Favorite key! (poll)

[jam8086]

Uh yeah I hope you people realize that because of the tuning system for the piano (equal temperament), all keys are actually exactly the same.  Since the chromatic scale divides an octave into twelve equal-ratio steps, the frequency ratio between adjacent notes is 2^1/12.  All intervals are equally spaced.  For example, a C major chord is the exact same thing as a D major chord, its just that in a D major chord, everything is brought up a whole step (or down a seventh), its not like the intervals change, or the sound gets any "brighter" or "darker."

[gyzzzmo]

Oops, voted for c#, not Db. Just seems to sound better than other ones :s

[emmdoubleew]

Uh yeah I hope you people realize that because of the tuning system for the piano (equal temperament), all keys are actually exactly the same.  Since the chromatic scale divides an octave into twelve equal-ratio steps, the frequency ratio between adjacent notes is 2^1/12.  All intervals are equally spaced.  For example, a C major chord is the exact same thing as a D major chord, its just that in a D major chord, everything is brought up a whole step (or down a seventh), its not like the intervals change, or the sound gets any "brighter" or "darker."

Shhhhh, they're starting to feel special and you are ruining it.



 

[pianokid16]

c#- cuz i can improvise anything in that key also i play lots of pieces that are in t hat key. liszt h.r2, beethoven moonlight, chopin nocturne...

[abe]

The flats of C minor spell my name.

Cute, isn't it.

[nanabush]

This might be a bunch of bs [I dont know what I'm talkin about, and I'm just throwin out random guesses] but even though the difference in frequency is the same for each key, the initial frequency is different... and I'm guessin that people are 'more used' to certain frequencies, or can tolerate them more or somethin like that.... maybe that's why they like those keys better? ? ?

[tyler_johnson]

C# minor because Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsody is my favorite piano song that I've learned, and it's in C# minor.  A very fun song to improvise on as well.

[tyler_johnson]

Oops, meant to type Hungarian Rhapsody no. 12.

[dnephi]

D minor.  Dark is power  .

[princessdecadence]

Eb!
G minor

I love the minors.

[superstition2]

I tend to improvize in E the most.

My favorite pieces tend to be in F#, F# minor, and C.

But, I don't have a favorite key.

[pianochild]

C, as its the easiest to learn

[nanabush]

I have recently become obsessed with B minor.  I also modulate to F# minor and C# minor. 

[pies]

D major, though I've been fiddling with atonality for a while now.

[phil13]

G minor, D# minor, D major and E minor

Phil

[steve_m]

a

[pianorama]

well, D flat major is a lot easier for me to sight read than C# major! I dunno. They sound identical on piano, true, but on most other instruments they sound minutely different. (though I haven't ever been able to distinguish enharmonically equivalent keys on non-even-temperament instruments--not that I've really had the chance, either) Plus, I just have this weird quirk (and I can't really tell the difference if I don't know the key signature) but anything with a lot of sharps I tend to imagine as tense or sharp, and vice versa for flats. Though it's just a mental thing.

[timothy42b]

Thus, the conclusion is, there are passages that is PIANISTIC for one key but UNPIANISTIC for the other. (We say "pianistic" to mean how EXECUTABLE a passage is as far as FINGERING is concerned.) This is primarily the reason why often you will notice SIMILAR passages among pieces having SAME key signature (even if they are of different compsoer).

Yes.  I believe this far out weighs any sonic difference between keys, if indeed any can be actually found.

Being a beginner, I like lots of flats, so I can keep my fingers on black keys and feel where I am. 

[oscarr111111]

Em, Am and Dm. (I also play Bass Guitar  )

Just kidding, Favs are C#m (feels pure and well defined), A minor (really rich feel) and Dmaj (mainly out of familiarity; I play frequently with folk musicians who often use diatonic instruments and G/D/Em is the most common),

[franzliszt2]

Db major and Bb minor. Db has such a beautiful colour to it, and sounds so lush. Bb minor is so dark and brooding.

I HATE Eb major. It's to happy, but grand. Like Beethoven 5th concerto. It's to Eby lol

[oscarr111111]

Uh yeah I hope you people realize that because of the tuning system for the piano (equal temperament), all keys are actually exactly the same.  Since the chromatic scale divides an octave into twelve equal-ratio steps, the frequency ratio between adjacent notes is 2^1/12.  All intervals are equally spaced.  For example, a C major chord is the exact same thing as a D major chord, its just that in a D major chord, everything is brought up a whole step (or down a seventh), its not like the intervals change, or the sound gets any "brighter" or "darker."

https://www.postpiano.com/support/updates/tech/Tuning.htm

[diminished2nd]

I voted D minor. I also love Eb major and C# minor though! (hooray for Chopin Scherzo #3  )

[counterpoint]

If you want to prove your point, tel me wheather the attachment is C# Major or Db major.

This is a question of timbre. C# Major will sound complete different from Db Major, when played by a real musician. The first will sound bright and crisp, the second warm and mellow. Midi doesn't  distinguish between C# and Db and it does not provide a musical expression by itself.


I voted for F# minor (because of Schumann Sonate op.11 and the Schumann Variations of Brahms.)

