What key is that song in?
Today's tip comes from the HarpSmith (aka, Kinya Pollard). Thanks Kinya!
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Hello Everyone. For those of you having a challenging time identifying the correct key signature and tempo to a song that you would like to solo over ... check this out!
A DJ friend of my recently turned me on to a terrific piece of software called, "Mixed in Key." It will analyze any song located on your computer, then identify both the key signature and tempo.
Mixed in Key was created for the DJ universe, where understanding music theory is not a requirement (sound familiar)? The program gives the user three choices to configure and view their "Circle of Fifths" wheel: Camelot, Sharps (F#), or Flats (Gbm)
I tested Mixed in Key by dragging two songs from my iTunes library into the empty field: David Brubeck's, "Take Five" / Ebm at 137bmp ... then Bill Barrett's, "Where Green is Blue" / Fm at 124bpm. Very cool.
Once you had created your library, browsing around for songs in similar keys is a breeze. Simply select the desired key from the Circle of Fifths wheel; for example the key of G, then the program will display all your songs that were recorded in G. Awesome!
Another nifty feature of Mixed in Key is that, you can configure the software to automatically store the key signature and tempo for that song into your iTunes music file. So to find this information in the future, simply find the song in iTunes, select "Get Info" and you will find the key signature and tempo conveniently located in the comments section.
The cost is $58 and available at: http://www.mixedinkey.com
Don't tell David I turned you on to this handy tool ;o)
Your Harpsmith, Kinya
