children's talk


This corresponds well with some of the simplistic (pure/harmonic, some might say naïve) traits of the Classical era. Think for example of some of Mozart's famous sonatinas for piano, many of them are in C major, with few or no key variations.


F# major:Triumph over difficulty, free sigh of relief uttered when hurdles are surmounted; echo of a soul which has fiercely struggled and finally conquered lies in all uses of this key

B major:Strongly colored, announcing wild passions, composed from the most glaring colors. Anger, rage, jealousy, fury, despair and every burden of the heart lies in its sphere


F# and B are often used in impressionistic works, and if you consider some of the adjectives above, they correspond well with the characteristics of impressionism (color, freedom, passion).

On the basis of this you could hypothesize that the various keys connote different ranges of emotions - from a historical point of view at least!
However, as CD mentions, there are several methodological considerations. One could argue that it is scientifically impossible to prove anything about keys and related emotionality, simply because the connotations of keys are subjective! Furthermore, there are no differences in terms of taxonomy between the various keys. C major and and B major contain the same intervals in terms of intonation, so are they really different from each other??? They might as well produce the same connotations for the audience?

I think a more interesting analysis would concern the emotional connotations of intervals. What emotions does a third and fifth bring up respectively?
But again, it is pointless do this kind of research without fitting it into a general picture...

[Corno Dolce]

Hi Rune,

Excellent points you bring up.
The different musical keys can also bring up many and varied emotions for each and every listener, so it does get a bit hoary to nail down a common scale of emotion based the musical keys for all listeners.

Cheers,

CD

[methodistgirl]

I never thought about that. Nights in White Satin is performed in
E minor.
judy tooley

[Rune Vejby]

The different musical keys can also bring up many and varied emotions for each and every listener, so it does get a bit hoary to nail down a common scale of emotion based the musical keys for all listeners.

Exactly, CD
Still, it is a funny and interesting article, and it might be worth keeping in mind as reference if you compose music...

-Rune

[Andrew Roussak]

Hi CD, I think it is rather subjective, especially when you keep in mind that many typical piano pieces are written in a correspondent key only due to the fingering. Say if you tranpose a Db-major piece ( a key with 5 b-s, you know ) in a D-major, it may become unplayable - I have just thought of some piano pieces of Gerschwin, where you have to play chords having a decima ( 10th ).

Many pieces of Debussy are written in Db, because you can more easily play pentatonic melodies using only black keys.

Lots of guitar pieces are written in A, E, D due to using of the open strings.

Lots of jazz-standards - in Eb, Bb, Ab due to fingering of brass instruments.

You see.... Maybe it works on purely orchestral pieces...

[Corno Dolce]

Hi Andrew,

You mentioned Brass instruments in the keys of Eb, Bb, and Ab. Yes, there are limitations to what key you can transpose music. The British Brass Bands have tons of arrangements in flat-keys since the instruments are predominantly built in the keys of Eb and Bb. I play a Contrabass Trombone in F/BBb Bass but I don't worry too much about what key the music is written in. I'll just work smarter and harder practising the piece so that I can't get it wrong.

Yes, Symphonic Orchestras are more flexible with musical keys but if you get a chance to work with British Brass Bands like Black Dyke Mills Band and Grimethorpe Colliery, you work with professionals that can read any music and adjust their playing style and instruments to suit all repertoire. Also, the international staff bands of the Salvation Army are excellent musicians the whole lot of them. But, the best Symphonic Brass Ensemble?
That would be "The Presidents Own" = US Marine Corps Brass and "Pershings Own" = US Army Brass and the Brass Band of the Russian Navy headquartered in St. Petersburg.

Cheers,

CD