Your favourite... musical key.

So, there are plenty of which is your favourite X questions which we stumble upon rather often.
For all kinds of things, important and, more often, not. Or almost exclusively not.
So they ask us what is our favourite colour.
Or what is our favourite tea company.
Or what is our favourite smiley.
Stupid little questions like that. It had got even to the point where you have entire questionnaires composed out of questions on your favourites. Other than the rather obvious overcome-the-boredom or start-the-conversation or say-something purpose such questions indicate, what is the 'logic' behind them?
Is anybody really going to be able to conclude something about you based on those questions (of course not, nor it is their intention, but let us pretend it is :D)?

The fact that black, the actual absence of colour, is my favourite 'colour', or that Ahmad is my favourite tea, and that my favourite smiley is that funny little one brick-the-wall, will not tell you much about me.
Those are, to say so, additional information.
Something you could do without.
Something which is never going to get you the feeling, almost physical feeling, of what am I like.

You know what will? Music; it is, after all, the only art which nearly physically strikes you and which can provoke you with a feeling and intuitive but felt understanding of what somebody's innermost corresponds to.
I mean, no, you won't get the essence.
But you will get the closest approximation.
Even if you asked me what is my favourite language to speak, and thus forced me to choose a mindset with cultural and psycholinguistic and other influences, it would still not speak of me that well as a little question on music would.

But it is not just about stating a composition or two which you like.
You, of course, like a plethora of compositions which tend to be quite different.
Nor it is about asking strictly for one.
It is about asking for the key.
Yeah, that one key which was always somehow more 'compactible' with your soul, to say so, than the other ones.

That is what would, out of all those "favourite" questions, probably reveal you the most, as in, the instant feeling.

So, what is your favourite key? :)

C-sharp minor or D-minor. Ce depend.

Without a moment's hesitation ... B-flat minor (and of course, the corresponding major, D-flat major). But let it be known that I prefer the minor for some reason... ;)

[it is piano that I call my instrument]

I don't know musical keys.

Hmm. I can't honestly answer this. I've played music for YEARS, but I don't have a favourite key. Mmm. Blues pentatonic in C Minor.

Monotonality is for suckers!

Well, actually, no, it isn't. But the thing is, I don't have perfect pitch so the keys seem the same to me. (well, unless it is major vs minor or something like that)

I have played the flute for years too but I can't tell the difference between different keys by just listening to them.

But still, multitonality is cool.

F major

which is also B flat minor... I think

B flat major, G flat major. They were the easiest and most fun, respectively, to play on xylophones. :D

Drums don't have keys, so there's no fav there. I didn't have a fav for my french horn either.

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Originally Posted by Anza

F major

which is also B flat minor... I think

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That would be D-minor. :)

C sharp minor. Or maybe F sharp minor. I love the C sharp minor arpeggio for some reason.

Harmonic minor, that was. For melodics, I think my favourite is A minor.

Somehow majors just don't quite seem so... exciting. But my favourite of those would be A flat.

Ah, you beat me to it Kiz. :)

E Dorian minor is my favourite.

Second is B minor.

then B major.

then D major.

C-Moll (minor) and D-Dur (major) are my personal favourites.

D minor, on the piano, and for some reason i love all minors, majors, flat and sharp C's when playing my saxophone. I can literally do an improv session, with mostly c's---

I'm really surprised no one has said C major. Well, I guess that's mine, although I don't have the ear to pick out one major form another or one minor from another.

I like playing in g minor. I can't tell what key something is in just by hearing it; can people do that?

I had never really thought about this until recently when I learned so much from that Sylvia Woods weekend. I normally would have said that I preferred Cmajor, because that is what my harp is tuned to. The only other key I've ever really known the name of was D major, but that was because of knowing Pachelbel's Canon in D.

I would have said that I prefer any key that didn't have flats. Having a non-pedal harp makes it harder to play something in flats, because I'd have to retune the strings. However, I've since learned that I can play opposite keys without worrying about changing any notes of the song. Say, I have a piece that's written in E flat major. I can just simply sharpen C,D, F, and G, and play in E major and play the notes as written! That's part of what I've been working on the last 2 weeks and why I've been gone so long. I've skipped over songs, because I never wanted to be bothered with flattening my strings; I'd have to naturalize them again for other songs.

Anyhow, I know all that really isn't the point of this thread, but I've only just begun learning the keys so I really couldn't say yet if I have a favorite. I guess, since my goal is to learn The Beatles- Michelle one day, I'll say for now, A major. It has such a neat sound!

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Originally Posted by Shea

I would have said that I prefer any key that didn't have flats. Having a non-pedal harp makes it harder to play something in flats, because I'd have to retune the strings.

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Why don't you install levers? I don't know how many strings you have, but many harp builders do that for a reasonable amount of money. It would enable you to play a lot more pieces with those levers, even pieces that are originally written for pedal harps. ;)

I am one of those tone-deaf people who couldnt tell you the difference between them. So my favourite is either all or none.

I do have levers, but you can only go sharp or only go flat with them before you have to retune the strings. I set my harp to C major, and sharpen as I need to. Before, if I wanted to flatten, I'd have to retune it. Now, I've learned that I can just play in the opposite sharp key. Still makes it hard if there are a lot of key changes within a song.

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Originally Posted by Weisinheimer

I like playing in g minor. I can't tell what key something is in just by hearing it; can people do that?

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Yup. I'm not a great musician but I think I can recognize (in this order) G major, A minor, D minor, C major, F major, possibly B minor, E minor sometimes, I think that's about it.

Okay, now, reconsidering that when I start improvising on my flute, I quite often tend to gravitate towards d dorian minor so I'll put my vote on d dorian if it is necessary.

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Originally Posted by Shea

I do have levers, but you can only go sharp or only go flat with them before you have to retune the strings. I set my harp to C major, and sharpen as I need to. Before, if I wanted to flatten, I'd have to retune it. Now, I've learned that I can just play in the opposite sharp key. Still makes it hard if there are a lot of key changes within a song.

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If you do have levers I would rather tune it to Es-Dur (E flat major). Then you can reach the most common tonalities without having to retune. :)

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Originally Posted by Erichtho

If you do have levers I would rather tune it to Es-Dur (E flat major). Then you can reach the most common tonalities without having to retune. :)

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Yeah, there's a girl who borrows my harp to play at the tea room when I can't make it. She tunes it to E flat major, but I don't play any music yet that calls for that.

How come so many of you are into minor keys? Is this just youthful angst?

C-minor and g-minor, I think.

Absolutely minor, no major. And no, it's not youthful angst, it's the Finnish angst :lol:

Don't know the ABC of musical keys and yesterday I dreamt I was a pianist. Strange, isn't it? But I guess these are dreams for you. Hmmm.

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Originally Posted by Virgil

How come so many of you are into minor keys? Is this just youthful angst?

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Minor keys are interesting and deep. But I like major ones, too. Anything can be done with music. :D

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Originally Posted by Weisinheimer

I like playing in g minor. I can't tell what key something is in just by hearing it; can people do that?

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I've played piano, stringed and wind instruments as a kid, but I prefer to listen. As a listener, my favorite key is F-Major, D-minor. I don't care for B-flat, E-flat- A-flat, E or B.