I was producing someone whose song’s melody was considerably lower in the Chorus than it was in the Verse – unusual. This is the way they wanted it and, in its way, it worked. But it might have made more sense performed in a key where the ranges could have been reversed (with the Chorus then sung higher).

I wondered if the song ended up the way it did because the writers started writing in a certain key and didn’t think about changing the key while they were writing.

I find that the key in which I’m writing a song can expand or limit my options, and that it’s useful to me to be ready and willing, midstream, to try some different keys. I write using a guitar, so I just put on a capo and move it around, which makes it pretty easy (unless I have to go way up the neck).

One of the great things about using a capo is that I can preserve the chord formations, the actual relationship of the intervals in the chords, which to me are often so critical.

This can be done on a keyboard, of course, but the physical relationship of the fingers is different in each key, unlike with a guitar and a capo. You actually have to be a pretty skilled pianist to do it easily… which isn’t true of capo/guitar skills! But even when writing on piano, and being lightly skilled (like me), it’s important to stay open to the idea that there might be a more apt key to write in than the one in which I started.

Just to be as clear as I can be – I’m not talking here about writing a key change into a song, or changing keys within a song. I’m just talking about ending up writing a song in a different key than where it started – moving the whole thing up a 4th, say. Putting it in a place where the melody lays better… while I’m writing

Then, of course, I often perform or record it in a different key altogether! But that’s OK, because the relationship of the melody notes has been established in the key where it was written.

Sometimes my songs (and others’) can be rangey. It’s important to be aware of what the lowest and highest notes are and, while I’m still writing, adjust the key accordingly. Moving keys in the midst of creating can be a pain but keeping my melodic options open, not to mention staying aware of writing within a singable range, makes it essential to me.

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