C majorness?

does anyone agree that the key of C major has a kind of character. Like its pure, and innocent. whenever i hear the key of C i almost always think it has this sort of childlike quality about it. and the color i always recall when hearing it is white. anyone else agree with this association?

C majorness?
Yes, I agree.





I have perfect pitch and find that different keys have different qualities and different sensory links - C major for me sounds innocent, and has a childlike simplicity as you say.





I like composing and I always think carefully about which key to write in. If I were to compose something sad I generally speaking wouldn't chose a minor key - I think C major is perfect to convey a gentil mildness that someone feels when sad. Have you watched or listened to Miss Saigon? Schonberg is obviously on the same wavelength as us as he uses the key of C major at the end of the show when the protaganist is dying. He re-writes a reprise of a song previously sung in C major and it's simplicity and purity is tear-wrenching.





You are absolutely correct. Some musicians find that different keys have sensory links - well done for getting truly involved with the music you hear.
Reply:Yes I agree that it has a feeling of simplicity to it. It might not always be 'innocent-sounding' (that depends on how you write the music), but it does sound the simplest and most 'innocent' out of all the keys. It's gentle and inviting. The feeling of familiarity would hold true for most musicians, but I don't think violinists would say C major is the most 'familiar' of all the keys. Simply because they don't start off with C major scales. I do agree that white is a good colour to associate it with though.
Reply:I do agree. Some of the other answerers have said that it's not childlike - which in a way I agree with them - C major can be used in a heavy, non-childlike piece, but other keys still will be more serious. I do think that C major has the simplest, most innocent, childlike tone. In certain pieces, C major can also sound sort of majestic to me.





Someone said that they can hear when something is is C major/minor. Having perfect pitch, I don't know how distinguishable C is from different keys, as I already know what the key is, but just the other day, while singing a piece at a choir concert, the accompanist played it in D major instead of C major. Afterwards, several people (that know I have perfect pitch) asked me if it was in a different key. So apparently they could tell that it was not in C major.





I think white is a good color to express C - I don't usually associate a color with a particular key, but C major stands out more than the rest. I think of it as simply white, or happily, innocently pale yellow. Just my opinion though.





I think that all of the keys have, as you said, a kind of character. But C major is definitely one of the more obvious ones - and one that the majority of musicians agree on. Some other keys that stand out more than other (to me, at least) are D minor - tragic, A minor - dry. I won't ramble about other keys since you asked about C. =]





Great question.





%26lt;3
Reply:Yes, it is so "C majory"





lol, yet still with infanite shades!





Beethoven's Ode to Joy is in C Major, and even though the BASIC meoldy is childlike, it is so much more full of color with its full arrangement and huge chorus.





Jesu Joy of Man's Desiring (isn't that is C)? - Simple, yet beautiful. Worshipful without the mournfulness.





The appalacian tune "O Death" is in C major - yet comes off sounding almost minor in it's treatment! Have a listen to the Stanley version from the "O Brother Where Art THou" soundtrack.





Robert Johnson's "From Four Til Late" is in C and is humorous, yet with a touch of the blues dichotomy of mournful/optimistic.





C major is like a blank slate. You can use it however you want.
Reply:Every key as character! I find that C Major is not always pure or innocent, but it does have a certain familiarity to everyone who has learned music, seeing that most instruments start by learning songs in C Major. However, I really find that it depends on the piece. C Major most definitely to most human ears, sounds friendly and inviting.
Reply:Different keys do have different qualities and emotional connotations. It's why composers really attempt to choose the right key for writing their pieces. Try playing a piece in C and then transpose to G. Listen to how different it sounds. I don't have perfect pitch but I always know when I hear a piece in the wrong key. It just feels wrong! (That and I do have acquired pitch...)





~Lisa
Reply:no way..


we have like the same musical bbrraiinn


haha


I'm kidding I was trying to sound like a buffoon. Yet, I do agree with you. Although, in some pieces, the key of C Major comes across as a mature and grown-up feel. I believe it depends on the piece being played.
Reply:When I play a piece in C major, I find myself reminiscing about my early orchestra days, when the first scale we learned was C major. I agree, the key does have a feeling of innocence to it~
Reply:I TOTALLY agree,


you can tell when something is in C Major or a Minor


it has a certain purity to it.
Reply:ya. It's really happy, and immature, and we probably think that because it's used in almost ALL of the kiddy songs.
Reply:I wouldn't call it childlike...but I would call it pure.


Just like Dm and Em are sad.


:)
Reply:It must be because you get to be very familiar with it..
Reply:I agree, not really childlike in my eyes.......
Reply:are u talkin bout a piano??????