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I mean, is there a difference between sound of keys. Like, what is the point of writing some melody in a particular key if the melody would be the same if you, for example, raise all notes by one tone?

Tom
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Andrew Rusanov
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    Possibly related [question](https://music.stackexchange.com/questions/120925/why-does-just-intonation-make-it-so-different-keys-have-different-characterist?r=SearchResults&s=6%7C21.1163). – guidot Jun 16 '22 at 20:43

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Yes, sort of, it depends.

Depending on the instrument, different chords may have different voicings. Think of a guitar, for example - an E major (at the 1st fret) would typically be voiced as EBEG#BE, whereas an A major would typically be EAEAC#E. It's not strictly a transposition up a 4th.

For a single-note instrument, chord voicings wouldn't matter, but the instrument may respond differently and have a different timbre at different pitches. A trumpet, for example, seems to have fewer overtones and sounds less "brassy" at higher notes compared to lower notes (that may partially be the player's technique, but that's a consideration when deciding where your melody should be played).

jmathews
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