I just read a most fascinating study of 1300 popular songs on the Hooktheory site that attempts to determine the most popular song keys and chords. This is what they found:
- The most popular keys in order are C, G, Eb (that's a surprise), F, D, A, E, Db, Bb, Ab, B, F# and their relative minors.
- Next came the most popular chords. First, all the songs were transposed to the key of C for a common reference point. They then found that the most popular chords were G, F, C, Am, Dm, Em, E, D, Bb, A. If you look at that in Nashville style numbers, it's 5, 4, 1, 6m, 2m, 3m, 3, 2, b7, 6.
- Finally, they looked to see what chord should come next after an Em (or the 3m in the key of C). Surprisingly, the most popular chord was F (the 4 chord), followed by Am (the 6m), and Dm (the 2m).
That said, you can't beat a surprise in a song to keep your interest. Let's hope that these results change soon.
----------------------------------
You should follow me on Twitter for daily news and updates on production and the music business.
Don't forget to check out my Music 3.0 blog for tips and tricks on navigating social media and the new music business.
4 comments:
Not *that's* fascinating!
Cheers
Eb: written by guitarists who drop tune a semi-tone perhaps?
I doubt very much it's guitarists that are writing most of the songs in Eb. Eb is a very comfortable key on piano and also perfect for Male vocalists for a lot of songs.
And beyond that, it's also very likely Cm causing the rise in songs considered Eb. Where do most basic songwriters start on the piano? C major! Not a happy song? C minor it is!
Post a Comment