Any tips, websites, exercise ? Preferably free...

Lukitoh:

The final (last) chord of the song (typically a I chord in 99% of all songs) is almost always the 'key' of the tune as well. To determine the key of a song (in my head), I'll sing/play the last few measures of the song and figure out the last chord. The last melody note is most often (though not always) the root, 3rd, or 5th of the chord. The chord preceding the last chord is usually (in pop music) a V7 or IV chord.

I recommend listening to the final cadence of the song to hear how the V7 or IV resolves to the I (tonic) chord (key of the song).

Hope that helps.

Scott

Thanks, Scott. What I mean is how do you determine the key that a song is played by ear ?

So, lets say I am listening to a tune on a tape and then by ear (not with keyboard), I can say it is played in the key of F or whatever. If I have a keyboard, I can always find the key after a few pushes here and there. But I want to get the key right away.

You obviously don't have perfect pitch. Don't feel bad, neither do most of us. But you can acquire what's called relative pitch. I pretty much can do that more often than not. Try to get a song or scale permanently set in your head. Use the song or scale as a reference. With practice and hearing lots of tunes in a similar key, you can get pretty good. Of course there are classes that can teach it to you and I'm sure we have others here at SZ who can give far better advice. Good luck.

Just hummmm ( even if its just in your head ), then walk your hummm scale...when you get to the right note just trans that to your instrument. lol look you picked the right note on the first try Te Heeee.

Past that if you wish...just get someone to hit a note on your keyboard for you, and think the scale then pick the note. After doing that just for fun, many notes will just start to stand out to you and your dependence on "scale in your head" will get smaller.

But a side tip...pending the quality of your tape deck, the tape your playing ( and other factors ). What your hearing from the tape isn't going to be exactly in pitch ( with say solid 440/438 whatever ), its a good idea to find a song on the tape to tune your instrument to.

Do-Re-Mi-Fa-so-la-ti-Do!

[This message has been edited by kbrkr (edited 10-11-2004).]

Find the Bass
Lukitoh...Have you got a "favourite" song, one that plays over & over in your head. Get comfortable with the key, with the pitch. From there, it's all just math. Compare the bass note of the new song with that of your most favourite. I'm probably not explaining this as well as I would like to.
As cassp stated...perfect pitch is a definite plus, but we don't all possess that luxury.
Good Luck in your endeavours


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...L

Bingo! Shboom states it well & hit it right on the nail here. The bass player not only lays the harmonic foundation of the song, but the LAST note (of the song) the 'bass player' plays is nearly always the root note of the tonic (I) chord, and key of the song as well. - Scott

I don't have problems recognizing the key of a particular song. It is usually the beginning chord or the last chord. That is not my problem.

My problem, is lets say someone is singing a tune and then without a keyboard, I cannot determine which key it is. Right now to determine a key I have to get in front of an instrument, push a few keys to find that key because the keyboard has a perfect pitch. And I don't. I can play a tune in a keyboard perfectly and memorized all the chords in it but then when someone sings it, I cannot determine which key the person sings. Does anybody get it ?

In other words, lets say I usually plays a song in a key of C. If someone sings in a key of D, I would not be able to tell without using an instrument and actually pressing the keys, what key the person sings.

It would be a perfect world if 9 times out of 10, the singers first note was either the tonic (root), the third, or the fifth. Obviously this is not always the case.
As Scott stated with regards to the last chord, what I've discovered is very often, the last chord, or sometimes the last sung note of the first verse is also an indication of the key.
What with so many different time signatures, major & minor keys, and just poetic licence in general, not to mention a singer's personal stylizing, I can't really see anyway of having a set rule cast in stone. Again, my best advice, I could offer would be....
...Find the Bass.
Good Luck.

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...L

[This message has been edited by shboom (edited 10-11-2004).]