What is the point of knowing the key of a piece of music for piano?

Question

I dont understand why it is so important to know it. As far as i know, it doesnt give you an idea of what type of notes you should be playing (which i thought the reason for knowing it was)

Answer 1

If I asked you, "Why is it important for the members of a football team to know how the game is played?" would you not think that this has an obvious answer?

Not only should you know the overall key, you should understand and know every different key area you are in as you play the piece (composers of larger works never stay in only one key area for the piece).

Any concert artist can tell you that the hands are only a conduit for the brain to create the music. If your brain is clueless, then your music-making will be clueless.

Answer 2

If you know the key signature (which notes are sharp or flat), you don't have to know the key of the piece. It will sound the same whether or not you know it's D-major, as long as you play the the proper notes and all F's are F# and C's are C# (unless changed by accidentals).

On the other hand, if you don't know the key signature, but know the key, you would need that information to play the piece properly. However, music is written with the key signature, and no mention is made of the key unless it's in the title.

Answer 3

If you go far enough back in time ( ancient Greece and Rome), people associated certain keys, scales, and modes with certain states of mind, emotions, and powers over the listener and player. Of course, they also believed that Atlantis had amazing powers given to them by aliens . . . Over time, many of these beliefs fell away, but not all. Some people have a type of syasthesia - certain keys, notes, etc. allow them so see color associations, or smells. On a far more pragmatic level, each key is the center of its own gravity system - subsequent movements in a work are rin related keys, and even *within* each movement, there is composition movementt away from and toward certain key areas. Even if you cannot analyze this yet, you can hear it and feel it. Since it is the function of music theory to allow us to replicate beauty by knowing its construction, then knwoing the KEY of the work is the first step.

Also, from a pragmatic standpoint, if you are playing any tonal music at all, knowing the SCALE and key of the work allows your fingers to find *home* - the point of departure for their travels. Agani, even if you cannot see or hear this yet - it is still THERE. Eventually, you will *get it* - and right now, you need to persevere, and trust that this is really the way to go. I judge piano competitions throughout New York, and trust me - I can tell from the scale portion of the assessment pretty much how their understanding of the piece is going to be evident in their performance. Like watching someone in batting practice - you can tell if they *got game*. You cannot play with any intelligence if you do not have the fundamentals SOLID under your hands. People who are fabulous improvisers have all kinds of finger technique - betcha they can rip scales, arpeggios, etc. No, not all - but a signifant portion.

Answer 4

You need to know the key the peice is in. If the piece is in the key of C major, then all the notes that are written are natural (no sharps or flats). If the piece is in the key of F# major, six sharps, the notes would still look like the notes in a C major piece, but the key signature tells you what notes are sharp and flat. It is essential.

Answer 5

It does indicate the note that you should be playing. For example, in the key D major, the notes are the following: D, E, F#, G, A, B, C#, D; however, if you don't know the locations of the different notes, then this will not seem relevant.

Answer 6

the key of the music helps someone know what notes to play
now i think your problem is that you don't know what notes go with what key
you have to know your scales to be able to do this
each key signiture--which is made up of sharps or flats -- goes with a major scale
to learn these scales you have to get tutored or search online.
know to recognize what key it is you have to know the definition of a leading note
leading tone- the note that leads to the end of your scale
the first and last note of the scale is what the name of your scale is
now look at the middle of the sharp or flat sign in the middle of your key signiture
the note that the middle of the sharp or flat sign is placed on is your leading tone
now go one note above and that is the name of your scale
now you have to learn what notes go to that scale
you can do this by first learning the C major scale
this has no sharps or flats.
now if a sharp is added to you key signiture see what note it's placed on
play that as the sharp or flat
this has probably confused you
there is really no way for me to explain to you how to play a scale or learn how to recognize a key signiture over your pc
so you have to have tutoring
good luck
just remember that music is one of the best things in the world if you have a passion for it

Answer 7

Because the key is home. Pieces linger from the original key...modulate...but what draws the ear along is the anticipation to return to the tonic. It's imperative for a musician to know that because not only do you need to know the music inside out, but you need to know that technical chordal knowledge in order to express the music well.