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Joe105
Registered User
Joined: 02/24/17
Posts: 214
Joe105
Registered User
Joined: 02/24/17
Posts: 214
02/17/2020 1:38 pm

I am in the process of learning the song 'Fields of Gold', Sting version.

The song is in the key of 'D'. but as the song includes D-Bm-G-A. and the changes are a bit haphazard for me, I transcribed the song to the key of 'C' ( C-Am-F-G.) Using open chords it is very easy to play.

However, when I listened to it again in 'D', I felt that it sounded better. I thought,"Why is that"?

I did a bit of research as to why some songs sound 'better' in one key to another.

One obvious conclusion was that the song will sound better when in the natural range of the singer. However I didn't think this was the case in my song as the keys of 'C and D' are faily close to each other.

Looking a bit deeper I found that, with the guitar, there is a mixture of convenience and chord voicings that come into play. Because of the tuning intervals between strings and the natural spacing of notes in guitar chords, the playing of a song in a different key often necessitates the use of chord fingerings which produce alternate voicings. ie,a different note will be on top or bottom and different notes will be next to each other. This results in a song sounding better or worse depending on the key.

So that seemed to go someway in answering my query and led me to learn 'Fields of Gold' in the key of 'D'.

My chord changes are improving, I've learnt something new and my song sounds better.

There are, of course, other factors involved in the 'feel' of a song or piece of music such as changes in timbre as string pitch changes and the harmonic overtones produced on different strings but I find it all very interesting. It helps me understand the making of music and how certain changes produce different effects.

I hope someone will find this of interest.

Joe