Finding key of song on Spotify.
I have a copy of The Ultimate Country Fake Book, and have copied Me and Bobby McGee into Musescore. I have however discovered that the key the song is performed in is not the same key as in the Country Fake Book. I have tried Janis Joplin, Kris Kristofferson and Roger Miller versions and they all seem to be in the same key, just not the one that I have in print. I know about the circle of fifths, but as I mainly play sax (cmel, tenor, bari) or flute, I am not very well versed in chords. Since I have copied the song into Musescore, how should I go about figuring out the key that the song is performed in? There must be some way to systematically go about this... I appreciate any advice.
Comments
Often the tune will end on the note that corresponds to the key - e.g. a C if it's in C major. Failing that it will often have a part that resolves into that note. So, play this fine tune and listen to that last note. The catch, though, is that performances of this tune may change key in the middle.
A systematic way (for a pop song like Me and Bobby McGee):
Look at the opening notes of the melody ('Busted flat') and check out the (e.g. guitar) chord symbol in the fake book. The chord happens to be the tonic of the scale (for this song, not all songs). So if that chord is a C major chord, the key is C major.
Next, look at the 'Busted' lyric melody notes. They are (mostly) comprised of the fifth scale degree of the key - that is, for the key of C major, you'll probably see a few G's as melody notes. (again, not true for all songs)
Listen to the artist's recording and try to zero in on those 'Busted' melody notes while simultaneously playing your flute (or even Musescore playback, for that matter).
When you pinpoint the 'Busted' melody notes that sound like the recording, compare to the MuseScore /fake book 'Busted' notes, and transpose the MuseScore version by the appropriate interval.
So... Suppose your fake book MuseScore transcription has a few 'G' notes ('Busted flat') playing against a C major chord - that means the song is in C major; but your artist is actually singing 'D' notes (verified by the flute).
Well, in that case, a 'D' note is a perfect fifth above 'G' so you can transpose by interval.
See: https://musescore.org/en/handbook/transposition
Alternatively, 'D' is the fifth scale degree of the G major scale (remember... the melody starts on the fifth scale degree for this song), so you could transpose - by key - from C major to G major.
Regards.
BTW: My mp3's of Kris' and Janis' versions are in different keys. Also, as mentioned, be vigilant for any key shifts.
In reply to A systematic way (for a pop… by Jm6stringer
Thanks for the quick replies.
@Jm6stringer
Thanks very much for these instructions. Yes, I just noticed that that Janis and Kris versions aren't in the same key.
The Janis version, which I am using seems to have a key shift at the verse change. This leads to two questions:
1) Any ideas on the key change?
2) How does one write a key change in the melody between verses?
In reply to Thanks for the quick replies… by globetrotterdk
Re: Key change...
1. The Janis version key shift simply moves up a whole step (e.g. the key of G major becomes A major).
Re: To notate the key change...
2a. If your fake book MuseScore version (the one you have already copied into MuseScore) doesn't have the key shift, you can select just those measures and transpose. (MuseScore will add the key signature when you transpose.)
2b. If you need to enter new notes into MuseScore at the key change, you can copy/paste the G major melody, and then simply select the pasted notes to transpose (e.g. from G major to A major).
This way, you won't have to drag a new key signature (A major) onto the score and type in all new note names.
Regards.