[leuthold]

e minor exactly... also c# minor, it feels comfortable

[pianowolfi]

d minor. A lot of my favorite pieces are written in this key. Rach 3, "Tempest" sonata, Rach first sonata, m1469's "Inner circle", Mozart d minor concerto, etc. franzliszt 2 you are absolutely right about B^b minor and D^b major. These are very important to me as well.

[rallestar]

Ab major for me, for much of those same reasons as Db major. I generally find flats more introverted than sharps.

I also like A major - It has such a deep sort of autumn-colouring.

[mknueven]

jhon,

I realli y like your post - I am thinking it
is the best explanation I've heard so far.

Certain passages are so much more pleasurable
to play when they are in the key the accomadates them
the best.
Never thought of that before.


Although I am still wondering why someone else said they could tell
the difference by ear - if they are listening to Gb or F#
I can tell a different ease of playing if I"m playing F# for some reason
but to hear it?

[pianochick93]

I like almost all minor keys, especially G# minor and B minor.

[invictious]

Depends on my mood.
I usually like D minor or G minor though, simple minor keys. I usually compose in that key...no idea why, but I always compose DA FURY pieces, for orch or piano.

but tonality are for stupid conformists, atonality = real men



(sarcasm for last sentence btw)

[infectedmushroom]

Hahha no, same here.

I think it's bull imo (for the piano, possibly not for ensemble): there are two reasons you use different keys: pitch and technicality.

I can't beleive C# is somehow  "darker" or "moodier" than C or whatever. They'r ejust a half tone apart, and the piano is an equally-tempered insturment, hence the distances between the pitches are exactly the same. Same frequency ratio, why different moods and feeling?

I think it's just about what pieces we are used to hearing in specific keys.

I disagree with you.


For me, it does work that way. But someone who doesn't feel that "emotion" with specific keys, probably won't understand it. It's a feeling that you have or not. In theory, you really have a point there, wich you're explaining. Though, it's a feeling wich can't be described... You have it or you don't have it, I guess.


That said; for me it depends on my mood, wich key I like when I'm playing piano. I really like to play in Eb and I improvise a lot in that key. Eb sounds "endlessly" for me.. A sort of fantasy feeling. If I'm in a more serious mood, I like to play in D minor and if I'm in a "happy" mood, I really like to play in E major.

[franz_]

What's wrong with ab minor? 

[thalberg]

What's wrong with ab minor? 

hahaha 240 votes so far and no one chose ab minor!  It's the rejected key.  Nobody loves it.


If  I were a composer of operas, I'd write an opera about a poor little orphan who always sings in ab minor.

[gyzzzmo]

I voted for Db, for newcomers it takes some time to read, but eventually its much easier to play (for me) in this key. And somehow it just sounds better 

Btw, my favourite Nocturne: no8 in.......Db

[richard black]

I prefer the key to the banana plantation.

[shadow88]

f# minor.
im composing a big project. its just beautiful, and its used rarely.

[concerto_love]

I like D... ^^ Romantic, but simple..

[dana_minmin]

A minor definitely

the simplest key signature, but sounds not simple.

forgive my adjectives, it's hard to describe

[a-sharp]

^ I don't agree with that - but I can't explain why from any technical or rational standpoint.

...
OTOH - yay - another vote for f minor! Funny there are so many votes for Eb M and not as many for c minor... I assume we mean pieces in those keys, and not just playing the scale of that key... ?

[lizasan]

i loved D. simply and lightly...

[communist]

1. b minor

2. b flat minor

3. g sharp minor


i like my minor keys 

[cai hong]

My 5 fave major keys : ((currently....))
1.F major
2.A-flat major
3.D-flat major
4.E Major
5.B-flat major

My 5 fave minor keys: ((currently...))
1.F Minor
2.G minor
3.F-sharp minor
4.G-sharp minor
5.D minor

[a-sharp]

Re-answering:

For listening - I couldn't care less ... even NO key is cool with me (sometimes better).
For playing - anything in the 3 or 4 flats or sharps range.

[db05]

db.
I also like Aeolian mode, but that wasn't in the list.

[G.W.K]

I fail to understand how you can have a "Favourite Key", there is none in particular that I really class as a "favourite".

G.W.K

[communist]

I fail to understand how you can have a "Favourite Key", there is none in particular that I really class as a "favourite".

G.W.K

by liking the diatonic harmonies in which it produces.

[csharp_minor]

C# minor thats my name! , I also like C minor, and Bb minor. I do like compositions in a minor key mostly, although Chopin's ballade 3 in Ab really stirs some emotions in me for some reason! ( gosh, I love that piece! )

Ab major is nice! and Bb

I do agree they are really just all the same just at diffrent different frequencies if they are the same kind of scale. Its the way the composition is put together and modulates that creates the emotions we experience.

[communist]

i also like D double sharp harmonic minor which is really a really complicated way of saying E Minor 

[term]

Once it was c# minor, now it's f# major and d minor. Occasionally f major and bb minor.

[j.s. bach the 534th]

Hmm so I'm the only one to go for g minor? Hmm somehow that key makes me feel... nostalgic.. and sad too. But I like it anyway =)

nope, I'm going with G Minor, too

EDIT: Though it really is the key of whatever I am learning at the moment...

[healdie]

C Minor or F Minor dunno why