What key to use for a certain meaning or theme in the song?

Question

I know this might be considered a very vague question, but I don't know where else to go. I've started songwriting recently and I'm still a beginner. I was wondering, what key(s) should I write my song in, in order to express a certain viewpoint? For instance, I'm writing a song about wealth and industrialization and the cruelties that come along with it. In this case, what keys should I use to express my theme topic? What chords should I use in my chord progression? Should I use major, minor, diminished, or other chords and scales?

Answer 1

Hi there,

This is a great question and I have a few ways I'd like to answer this.

1) The first is that, as a beginner, I heartily encourage you to think about the key signature and chords later. The most important thing at this stage for you is to get the song out and work on it. Write the lyrics and the melody and then adjust the chords later as you see fit.

2) If you absolutely must use chords as an accompaniment in order for you to finish writing the song, I suggest you use the basic (I, IV, V, and ii, iii, vi) chords. Depending on your instrument of choice, I normally recommend writing in the key of C major or A minor, as it is the most simple.

3) Once you've gotten your song to the place you want it and it's at least a complete song (no missing sections or lines), you can begin to play around with fancy chords, added notes, and embellishments.

4) After step 3, you may want to take another look at your song. Sometimes the mood can change so much with the arrangement or chord progression that it gives you new inspiration to change the melody or lyrics. I highly encourage you to do this step even if it seems like more work because this is the step that will make your song 100x better!