Glossary of Musical Terms Glossary of Musical Terms One or more vocalists performing without an accompaniment. Accelerando - A symbol used in musical notation indicating to gradually quicken tempo. Accessible - Music that is easy to listen to and understand. Adagio - A tempo having slow movement; restful at ease. Allegro - A direction to play lively and fast. Atonal - Music that is written and performed without regard to any specific key. Baroque - Time in music history ranging from the middle of the 16th to the middle of the 17th centuries. Characterized by emotional, flowery music; written in strict form. Beat - The unit of musical rhythm. Cadence - A sequence of chords that brings an end to a phrase, either in the middle or the end of a composition. Cadenza - Initially an improvised cadence by a soloist; later becoming an elaborate and written out passage in an aria or concerto, featuring the skills of an instrumentalist or vocalist. Cadenza - Originally an improvised cadence by a soloist. Later it became a written out passage to display performance skills of an instrumentalist or performer.

Canon - A musical form where the melody or tune is imitated by individual parts at regular intervals. The individual parts may enter at different measures and pitches. The tune may also be played at different speeds, backwards, or inverted. Cantabile - A style of singing which is characterized by the easy and flowing tone of the composition. Cantata - Music written for chorus and orchestra. Most often religious in nature. Capriccio - A quick, improvisational, spirited piece of music. Carol - A song or hymn celebrating Christmas. Castrato - Male singers who were castrated to preserve their alto and soprano vocal range. Cavatina - A short and simple melody performed by a soloist that is part of a larger piece. Chamber music - Written for 2 to 10 solo parts featuring one instrument to a part. Each part bears the same importance. Chant - Singing in unison, texts in a free rhythm. Similar to the rhythm of speech. Choir - Group of singers in a chorus. Chorale - A hymn sung by the choir and congregation often in unison. Chord - 3 or 4 notes played simultaneously in harmony.

Chord progression - A string of chords played in succession. Chorus - A group singing in unison. Chromatic scale - Includes all twelve notes of an octave. Classical - The period of music history which dates from the mid 1700s to mid 1800s. The music was spare and emotionally reserved, especially when compared to Romantic and Boroque music. Classicism - The period of music history which dates from the mid 1800s and lasted about sixty years. There was a strong regard for order and balance. Clavier - The keyboard of a stringed instrument. Clef - In sheet music, a symbol at the beginning of the staff defining the pitch of the notes found in that particular staff. Coda - Closing section of a movement. Concert master - The first violin in an orchestra. Concerto - A composition written for a solo instrument. The soloist plays the melody while the orchestra plays the accompaniment. Conductor - One who directs a group of performers. The conductor indicates the tempo, phrasing, dynamics, and style by gestures and facial expressions. Consonance - Groups of tones that are harmonious when sounded together as in a chord.

Contralto - Two or three melodic lines played at the same time. Courante - A piece of music written in triple time. Also an old French dance. Da Capo - In sheet music, an instruction to repeat the beginning of the piece before stopping on the final chord. Deceptive cadence - A chord progression that seems to lead to resolving itself on the final chord; but does not. Development - Where the musical themes and melodies are developed, written in sonata form. Dissonance - Harsh, discordant, and lack of harmony. Also a chord that sounds incomplete until it resolves itself on a harmonious chord. Drone - Dull, monotonous tone such as a humming or buzzing sound. Also a bass note held under a melody. Duet - A piece of music written for two vocalists or instrumentalists. Dynamics - Pertaining to the loudness or softness of a musical composition. Also the symbols in sheet music indicating volume. Elegy - An instrumental lament with praise for the dead. Encore - A piece of music played at the end of a recital responding to the audiences enthusiastic reaction to the performance, shown by continuous applause.

Energico - A symbol in sheet music a direction to play energetically. Enharmonic Interval - Two notes that differ in name only. The notes occupy the same position. For example: C sharp and D flat. Ensemble - The performance of either all instruments of an orchestra or voices in a chorus. Espressivo - A direction to play expressively. Etude - A musical composition written solely to improve technique. Often performed for artistic interest. Exposition - The first section of a movement written in sonata form, introducing the melodies and themes. Expressionism - Atonal and violent style used as a means of evoking heightened emotions and states of mind. Falsetto - A style of male singing where by partial use of the vocal chords, the voice is able to reach the pitch of a female. Fermata - To hold a tone or rest held beyond the written value at the discretion of the performer. Fifth - The interval between two notes. Three whole tones and one semitone make up the distance between the two notes. Finale - Movement or passage that concludes the musical composition. Flat - A symbol indicating that the note is to be diminished by one semitone. Form - The structure of a piece of music.

