Is there any legit reasons why only playing in one key on every song is a bad idea?

I realize guitarists usually change keys in order to accommodate for their singers voice range/skill.

But let's just take instrumental melodic rock, like neoclassical metal for example.

I've listened to a really great CD "Concerto Suite for Electric Guitar and Orchestra in E flat minor"

As the title of the CD suggests, it's all done in the key of E.

Seems like A & E are the most popular keys in Rock guitar.

And I will go further and say that I think E is the most common due to the 2 open E strings on a guitar, it just seems to be the best suited & most logical key to guitar.

If using the diatonic Aeolian,minor/Ionian,major scale, with Phrygian and Harmonic and Melodic Minor as well, maybe even substituting Major with Lydian from time to time and of course throwing in a fair share of chromatic runs and diminished arpeggios ... Is there really any need to ever go into any other keys besides the key of E?

Can't all the emotions etc just as easily be expressed within the context I laid out above in the key of E, for neoclassical instrumental shred, without the need for changing to other keys or composing songs in other key?

Seems like endless variety & diversity can be had in just the one key using the scales & modes I mentioned in this style of music.

Am I wrong or missing something?

YJM
 
One of the bands i play in like the open chug and detune stuff, so i created this for them...

ok9s2.jpg



Though on a serious note, yeah modes, and accidentals will mix things up, i personally like to play in a range of keys to keep my patterns in check, otherwise i get to used to the same shapes (in relation to the nut) over the fretboard
 
I think changing the key often spreads the stimulation that the brain receives over the whole spectrum, or at least a much wider evenly distributed spectrum. One of the reasons modulation sounds good maybe...
 
Well, technically, you could modulate into various keys and still play in E (if you think about it modally, in all the different tonal scales, that is). Lots of metal bands do it, but it then starts to sound monotonous after a while. Changing keys makes the song more interesting and engaging for the listener (at least I think so). It also gives the soloist more material to develop their ideas, which is a plus.
 
Changing keys makes the song more interesting and engaging for the listener (at least I think so). It also gives the soloist more material to develop their ideas, which is a plus.
This. Sometimes, it's not the key you're in that matters, but the fact that you change it mid-song. It creates instant tension for the listener.

The Beatles were masterclass in smart key-changes. A clever key-change can turn even the most unoriginal chord progression into something massive.


Also changing keys mid-song is amazing when you have a singer that has the vocal range to deal with it properly. On countless jam-sessions, we've found out that our singer unintentionally has a completely different voice timbre depending on the key she's singing in. We now use that artisticly.
 
This. Sometimes, it's not the key you're in that matters, but the fact that you change it mid-song. It creates instant tension for the listener.

The Beatles were masterclass in smart key-changes. A clever key-change can turn even the most unoriginal chord progression into something massive.


Also changing keys mid-song is amazing when you have a singer that has the vocal range to deal with it properly. On countless jam-sessions, we've found out that our singer unintentionally has a completely different voice timbre depending on the key she's singing in. We now use that artisticly.

Cool. Can you think of a good Beatles example of mid song key change?
 
Go this from the interwebz not sure how accurate it is, some of these seem more like accidentals for a bar or 2

  • Abbey Road Medley I (TAKE THAT, JOE)
  • Abbey Road Medley II (TAKE THAT AGIN, JOE)
  • Come And Get It (Major to Minor, Minor to Major)
  • Cry Baby Cry (I'm Not Sure If The fade-out part was supposed to be there)
  • Fixing A Hole (Not sure here either)
  • For No One (NOT SURE AGAIN!!!!)
  • For You Blue (I've always thought the intro was A 'till it's D on the verses)
  • Free As A Bird
  • Happiness Is A Warm Gun (of course....)
  • Here, There, and Everywhere (yes, Joe, I agree that he used it too often)
  • Hey Bulldog (Major to Minor, Minor to Major)
  • I Me Mine (George used often Minor to Major......)
  • I Want You (She's So Heavy) (I think John used different song parts in one song (as in BFTBOMK and HIAWG))
  • If I Fell
  • Only A Northern Song (as John did in IWY(SSH)
  • Piggies
  • Savoy Truffle (Major to Minor, Minor to Major)
  • Something
  • Strawberry Files Forever
  • Sun King
  • While My Guitar Gently Weeps (Minor To Major...)
 
You're sure you didn't confused "key" with "tuning" in this meme? ;) BTW - there's 17 guitars on this picture :D

Hah, Well they are kind of interchangeable in this respect, in our case if the band plays chug E tuned down to D, they are playing in D as for as the singer is concerned
 
I think the op is on about changing tonal centre rather than the key.

This goes back to how we perceive music. A lot of the time playing with the same tonal centre can bore people especially over the course of a whole album. Also, the same line sounds different to me when it has a different tonal centre and this is part of the reason why Tommy Emmanuel uses a capo for some instrumentals. "Lewis and Clark" sounds a lot sweeter in F# than it does in E, and Mark Knopfler's "Marbletown" is muddy in D rather than G.

So I say that differing tonal centres are not just advantageous, but are extremely necessary to bring out the best in music, especially for instrumentals.
 
I think the op is on about changing tonal centre rather than the key.

This goes back to how we perceive music. A lot of the time playing with the same tonal centre can bore people especially over the course of a whole album. Also, the same line sounds different to me when it has a different tonal centre and this is part of the reason why Tommy Emmanuel uses a capo for some instrumentals. "Lewis and Clark" sounds a lot sweeter in F# than it does in E, and Mark Knopfler's "Marbletown" is muddy in D rather than G.

So I say that differing tonal centres are not just advantageous, but are extremely necessary to bring out the best in music, especially for instrumentals.

+1

I think the problem with the statement in the OP is that it's purely a technical POV, based on scales and the possibility to use open strings.

Music is so much more. Some people associate keys in music with moods.
 
I think what the OP is getting at is whether all the songs or tunes in a set should be written in the same key, such as E, not if they modulate to a different key mid way or use modes.

Personally I think that would be very bad from a playing perspective, as has already been mentioned, but also not good for the listener. Imagine a blues band playing everything in A, all the songs would start to meld into one after a while. You have to mix things up to keep the listener's attention.
 
and different keys actually sound different. Eb is quite "dark" and B is quite "bright", for example
 
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