How Different Musical Keys make us feel

[Nutty1]

 In a course on Songwriting by Dan Dresnok (on Udemy) Dan mentioned that psychologists have looked at how different keys make us feel. We all know about major keys being happy and minor keys being sad but it goes even deeper than that. I found this on the internet very interesting and I aim to keep it in mind when I write songs.

What do you think??????

http://www.wmich.edu/mus-theo/courses/keys.html

Edited March 12, 2018 by Nutty1

[Grog]

Interesting to read. I have been reading on the modes and the moods that are related to each. This will relate into the mix nicely. Thanks Nutty1.

 

[DianeB]

Fascinating. As I scanned the keys, I thought, if Psychology Today magazine had been around in the 18th century, this could have been a cover story. Alas, as the author points out, equal temperament has largely leveled out the differences. Moreover, our almost universal standardization on A440 leaves few other than devoted musicologists with the awareness that music doesn't have to be like this. Great find, Nutty1. 

[Maybellene]

I found this article very interesting. Thank you for posting Nutty1.  

[Nutty1]

I have just found this  it is quite a lengthy document but it looks really interesting. I posted it as a link to the online pdf document, I hope you can open it.

Edited March 13, 2018 by Nutty1

[V7#5b9]

It’s very interesting and enlightening. I like to go deep. But, unless you play a fretless guitar, so does the bass player, you forget the piano and so on, the described affective musical key characteristics may not produce the desired effect. I’ve listened to some of the files and I’m so used to equal temperament that it sounds more natural to me. 

About 8o% of popular songs are written in major keys, 15% in minor keys and 5% use modes. Mode and tempo are two of the most important factors with respect to emotion creation, but there are other factors as well. For our purposes, it’s probably enough to make the following mode-emotion associations: 

• Ionian mode (major key): Happiness, grace, serenity, solemnity 
• Aeolian mode (minor key): Sadness, anger, dreaminess, tenseness, suffering 
• Major & minor modes alternating: Tenderness 
• Mode unclear due to tense, dissonant harmonies: Fear 

The other modes of the diatonic order are basically flavours of either major or minor ones: 

• Dorian is a minor-type scale, but it sounds “lighter” or “softer” than often “heavy” sounding Aeolian mode. The Dorian mode is used in jazz, blues, and rock music.
• Phrygian is also a minor-type scale, closer to Aeolian, but it sounds more “Exotic.” Think Spanish composers.
• Lydian is a major-type scale, sounding bright and happy. Favourite of jazz and rock composers. 
• Mixolydian is a major-type scale, but slightly darker sounding. The lowered seventh note gives it a bluesy, dark colour. It’s used in blues, rock, and jazz. 
• Locrian is a minor-type scale with lowered 2nd and 5th notes making it the diminished mode with a distinct sound, but hardly ever used. It does find its way into jazz though.

We also can look at individual chords which have both absolute sounds and subjective associations. Absolute sound is difficult to describe, and has to be learned as you become familiar with each chord. Subjective associations are easier to put into words. 

Major and minor chords sound stable (consonant) or resolved. They could be used to end a song. 

Diminished and augmented chords are unstable (dissonant). Diminished chords are less jarring (dissonant) than augmented chords. They are used as passing chords — they pull one stable chord to another. 

The sound of Suspended chords leaves you hanging. It ‘wants’ to resolve to the major or minor triad built on the same root. 

Power chords are neither major nor minor, used for either type, especially, in rock music (and even in some pop), as substitutes for full chords to give the accompaniment (rhythm guitar) a sparser, leaner sound. 

More specifically, most of us hear: 

Major chords as happy, heroic, or strong. 
Major 7th chords as beautiful, bright & jazzy. 
Major 6/9 chords as bright & happy.
Minor chords as sad, lonesome, or haunting. 
Minor 7th chords as mellow & jazzy. 
Minor 9th chords as dark & soulful. 
Dominant 7th chords as bluesy or funky. 
Dominant 7#9 chords as bold & exciting.
Dominant 9th chords as bluesy. 
Diminished chords as suspenseful, they build tension.
Augmented chords as mysterious, eerie & dreamy. 

A minor 9th chord with a major 7th or a #11th can add drama to an ending - so can a major 7th. 

Perhaps it’s better that the aural quality of every key became the same. If you have to transpose to another key to accommodate your voice range, you won’t lose the intended effect. Uh, what the heck! It’s all subjective anyway. 

PS I’ve downloaded the 86-page PDF. I’ll check it out. 

Edited March 14, 2018 by V7#5b9
Added info.

[Nutty1]

Wow, great post Gerald, thank you! I am going to have to read this quite a few times to get all of this information into my head. Thank you! ?? ?

[Maybellene]

Thank you for posting Gerald, like Mandy I too will have to go over this a few times in order for it to sink into my  brain and stay there.

[fray]

I recently heard a very short clip of a TED talk that mentioned that Beethoven hit several emotions in (I think) his 9th Symphony...could be a faulty memory, just interesting how "mood music" has come along through the ages.  

[DianeB]

Mandy, that's quite a treatise you turned up! Thanks, I found it entertaining. I can't criticize it from the perspective of a social scientist or musicologist. But from the perspective of a physical scientist, I have major (not minor or diminished) concerns with what appears to be an exceedingly high level of subjectivity in the study design and interpretation. The only data quantified is the percentage of participants reporting a particular result, and tellingly the authors go out to four significant figures (Ex: "91.72%"), implying that a precision of one part in ten thousand is meaningful. Note that in the bios of the authors, there is no reference to experience with design of behavioral science experiments, or publication record, just one author "studied math and physics" at university.

The subject itself is intriguing; I don't knock the authors for exploring it. But they need to enlist colleagues with a better grasp of experimental design. Take it for what it's worth: I say it's an opinion poll masquerading as science.

See also: Confirmation bias. 

Edited March 16, 2018 by DianeB

[Blue Dog]

Mandy , The piece you posted above Is right on the money. as long as your remember the  octave in which the Key is played in helps with that mood. Like Dark and gloomy don't work in a high pitch octave. and so on. I think the octave will set more of the mood then the key of the song. Them old guys back in time that wrote all them great songs . Knew a lot more then we do To day about putting feeling in to songs. They could tune to what they wanted to . they had time . they could have wrote a piece of music and played it in every key and octave to find the one that worked best. If a Mother sing a song to her baby. it don't matter the key of the song in which she sings it but the octave in the tone of her voice in which she sings.  Dad voice don't work as good wrong octave . hope this spread some light on the subject that helps