I know next to nothing about musical theory. Torturous, mandatory participation in musical endeavors in youth taught me how to read music and the very fundamentals.
Why does changing the number of sharps and flats in the key so dramatically change the entire sound of the piece? Why is the key so important that famous pieces of music are billed as “Such and such in G major” or whatever?
I mean I know that some of the notes will be half a step higher or lower depending on what the key falls for. But I can’t imagine why that changes so much. I’ve heard songs like The Star Spangled Banner and other famous works played in a minor key and it completely changes the entire sound. How?
In: Culture
Changing between related keys, like G major to C major (known as transposing), won’t actually make that much difference; It’ll sound the same, just higher or lower than before, like when you play a song faster. This is because the distance between the frequencies hasn’t changed.
However, going from G major to G minor will definitely make a difference since you’ve changed the scale it’s played on and thus, the distance between the frequencies. The way these frequencies interact (harmonize) is what makes them sound happy (major), sad (minor), etc.
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