Forte - A symbol indicating to play loud. Fourth - The interval between two notes. Two whole tones and one semitone make up the distance between the two notes. Fugue - A composition written for three to six voices. Beginning with the exposition, each voice enters at different times, creating counterpoint with one another. Galliard - Music written for a lively French dance for two performers written in triple time. Gavotte - A 17th century dance written in Quadruple time, always beginning on the third beat of the measure. Glee - Vocal composition written for three or more solo parts, usually without instrumental accompaniment. Glissando - Word to indicate that the movement or entire composition is to be played grandly. Grave - Word to indicate the movement or entire composition is to be played very slow and serious. Grazioso - Word to indicate the movement or entire composition is to be played gracefully. Gregorian Chant - Singing or chanting in unison without strict rhythm. Collected during the Reign of Pope Gregory VIII for psalms and other other parts of the church service. Harmony - Pleasing combination of two or three tones played together in the background while a melody is being played.

Harmony also refers to the study of chord progressions. Homophony - Music written to be sung or played in unison. Hymn - A song of praise and glorification. Most often to honor God. Impromptu - A short piano piece, often improvisational and intimate in character. Instrumentation - Arrangement of music for a combined number of instruments. Interlude - Piece of instrumental music played between scenes in a play or opera. Intermezzo - Short movement or interlude connecting the main parts of the composition. Interpretation - The expression the performer brings when playing his instrument. Interval - The distance in pitch between two notes. Intonation - The manner in which tones are produced with regard to pitch. Introduction - The opening section of a piece of music or movement. Key - System of notes or tones based on and named after the key note. Key signature - The flats and sharps at the beginning of each staff line indicating the key of music the piece is to be played. Klangfarbenmelodie - The technique of altering the tone color of a single note or musical line by changing from one instrument to another in the middle of a note or line.

Leading note - The seventh note of the scale where there is a strong desire to resolve on the tonic. Legato - Word to indicate that the movement or entire composition is to be played smoothly. Leitmotif - A musical theme given to a particular idea or main character of an opera. Libretto - A book of text containing the words of an opera. Ligature - Curved line connecting notes to be sung or played as a phrase. Madrigal - A contrapuntal song written for at least three voices, usually without accompaniment. Maestro - Refers to any great composer, conductor, or teacher of music. Major - One of the two modes of the tonal system. Music written in major keys have a positive affirming character. March - A form of music written for marching in two-step time. Originally the march was used for military processions. Measure - The unit of measure where the beats on the lines of the staff are divided up into two, three, four beats to a measure. Medley - Often used in overtures, a composition that uses passages from other movements of the composition in its entirety. Mezzo - The voice between soprano and alto.

Also, in sheet music, a direction for the tempo to be played at medium speed. Minor - One of the two modes of the tonal system. The minor mode can be identified by the dark, melancholic mood. Minuet - Slow and stately dance music written in triple time. Modes - Either of the two octave arrangements in modern music. The modes are either major or minor. Modulation - To shift to another key. Monotone - Repetition of a single tone. Motif - Primary theme or subject that is developed. Movement - A separate section of a larger composition. Musette - A Boroque dance with a drone-bass. Musicology - The study of forms, history, science, and methods of music. Natural - A symbol in sheet music that returns a note to its original pitch after it has been augmented or diminished. Neoclassical - Movement in music where the characteristics are crisp and direct. Nocturne - A musical composition that has a romantic or dreamy character with nocturnal associations. Nonet - A composition written for nine instruments. Notation - First developed in the 8th century, methods of writing music.

Obbligato - An extended solo, often accompanying the vocal part of an aria. Octave - Eight full tones above the key note where the scale begins and ends. Octet - A composition written for eight instruments. Opera - A drama where the words are sung instead of spoken. Operetta - A short light musical drama. Opus - Convenient method of numbering a composers works where a number follows the word opus. For example, Opus 28, No. 4. Oratorio - An extended cantata on a sacred subject. Orchestra - A large group of instrumentalists playing together. Orchestration - Arranging a piece of music for an orchestra. Also, the study of music. Ornaments - Tones used to embellish the principal melodic tone. Ostinato - A composition whose style is simple and idyllic; suggestive of rural scenes. Pentatonic Scale - A musical scale having five notes. For example: the five black keys of a keyboard make up a pentatonic scale. Phrase - A single line of music played or sung. A musical sentence. Piano - An instruction in sheet music to play softly. Abbreviated by a p.

