On 12/22/06, Daniel P. B. Smith <wikipedia2006(a)dpbsmith.com> wrote:
Nit-picks/genuine questions (my musical literacy is
almost nil): what
is "the" key of a piece of music which modulates into many different
keys and has different key signatures marked within the score? Is it
a general rule or custom or convention that the first key signature
which appears in the score is "the" key signature?
I think convention is that the first key signature is "the" one. But
for certain styles, it's certainly possible to have an introduction in
a different key...it would be very simplistic to imply that any lay
person could successfully determine the key of any piece by following
rules listed in Wikipedia.
Nit-pick number two: how do you tell by looking at the
music whether
it is in C Major or A Minor? That is, can you always unequivocally
tell the key of a piece of music by glancing at it, or is judgement
sometimes involved?
To a musical expert, it's usually pretty clear, but there are
exceptions. And don't forget atonal music which is usually written
without a specific key signature (ie, superficially like C major and I
minor). And some music actually does have a "key" but was originally
published with no key, using accidentals instead. You would be wrong
to describe such a piece as being in C major...
So, this was a bad example, but that's probably all.
Steve