There’s no question in my mind that, when writing a song, an awareness of what key I’m in is important.

I say ‘an awareness’… which isn’t the same as ‘knowing’. While I’m writing, most of the time I couldn’t tell you what key I’m in… What I mean is, I could figure it out… but I never worry about the key. I don’t need to know.

Sometimes I stay in one key for a whole song. Sometimes I jump around, and it can be challenging for musicians who are playing the song to know what key they’re in (if they care – some do, some don’t). Sometimes they ask me and I realize I’ve never given it a thought.

But just because I’ve never given it a thought doesn’t mean I don’t hear it and feel it.

If you look at writing a song as storytelling (not just the lyrics but musical storytelling as well) – which I do – the key centers are among the most crucial elements.

Think of a song’s musical story like a story from film, theater, a book. A good story is usually set in motion by something that’s unresolved.  It goes through various twists and turns in which you either think the story’s going to resolve, and it doesn’t, or you think it’ll never resolve… and then somehow the story world rights itself (comedy) or, in some inevitable way, it doesn’t (tragedy).

That’s how a song’s ‘key story’ works too. You don’t resolve too soon (that is, come back to the ‘home’ key, with the root in the melody)… If you do, it sounds like the story’s over before the end. Which is confusing and unsatisfying.

Instead (like in any good story) you try to postpone resolution in an interesting way, keeping the listener on their toes and feeling the pleasant tension of wondering what’s going to happen next… What’s the next twist in the musical story that will postpone just a little longer the release of the tension?

This musical suspense results mostly from the way the melody and chords interact. I’ve been making music for long enough that I don’t think about, ‘what key am I in?’. But I always feel where I am, in terms of the key I’m in and the main key of the song (if they’re not the same).

If I go too far afield, key-wise, pass through too many key centers, and the song starts feeling musically unmoored… then I’ve let my chops get in the way of the feeling.

Not that I handle this issue perfectly by any means, but my motto here is ‘follow the melody’. I find that if the musical story of the melody makes sense, the rest of the music tends to fall in line. But if the chords lead the way, then it’s likely the tail is wagging the dog.

Thanks for reading! Let me know your thoughts, additions, disagreements in the Comments section below:

And please share on facebook etc. by clicking these tabs –