Pitch - The frequency of a note determining how high or low it sounds. Pizzicato - String instruments that are picked instead of bowed. Polyphony - Combining a number of individual but harmonizing melodies. Also known as counterpoint. Polytonality - Combination of two or more keys being played at the same time. Portamento - A mild glissando between two notes for an expressive effect. Prelude - A short piece originally preceded by a more substantial work, also an orchestral introduction to opera, however not lengthy enough to be considered an overture. Presto - A direction in sheet music indicating the tempo is to be very fast. Progression - The movement of chords in succession. Quadrille - A 19th century square dance written for 4 couples. Quartet - A set of four musicians who perform a composition written for four parts. Quintet - A set of five musicians who perform a composition written for five parts. Recapitulation - A solo concert with or without accompaniment. Recitative - A form of writing for vocals that is close to the manner of speech and is rhythmically free. Reed - The piece of cane in wind instruments.

The players cause vibrations by blowing through it in order to produce sound. Refrain - A repeating phrase that is played at the end of each verse in the song. Register - A portion of the range of the instrument or voice. Relative major and minor - The major and minor keys that share the same notes in that key. For example: A minor shares the same note as C major. Relative pitch - Ability to determine the pitch of a note as it relates to the notes that precede and follow it. Renaissance - A period in history dating from the 14th to 16th centuries. This period signified the rebirth of music, art, and literature. Reprise - To repeat a previous part of a composition generally after other music has been played. Requiem - A dirge, hymn, or musical service for the repose of the dead. Resonance - When several strings are tuned to harmonically related pitches, all strings vibrate when only one of the strings is struck. Rhythm - The element of music pertaining to time, played as a grouping of notes into accented and unaccented beats. Ricercar - Elaborate polyphonic composition of the Boroque and Renaissance periods.

Rigaudon - A quick 20th century dance written in double time. Rococo - A musical style characterized as excessive, ornamental, and trivial. Romantic - A period in history during the 18th and early 19th centuries where the focus shifted from the neoclassical style to an emotional, expressive, and imaginative style. Rondo - A musical form where the principal theme is repeated several times. The rondo was often used for the final movements of classical sonata form works. Root - The principal note of a triad. Round - A canon where the melody is sung in two or more voices. After the first voice begins, the next voice starts singing after a couple of measures are played in the preceding voice. All parts repeat continuously. Rubato - An important characteristic of the Romantic period. It is a style where the strict tempo is temporarily abandoned for a more emotional tone. Scale - Successive notes of a key or mode either ascending or descending. Scherzo - Pertaining to the sonata form, a fast movement in triple time. Scordatura - The retuning of a stringed instrument in order to play notes below the ordinary range of the instrument or to produce an usual tone color.

Septet - A set of seven musicians who perform a composition written for seven parts. Sequence - A successive transposition and repetition of a phrase at different pitches. Serenade - A lighthearted piece, written in several movements, usually as background music for a social function. Sextet - A set of six musicians who perform a composition written for six parts. Sharp - A symbol indicating the note is to be raised by one semitone. Slide - A glissando or portamento. Also refers to the moving part of a trombone. Slur - Short detached notes, as opposed to legato. Staff - Made up of five horizontal parallel lines and the spaces between them on which musical notation is written. Stretto - Pertaining to the fugue, the overlapping of the same theme or motif by two or more voices a few beats apart. String Quartet - A group of 4 instruments, two violins, a viola, and cello. Suite - A loose collection of instrumental compositions. Symphony - Three to four movement orchestral piece, generally in sonata form. System - A combination of two or more staves on which all the notes are vertically aligned and performed simultaneously in differing registers and instruments.

