Any truth to different keys producing different emotions?

[Gordon Currie]

Originally Posted by Wags

I know a lot of musicians who hold that as a rule sharp keys sound "brighter" while flat keys sound "darker". Most ballads seem to be written in flat keys, but that could be also be due to horn players preferring flat keys.

So, if they were playing in D sharp and wanted to 'darken' the sound, they could call it E flat?

[rick-slo]

Originally Posted by Andyrondack

You should visit Glastonbury sometime, sure you'll feel quite at home.

Is there a humor festival there?

[rule18]

Originally Posted by Bob Womack

I think it was written by a tenor.

Bob

Hmm, maybe. I was thinking more like a mezzo diva...

[Song]

Originally Posted by JonPR

they have no meaning in any objective sense, certainly not in modern equal temperament.

Yes. It's medieval and its modal. Plato and philosophy.
"Dorian harmony exhibited the manly vigour, magnificent bearing and temperate nature of the true Hellenic race.
Aeolian and Ionian keys mirrored the characteristics of their respective Grecian tribes.
Two keys were possibly adopted, brought by the barbaric Phrygian and Lydian invaders.
To these keys were imparted respectively orgiastic and threnodic qualities…
The Dorian key was associated with kithara, Apollo, peace and
objectivity, while the Phrygian key was associated with the aulos,
Dionysis, excitement and subjectivity."

https://news.berkeley.edu/2020/01/06...s-13-emotions/

[Tahitijack]

I don't think I've ever heard a sad song in zydeco or Hawaiian slack key.

[FingahPickah]

Ever notice that "Happy Birthday" evokes emotions when sung in (or even off) just about any key?

[Cecil6243]

Originally Posted by David Eastwood

It’s all about feeling these days, isn’t it?

I feel like this is baloney.

[JonPR]

Originally Posted by Song

Yes. It's medieval and its modal. Plato and philosophy.

Remembering that Plato was further far back from medieval times than medieval times are from us.

Originally Posted by Song

"Dorian harmony exhibited the manly vigour, magnificent bearing and temperate nature of the true Hellenic race.
Aeolian and Ionian keys mirrored the characteristics of their respective Grecian tribes.
Two keys were possibly adopted, brought by the barbaric Phrygian and Lydian invaders.
To these keys were imparted respectively orgiastic and threnodic qualities…
The Dorian key was associated with kithara, Apollo, peace and
objectivity, while the Phrygian key was associated with the aulos,
Dionysis, excitement and subjectivity."

Also worth remembering that the medieval modes were not the same structures as the Greek ones of the same names. Medieval scholars flipped them around for some reason, as well as reducing their number.

But also, the modes in those days (Greece or the middle ages) were a lot more than just scales. They were probably more like the Indian raga system - as wiki says: "Each rāga is an array of melodic structures with musical motifs, considered in the Indian tradition to have the ability to "colour the mind" and affect the emotions of the audience".

So there you have a similar claim to the one about keys in the classical west. The difference being, of course, that different ragas have different scale structures. It's more like the major-minor difference in the west, except with many more than just two dimensions - and many more than the 7 western modes too. (There are similar modal cultures in Iran and Turkey (maqam), and resemblances to the systems in flamenco, and other ethnic cultures.)

And even then, the way ragas affect the audience depends on the audience being educated to expect those effects, through exposure to the culture. Western audiences can certainly appreciate raga, but won't get the deeper references that an Indian audience will.

[Nama Ensou]

Originally Posted by KevWind

I think the emotion evoked also includes...the chord structure, the melody, the timing, and or the prosody of the lyrics when present ..... I think it is a complex interconnection an interaction of all the elements involved, not some silly list of keys.

Originally Posted by TBman

I don't think there is any merit to the assignment of emotions to different keys in the above list. I'd put it in the same drawer as astrology.

Two more bits here that I completely agree with, and quoted because they are pretty much all that really needs to be said on the subject.

[JonPR]

Originally Posted by Gordon Currie

So, if they were playing in D sharp and wanted to 'darken' the sound, they could call it E flat?

Exactly!
And if you're playing in E major and it's too bright, just call it "F flat" - "oh wow, that's so much darker!!"

[JonPR]

Originally Posted by Nama Ensou

Two more bits here that I completely agree with, and quoted because they are pretty much all that really needs to be said on the subject.

Yes - well quoted!

[rllink]

I've been following this thread and was thinking about it when I played yesterday evening. I think that it might be true. I've never tried to do a comprehensive study of it but I do play around with different keys and often times one key just has that vibe that goes with the song that the others don't have. Yesterday I was playing Hesitation Blues in the key of E. I switched it to the key of G just for fun and it didn't have the same feel. Switched to A and the same thing. Switched back to E and got the feeling back. So I'll say that I believe it. I did the same with Little Red Rooster and got similar results. One key just as a better vibe to it.

[rick-slo]

Originally Posted by rllink

I've been following this thread and was thinking about it when I played yesterday evening. I think that it might be true. I've never tried to do a comprehensive study of it but I do play around with different keys and often times one key just has that vibe that goes with the song that the others don't have. Yesterday I was playing Hesitation Blues in the key of E. I switched it to the key of G just for fun and it didn't have the same feel. Switched to A and the same thing. Switched back to E and got the feeling back. So I'll say that I believe it. I did the same with Little Red Rooster and got similar results. One key just as a better vibe to it.

Guitar for a piece might sound better in some certain tuning and key for some specific piece of music due to chord fingerings available, open notes, ringing notes etc.. A situational case rather than a generality inherent to different keys.

[FrankHudson]

Originally Posted by rick-slo

Guitar for a piece might sound better in some certain tuning and key for some specific piece of music due to chord fingerings available, open notes, ringing notes etc.. A situational case rather than a generality inherent to different keys.

Exactly. We guitarists (particularly those who haven't completely mastered the instrument, which is roughly equivalent to "everyone") have certain voicings and "tricks 'n' licks" we use with chords used in particular keys. It's the reason that less skilled musicians like myself use capos and alt tunings so we can get tonal colors we wouldn't otherwise have. For one example when playing blues stuff, there are certain bass runs I can execute off a E -family-form cowboy chord that I can't do in G. Capo 3, and they're there. Similarly when we use DADGAD, our guitars will likely have a different sonority, and certain ornaments are going to occur to us, even if we're playing in the same key as another arrangement based on standard tuning.

[rllink]

Originally Posted by rick-slo

Guitar for a piece might sound better in some certain tuning and key for some specific piece of music due to chord fingerings available, open notes, ringing notes etc.. A situational case rather than a generality inherent to different keys.

If you say so. I can only comment on my own experiences, I don't really have that depth of knowledge it takes to make a definitive statement on the subject.