Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Entertainment/2015 August 14

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August 14

Songs where the key does not match what you would predict from just the first 9 notes of a melody

Look at the first few notes of this song:

Sunny day, sweepin' the clouds away!
C, A, F,   F, G,    A,  C,     A,F

You would initially think the song is in F based on what the first 9 notes of the melody look like, but the song's actual key is C. Are songs of this kind common?? Georgia guy (talk) 18:22, 14 August 2015 (UTC)

Are you sure? The main major chords of the C major key are C, F, and G, and the relative minor of C is Am. I just strummed the song on my guitar using the chords C, Am, F, G, Am, C, Am, F, and it seems to work. Feels like a C major song to me. --Jayron32

Aren't kids' songs often written in the key of C anyway? ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 06:30, 15 August 2015 (UTC)

Yeah; going through my chord charts and song books, "classic" American kids songs are often written in C. I'm not sure why this is, maybe it's easier to sing (not being a singer at all, I would have no clue) or maybe the fact that the key of C can be played entirely on the "white keys" of the piano may be the reason. As a guitarist, I find the keys of G, D, and A easier to play (since those keys all feature major chords that can be played open, avoiding the dreaded barre chord (or at least I used to when I was a worse rhythm guitarist. Now I have learned to love the barre chord). But my understanding (from my admittedly limited understanding of music theory) is that C is an easier chord for many instruments, because its key signature contains no sharps or flats. --Jayron32 06:43, 15 August 2015 (UTC)

Another major consideration is that the range of the song's notes not be too high or too low for kids (or, indeed, for whoever may be singing the song). If the notes are more-or-less centered around middle C, the song stands a better chance of being accessible to children's voices than if centered lower or higher. -- Jack of Oz ^{[pleasantries]} 19:40, 17 August 2015 (UTC)