Tablature - A system of notation for stringed instruments. The notes are indicated by the finger positions. Temperament - Refers to the tuning of an instrument. Tempo - The range of an instrumental or a vocal part. Theme - A melodic or, sometimes a harmonic idea presented in a musical form. Timbre - Tone color, quality of sound that distinguishes one verse or instrument to another. It is determined by the harmonies of sound. Time Signature - A numeric symbol in sheet music determining the number of beats to a measure. Tonal - Pertains to tone or tones. Tonality - The tonal characteristics determined by the relationship of the notes to the tone. Tone - The intonation, pitch, and modulation of a composition expressing the meaning, feeling, or attitude of the music. Tone less - The first tone of a scale also known as a keynote. Treble - The playing or singing the upper half of the vocal range. Also the highest voice in choral singing. Tremolo - Quick repetition of the same note or the rapid alternation between two notes. Triad - Three note chords consisting of a root, third, and fifth.

Trill - Rapid alternation between notes that are a half tone or whole tone apart. Trio - A composition written for three voices and instruments performed by three persons. Time signature with three beats to the measure. Triplet - Three notes played in the same amount of time as one or two beats. Tritone - A chord comprised of three whole tones resulting in an augmented fourth or diminished fifth. Tune - A rhythmic succession of musical tones, a melody for instruments and voices. Tuning - The raising and lowering a pitch of an instrument to produce the correct tone of a note. Tutti - Passage for the entire ensemble or orchestra without a soloist. Twelve-tone music - Music composed such that each note is used the same number of times. Unison - Two or more voices or instruments playing the same note simultaneously. Verismo - A form of Italian opera beginning at the end of the 19th century. The setting is contemporary to the composers own time, and the characters are modeled after every day life. Vibrato - Creating variation pitch in a note by quickly alternating between notes. Virtuoso - A person with notable technical skill in the performance of music.

Vivace - Direction to performer to play a composition in a brisk, lively, and spirited manner. Voice - One of two or more parts in polyphonic music. Voice refers to instrumental parts as well as the singing voice. Waltz - A dance written in triple time, where the accent falls on the first beat of each measure. Whole note - A whole note is equal to 2 half notes, 4 quarter notes, 8 eighth notes, etc. Whole-tone scale - How to Change Musical Keys on a Piano: 7 Steps (with Pictures) How to Change Musical Keys on a Piano Community Q&A When playing the piano , and learning how to compose music, it is important to learn how to transpose any song from one musical key to the other. This is especially important when playing with a band, or accompanying a singer. It is also necessary in music theory exams, and when writing music for transposing instruments such as a Bb clarinet. Steps 1 Figure out how far you're going. For example, if you're going from D to G, that's a perfect fourth, or four notes up, counting the D, the G, and all the notes in between.

If you don't know about harmonic intervals, count the semitones, eg: A to Bb is one semitone, A to B is two semitones, D to G is five semitones. 2 Know what the key signature of the new key is. For example, D has F# and C#. G just has F#. Ab has Bb, Eb, Ab, and Db. Also, make sure you know how to write the new key, and which order to add in the sharps and flats. (See Work Out Which Key You're In ). 3 Play the music as written, except play everything the number of semitones higher or lower. Continuing with the same example, when you see a D, play a G. If you see an E, play an A, and so on. 4 Include the sharps or flats in the NEW key signature. For example, if you see a C in the original music (which is actually a C#, but that isn't important right now), you're going to play an F, because that's a fourth higher than C. But you're in G now, which has an F# in the key signature. So you play an F# instead.

In this example, both the original note and the new note are both sharped. This will not always be the case. A natural note may become sharp or flat or natural, depending on the new key. This won't matter if you have translated everything up or down the same number of semitones. 5 Choose the corresponding accidental for the new key. For example, if your original song (in D) has a Bb, that's a half-step down from its normal pitch (n to b = -1). The note B in the old key corresponds to the note E in the new key. In the new key (G) E is normally natural, so you must drop it a half-step, to Eb. 6 Playing a song written in Ab, which has Bb, Eb, Ab, and Db. You're transposing it to E, which has F#, C#, G#, and D#. You see a D# in the written score. You say to yourself, " D is normally flatted in this key, but here it's sharpened. That means it's been raised two semitones, or one tone. D in the old key corresponds to A in the new key.

