# Affective key characteristics



## mrmatt1972 (Apr 3, 2008)

If you're writing a song, it helps to know the mood of the key.

AFFECTIVE KEY CHARACTERISTICS


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

Fascinating, though likely to be puzzling to some. After all, how can transposing something like a major key up or down a fret change the emotions associated with the melody?

I gather that they "key" (pun intended) which unlocks this mystery is that of tempering. That is, moving up or down within the same mode (minor, major, etc.) does not get you the exact same intervals a little higher or lower. Some intervals may end up being spaced juuuussst a little closer together or farther apart, because of the tempering of the keyboard tuning. Those distinctions will not be apparent on the sort of guitar all of us here are accustomed to.


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## Merlin (Feb 23, 2009)

Given the time the article was written, and the fact that standard pitch is not the same as it was then...it's irrelevant.


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## Rugburn (Jan 14, 2009)

Merlin said:


> Given the time the article was written, and the fact that standard pitch is not the same as it was then...it's irrelevant.


While standard pitch being sharper today is true, it doesn't mean affective key characteristics are irrelevant.


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## jimihendrix (Jun 27, 2009)

D Minor...the saddest of all keys...

[video=youtube;NgViOqGJEvM]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NgViOqGJEvM[/video]


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## hardasmum (Apr 23, 2008)

Merlin said:


> Given the time the article was written, and the fact that standard pitch is not the same as it was then...it's irrelevant.


Ouch! That will make Matt think twice about posting something in the future.


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

Standard pitch has nothing to do with it. It could be 100hz higher or lower than it is today. What matters, and what results in seemingly identical scales having different emotional characteristics at the time of the original writing was the tempering of the scales.

Scales: Just vs Equal Temperament


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## bw66 (Dec 17, 2009)

Further Reading:

The centuries-old struggle to play in tune. - By Jan Swafford - Slate Magazine

_From paragraph 14:

"The various kinds of meantone and well-temperament help explain why, in the 18[SUP]th[/SUP] into 19[SUP]th[/SUP] centuries, keys had particular emotional associations. Key descriptions of the time sound outlandish, and indeed some were on the loony side, but they were founded on the reality that in unequal temperaments each key had its distinctive color and personality."_


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

Thank you!

To quote Stewie Griffin: VINDICATION IS MINE!!!


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