How to key my music??

What is the best way to key my music....manually not with software. i have MIK but I want to learn to do it by ear. I've looked online and on here and keep reading articles about the root note but still confused. looking for a little know how from the community. :p

Buy a basic musictheorybook? Practice hearing chords and so on? Ears bro, ears.

I cant listen to 2 songs and determine the key, but I cant easily determine if the song will work or not.

Its all on your own ears and practice.

I wish i could hear something and be like yea.. its a C# major..

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Originally Posted by DJ_JCohh

What is the best way to key my music....manually not with software. i have MIK but I want to learn to do it by ear. I've looked online and on here and keep reading articles about the root note but still confused. looking for a little know how from the community. :p

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For 95% of popular music, the key of the song is the first chord of the verse/chorus/drop/what-have-you. So set a 1-bar loop on that first beat, and then sweep through all the notes in a scale on an instrument or in software until you've found the note that matches what you're looping. In most cases, that note is going to be the key of the song.

^ What he said. Mind you, that will only determine what the Root note of the key is, but not whether it's a Major or Minor key.

Buy a few books on basic music foundation, or take up learning an instrument. Having this secondary skill won't only improve your ear for music, it will significantly increase your understanding of the structure of music and give you new mixing possibilities.

Also bitches dig singers and guitarists.

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Originally Posted by rjc

Also bitches dig singers and guitarists.

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This sidenote is worth noting!

Easiest way to do it, for free? Go download Rekordbox and let it analyze your tracks. It will tell you what key it's in as well. Also, even if its slightly off, if you use it to analyze all your tracks they'll all be off by the same so you can still successfully mix in key.

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Originally Posted by Coldfuzion

Easiest way to do it, for free? Go download Rekordbox and let it analyze your tracks. It will tell you what key it's in as well. Also, even if its slightly off, if you use it to analyze all your tracks they'll all be off by the same so you can still successfully mix in key.

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He mentioned that he already has MIK, so I'd assume it's less a problem with using the software, more that he wants to increase his knowledge

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Originally Posted by rjc

He mentioned that he already has MIK, so I'd assume it's less a problem with using the software, more that he wants to increase his knowledge

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Damn maybe I should've read the thread first. Whatever though, it's way too early (that's my excuse anyway). So I guess the answer to his question is "listen attentively to everything you hear in life and go get a theory book and CD to listen to what each key is supposed to sound like"?

Grab an electric keyboard and +1 to the music theory.

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Originally Posted by Gryz

Grab an electronic keyboard and +1 to the music theory.

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+1 to music theory.

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Originally Posted by rjc

^ What he said. Mind you, that will only determine what the Root note of the key is, but not whether it's a Major or Minor key.

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with electronic music if you just assume its minor you'll be right about 90% of the time. at least with the genres I play.

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Originally Posted by underwaterrobots

For 95% of popular music, the key of the song is the first chord of the verse/chorus/drop/what-have-you. So set a 1-bar loop on that first beat, and then sweep through all the notes in a scale on an instrument or in software until you've found the note that matches what you're looping. In most cases, that note is going to be the key of the song.

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This is exactly what i was looking for ^^^ :thumbup: thank you @Underwaterrobots !!

And to everyone else, thank you too. I have read some of the "music theory for dummies" book i have but wanted some actual more...hmmm...ears-on learning?? I guess lol. This books ok but i feel like there is probably better out there....is there any book that someone would reccommend beyond this? (introductory nothing to fancy)