A minor doesn't have any sharps or flats associated with it, so to raise it a whole-step up from A natural, play Ax, which is equivalent to B." Don't worry; it's not usually going to be this difficult in real life. 7 If there's a key change in the song itself, you have to make sure to transpose the music after the key change correctly. For example, if the original music goes from C to D (a modulation of one tone), and you're transposing such that it starts in Eb, the music after the key change must be in a key a tone higher than Eb, which is of course F. Community Q&A How do I transpose a classical piece from C major to E major? wikiHow Contributor Pretend these are the notes in the piece: C E G F C B C. This follows the key of C major, which is no sharps and no flats. The key of E major has four sharps: F#, C#, G#, and D#. Because C is the first note of the C major scale, your new transposed piece will begin on the first note of the E major scale, which is E.

To transpose the rest of the piece, follow this pattern: E is the third note of the C major scale, and the third note of the E major scale is G# -- therefore, G# is your next note. G is the fifth note of the C major scale, and the fifth note of the E major scale is B, and so on. I want to play a piece of music on my digital piano with another musician who plays Bb Clarinet. If I lower the piano by two semi-tones, will it sound the same as the Bb clarinet? wikiHow Contributor No. A B-flat clarinet doesn't just play in the key of B-flat; it is up to the musician to play in the specified key. For example, if the key is F, she and you would both play using notes from the F scale. How do I transition from the key of G to the key of C? wikiHow Contributor Transposition should just be shifting everything. The counts stay the same, and the intervals as well. If you were to start on E for a C major piece, the interval from C to E would be a third up. You would do the same to the G, going a third up from there.

Don't forget to add in the extra accidental of F#. Do it with the rest of the notes, and you should be able to transpose the whole piece. If this question (or a similar one) is answered twice in this section, please click here to let us know. Tips Remember that some keys can be expressed in two ways. They are C# (7 sharps) = Db (5 flats), F# (6 sharps) = Gb (6 flats), and B (5 sharps) = Cb (7 flats). If you're going into one of these, decide which one is easiest to think of, or suits the music more, although they'll both be played the same. If you need to, make notes on the score. For example, pencil in "Eb" or "G" to remind yourself what notes to play. Begin with 'close' transpositions (C major to D major, Ab major to A major, etc.) These are generally easier to do because the hands tend to stay in the same place as the original. Warnings The two parts should sound exactly the same once transposed; just one is higher than the other. If they don't, something has gone wrong somewhere. Don't assume this is easy.

Although one can understand how to do it, not everyone can, unless it's very easy, like transposing from F to C. Why do musicians prefer to play in certain keys? - Music: Practice & Theory Stack Exchange Why do musicians prefer to play in certain keys? up vote 11 down vote All instruments have technique considerations related to pitch class except for the human voice and perhaps the theremin. These specific considerations then go on to inform other aspects of play. For example, the piano has white keys and black keys. The white keys are bigger, evenly spaced, and all on the same physical level. Playing in keys other than C major (or diatonic equivalents) requires the use of black keys, which are on a different physical level, are unevenly spaced in groups of three and two, and are smaller. This is a vast simplification, but the ways in which those combinations of keys come together for playing in different musical keys vary in difficulty and comfort for the pianist, depending on his degree of training and experience (but even so, every pianist starts in C major).

Specifically, I know many pianists that prefer the key of B major because it makes use of all of the black keys plus two white keys that fall very easily under the fingers. In contrast, a woodwind player is typically not going to be very happy in B major, because in general the more accidentals (i.e. flats and sharps) they have to play, the more unintuitive the fingerings are. (Compare this fingering chart for the clarinet C major scale vs. the C flat, or B major scale ). String instruments like guitar, violin, etc. have an easier time of this, to be sure, but considerations are still to be had regarding open strings. Various chords or even styles of music will require the use of open strings which are generally fixed at a specific pitch (or one of a finite set of alternate tunings in the case of guitar). 4 "except for the human voice" -- I'm under the impression that transposition to suit the vocalist's range is pretty common. – Dave Nov 2 '13 at 13:40 3 @Dave That is true, but is based on the tessitura of the piece of music, not the key.

