your question

02/12/2020 Atio Stefony

HI Trevor , i ve been following this site since 2004, when i was a teen , and your music as well.(learn so much" music and english" on this site by the way) . I Haven´T got the chance to see you live in Santiago, or abrove, but it will happend .
My question is , when you writte your own music, do you think of a certain Key before you writte it down? . I writte music myself and theres always 2 or 3 ways to do it for me , either i play my instrument and i find something that i like on any key( someties after i will move up or down the key, after some experiments) or i´ll get a melody in my head or a chord proression and then tried to find that key . I am curious, when do you decide? " ok this is the key"
I see different colors , with different keys and its facinating why that key in particular, was chosen . Could be arbitrary for some people but others i know there´s some tought on it .
Love your composiciones !
salud*

my answer

I don’t often write in keys to be honest. I would say some of my music is “pan-tonal”, not unlike jazz in a way, where a song or composition might go through a few keys. I think there is a physical element to finding where to start. We all have our habits and muscle memory on various instruments. Do you often find yourself starting with the exact same chord or lick when you first pick up the instrument? There is also the memory of the throat and one’s comfortable range. If I am starting from scratch I might just pick up a guitar and strum around for a while randomly until I find something my hands, mind and voice all intersect on. I say “mind” because I have to like it or find something unusual about it, almost as if I didn’t make it up, I just found it. Later I might analyze it and find out that it is or isn’t in a key. I certainly don’t start with the theory, unless it’s more like an exercise, as in limiting oneself to a key or scale or time signature. And believe me, that can be rewarding.

If you see colors you might be synesthetic. It’s a rare but very cool “dysfunction” that you might want to harness. Check out the histories and music of Oliver Messiaen or Alexander Scriabin. You might have something in common.