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Sorry if this is a silly question, I'm a total newbie to music and trying to wrap my head around things. :)

From what I've learned, there is a pattern to all major/minor scales. For example, a major scale follows the pattern tone-tone-semitone-tone-tone-tone-semitone. For minor scales there were several variations depending on which type of minor scale you used.

So, like, a C major scale starts on C and follows this pattern, thus resulting in notes C D E F G A B. A D major scale starts on D and, following this pattern, results in D E F# G A B C#. Etc.

Now, any piece of music can be rewritten (transposed) to a different scale that follows the same pattern as the original simply by shifting all the notes by a certain amount of semitones. So, take a piece of music in D major, shift all notes down by 2 semitones, and you've got that same piece in C major.

What I don't understand is - unless you've got absolute hearing or are listening to the pieces side-by-side, you won't hear any difference between the two versions. It'll sound exactly the same, even to the most trained ear. So why bother with it? Why are there so many pieces of music in different scales when you could just transpose them all to the same scale?

Some ideas that I came up with on my own but wasn't convinced:

  • So that writing is simpler. But no - as long as you don't stray from the notes in the scale, you don't need to use any extra signs. Those are only used when you use notes outside the scale, thus they will be there in the same places no matter how you transpose.
  • To match the available range of a specific music instrument/voice. However they all span at least a few octaves, so why would you need to adjust so precisely? Just move them up or down by a whole octave. Unless the piece has a so wide range of sounds that it spans nearly all of the available sounds on the instrument/voice, but I think that's a pretty rare case. And anyway, most of those odd E-major-whatever pieces are for the piano which has the biggest range of them all.
  • When playing together several instruments, you might wish to have them play the same melody just a few (semi)tones apart for some specific effect. But then why do these scales then appear for pieces that are meant to be played solo (including all the piano exercises)?
  • Because some combinations of notes are easier played (as in the mechanical finger motion is simpler) in a specific scale. Doesn't seem convincing though, most instruments are pretty uniform, and it doesn't apply to voice at all.
  • Tradition?

So... is there a better explanation as to why so many different scales are employed today?

Vilx-
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    "It'll sound exactly the same, even to the most trained ear." - Sorry, but that is just wrong - though until *your* ears become "trained" you will have to take other people's word for it! "Most instruments are pretty uniform" - again, that is not true at all. Most instruments are extremely non-uniform. (As a straight forward example, take the black and white keys on the piano, and the fact that humans have short thumbs and pinky fingers compared with the other three - so the short fingers "fit better" on the white keys not the black ones. –  Jul 19 '17 at 13:19
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    I think you are asking why there are different keys, not different scales. Different scales most assuredly _do_ sound different, even to untrained ears. Different keys sound different in temperaments other than equal temperament. Some keys lay better than others on different instruments. The nature of sound production for a musical instrument means that the actual sound made is different in different keys, i.e., if you have to play higher-up on the instrument to fit a key into the instrumental range, the timbre changes. And, given that we have 12 tones to work with, the keys are just there. –  Jul 19 '17 at 13:20
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    The [Levitin effect](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Levitin_effect) indicates that *close to everyone* can hear the difference between (major) keys well enough to remember that certain pieces are in different keys from each other. – Dekkadeci Jul 19 '17 at 13:48
  • Also, in various musical contexts, you *will* be hearing the same melody in different keys in relatively quick succession (e.g. both major). Listen to the famous first movement of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony and you'll hear the famous opening bars in C minor and F minor, then the major-key section in E flat major and C major. Play *Mario Kart: Double Dash!!* for one course and you'll hear the music go up one semitone (typically) in the final lap. – Dekkadeci Jul 19 '17 at 13:53
  • First - Keys vs scales - I'm not sure, what's the difference? I mean things like "C major", "D major", etc. Those are scales, aren't they? Second - yes, I'm talking about equal temperament. It didn't occur to me to specify this since it's so ubiquitous today, but I guess it should be noted. Third - so... all of my guesses are right? – Vilx- Jul 19 '17 at 13:56
  • Confusingly, "C major" can mean both a key and a scale. An (oversimplified) description of the difference is that a "key" is a *collection* of notes, plus some conventions (in much of western music at least) about ways to use different sequences of chords made from selections of those notes. A "scale" is a sequence of single notes in a particular order. Major scales use all the notes of the corresponding major key, but there is more than one sort of minor scale, and some minor scales (like the so-called "melodic minor") use *different* notes from the minor scale when ascending and descending. –  Jul 19 '17 at 14:41
  • ... there are also "scales" which use notes that are *not* all in one "key" - for instance chromatic scales (all 12 notes), whole-tone scales (C D E F# G# A# C), octatonic scales (C D Eb F F# G# A B C), and many of the scales used in folk music in different countries and regions of the world. –  Jul 19 '17 at 14:45
  • Your first guess is often (but not always) right. The others are right IMO - but your reasons for making the guesses were not all right, as the comments and answers have pointed out! –  Jul 19 '17 at 14:50
  • " It didn't occur to me to specify this since [equal temperament] is so ubiquitous today" - yes, in western popular music (and also the most popular type of western "classical" music). In the rest of the world, not so much! –  Jul 19 '17 at 14:53
  • @Dekkadeci Great reference about the Levitin effect. I find sometimes if I don't know a song as well, I will remember it in a different key that is a close harmonic relative to the correct key. A lot of people said to be "tone deaf" also appear to be hearing in this type of relative-key even when actively listening or singing along. Anyway, very interesting to see that the effect is not well studied. – Darren Ringer Jul 19 '17 at 15:34

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What I don't understand is - unless you've got absolute hearing or are listening to the pieces side-by-side, you won't hear any difference between the two versions. It'll sound exactly the same, even to the most trained ear.

There's many reasons, but your premise here is false. You may not be able to tell the exact key if you don't have absolute pitch, but a trained musical ear will still notice differences to the warmth, timbre and other qualities of the sound regardless.

In addition:

  • Some keys are easier to play on some instruments than others, especially those instruments not in C - so your point that "most instruments are pretty uniform" is also not correct.
  • Many pieces will transition between keys in different sections, so you can't just have one key if you (for instance) want to transpose up a minor third for an interlude.
  • Some instruments simply sound better (or at least different) in different keys. On a violin for example there's a very distinct sound obtained by using open strings, but you've only got four to choose from! If you force everything to be written in C, then want the sound of an open string on the tonic... you're out of luck.
berry120
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  • Disagree slightly with the second sentence -- all except the very most tone-deaf will be able to tell a difference, even if they don't know what the difference is. –  Jul 19 '17 at 17:47
  • @MatthewRead - your comment puts me into the very most tone deaf category. Thanks! I've been a muso for 60 odd years! If I play a piece in G that's supposed to be in Ab, I doubt most people would notice without an external reference. – Tim Jul 19 '17 at 22:42