A piece normally in G, but has notes just outside the range of the singer might be transposed down to Eb, but at the same time, a different piece in Eb that goes too low for the singer might be transposed up to G. – NReilingh Nov 2 '13 at 16:06 @Dave That's why I said "technique considerations related to pitch class". – NReilingh Nov 2 '13 at 16:07 up vote 4 down vote Just to add to NReilingh's answer, there's also the tonal consideration. The same note played at a different pitch can have a different timbre on many instruments. This can result in a piece of music taking on a different character if it's transposed. For performance purposes, this can sometimes be exploited very effectively to work together with the acoustic properties of the performance space. On some instruments (such as guitar) the key can also affect what fingerings are realistically possible, which can dictate available chord voicings. Some voicings are more complete or harmonically appropriate than others, depending on the context.

up vote 3 down vote In solo vocal music, the key of a song is usually established by the composer/songwriter, but when it is performed or recorded, key of a song often gets changed according to the needs of the singer who is performing it at the time. As a singer, I have to point out that everybody's voice is a little different, and each different singer instinctively knows if a given song will be easier to sing and sound better if it is played in a higher or lower key. So if you are an instrumentalist, and you bring a certain song to one particular singer, that singer will likely request that you play the song in a different key that works best with that singer's voice. The key that a singer likes, for a particular given song or composition, is not determined by whether the singer is a bass or alto (low voice) or a tenor or soprano (high voice) per se. Rather, it is determined by the tessitura of the melody of the song.

"Tessitura" is the technical term for the range of notes in a song: find the lowest pitch in the melody, and the highest pitch in the melody, and figure out if the song leans more heavily on the higher notes or the lower notes. A singer will request that the piece be transposed to whatever key makes it easier for the melody notes to sit within the range of the pitches that that particular singer sounds the best singing in. In classical music, or orchestral music, it's usually not practical for the entire orchestra to transpose the piece to suit the singer. In that case, the orchestra director will hire a singer that they know can sing the song well in the key in which it was originally written. For what we call "art song", classical music usually written for one singer and one pianist, it's common to see the same song published in sheet music in two different keys, one for "low voice" and one for "high voice". Thus a singer will have a choice of a whole arrangement written out in one of two keys, and can select one and give it to the piano player to learn.

However, in pop music, R&B, and particularly jazz, it is very common to hear three or four different singers perform the same song, but each singer will select an entirely different key to sing it in, depending on that individual's voice. I'm a high tenor, and there is a jazz band that I sometimes "sit in" and sing with, without rehearsal. Most of their song charts are written for a singer with a low voice, so when I get on the bandstand, I turn around to the band and I name the song I want to sing, but I tell them that I want them to play it in a higher key than what is in their sheet music, and I name the specific key that I want for that one song. Jazz musicians can usually handle such a request, "transposing on sight", but sometimes I write out my own chord charts for the song, transposed to the key that I want, and I pass my charts around to the musicians. answered Nov 2 '13 at 15:45 user1044 Interesting to find out about tessitura. Thanks. Also check out 'compass' which is possibly a more accurate description of the concept.

– Tim Nov 4 '13 at 20:11 No, it's not more accurate. "Compass" is the English word for "tessitura" which is the correct technical term, in Italian. I added a link to the article on "tessitura" in Wikipedia in the body of my answer above. – user1044 Nov 5 '13 at 5:00 The way I understood it was that tessitura is the 'main body' of spread of notes in a given song, whereas compass is closer to the total range of notes in that song, or more correctly, the full range of one's voice ; so a song may have a lot of high notes for a particular singer, so would have a high tessitura. If a song had only a few high notes, it would not be thought to have a high tessitura. Tessitura actually means texture rather than range. – Tim Nov 5 '13 at 17:02 There are a number of considerations: Perception of absolute pitches Some people claim to get a different emotional response from particular pitches. So they would experience a different emotion on hearing a middle C, than they would hearing the adjacent D.

I believe these people are unusual, but it's plausible that they exist. Difference in tone between pitches On some instruments, or in some performance spaces, there are audible differences between tones. If you play an E on the second fret of a guitar's D string, without muting other strings, the two E strings will resonate, as will the B string. If you play F# two frets higher, you will hear less resonating. Hence, if you play a melody in E major, without muting, certain significant notes will resonate, which you will not hear as much if you play the same melody in F# major. Likewise, an instrument's body will resonate at certain pitches. Sometimes pieces are composed for specific rooms, for example a church in which particular pitches resonate. Other instruments have different causes of a tonal difference between pitches. Your voice takes on different properties depending on where in your range you sing. Reed instruments sound rich in the bass and screechy at the high end. And so on. Differences in intervals Most of the time we think of semitones as being equal. From C to C# is the same as from C# to D. However, it's actually not as simple as that.

If you make each semitone exactly 1/12 of an octave, then important harmonic intervals don't quite work. A fifth won't match the 2nd harmonic of the root note, for example. For that reason, a standard piano tuning makes compromises, with some semitones being a greater interval than others. That means that many intervals vary depending on what key you are in. The interval between C and F is slightly different from the interval between D and G. The difference is very subtle, and can mostly only be perceived as a difference in the frequency of interference "beats" when playing chords. But again, it's plausible that it has a subtle effect on our emotional response to what we hear. Ease of playing On many instruments, some keys are easier to play than others. A novice guitarist can play 3-chord pieces in D using a combination of open chords. A piece in C# major is not so easy! A novice pianist will like to play in C major, since they don't have to think about black notes. A more experienced pianist will have other preferred keys, since they're no longer put off by black notes, but find that some keys require more convenient hand shapes than others.

Effect of mechanics on rhythm The choice of key often affects the mechanical things you have to do to reach the notes. An extreme example is the melodeon, in which some notes made by pushing the bellows, and others are made by pulling. In one key, a pair of notes might both be pushes, while in another key, they'll be a push and a pull. The former will be a smooth legato note transition. The latter will involve a short pause and the attack of a new note. So the choice of key has affected the rhythm of the music. More subtly, for example, on a piano, the change in key would affect the distance a finger needs to move to reach the next note. Instrument range Consider a one-octave toy piano, that goes from C to C'. Starting on E, you can play "Jingle Bells" in C major. Starting on A, you can play "Jingle Bells" in F major. But what if you wanted to play "Jingle Bells" in G major? You would run out of notes. The same issue exists for "proper" instruments, with more complex melodies.

Perhaps you can get around it by going up, or down, an octave, but this affects tone. And of course, this is an issue for the voice. Anyone who sings along to their own guitar, has been forced to transpose, because the melody has gone higher, or lower, than their voice can reach. up vote 1 down vote Besides the practical considerations (to do with the instruments selected and physical keying), there is one very subtle one to do with tuning. Specifically, depending on the type of tuning you're using, the exact frequency ratio of a 5th rooted at A may be ever so slightly different than the a 5th rooted at E. So, the two different frequency ratios (however subtle) still actually produce a slightly different chord. Even being off by a couple of Hz can muddy a chord, so it is definitely conceivable that certain pieces played in a certain key just "sound better". There have been many great answers so far, and all different which will give you some idea of the scope of this question.

It can be to do with The practical limitations of the instrument The preference of the composer The patterns the musician is used to/most practised at I'd like add that there's a different mindset between composers and musicians in terms of picking the key, because in my mind most composers choose their musical vision over practicality, and most musicians will choose practicality over musical vision. I would Highly recommend listening to '24 Preludes and Fugues' also known as 'The well tempered clavier' by Bach, all the way through, as it takes every key From C all the way up to B in both major and minor. What's important about this collection is that it's commonly cited as one of the key works in establishing the idea of 12 keys. Listening to the whole thing will give you a sense of all 12 keys, major and minor. The astounding thing for me about keys is that every one has it's own flavour, it's own subtlety that I don't think you can pickup unless you compare them directly. I hate to be subjective, but I found after spending time learning which key related to which piece in the well tempered clavier, that I could pick up the key of other pieces outside it.

A perfect example is of the following 2 pieces in F minor - Opeth - Heritage , Bach - Prelue and fugue no 12 in F minor . In cliche'd metaphor terms it's like the difference in wines. There is a subtle difference to most people between any minor key, but to the keen eared musician a c# minor song and an E minor song are completely different beasts. The problem with this way to think of keys is that often it's not practical. why should you up the difficulty on piano from an all white key C major scale to some weird key with lots of awkward fingerings? Some dedicated musicians will, for the sake of the piece, but really it's down to whether you think the technical difficulty is worth the pay-off of a more appropriate key note. I'm a guitarist, the E minor and A minor pentatonic's are my friends who I can always count on. When I'm playing guitar they are my home ground and stable point of reference. When I compose however, my focus shifts to what key sounds best, what note sounds best, regardless of how hideously difficult that particular note might be to actually play!

When I compose I make things difficult on the musicians, but when I play I make things easy on myself.

Question: What is the term for playing a piece of music in a key other that in which it is written?
Answer: Transposition