Song Key choice
Hi Dave,
Do different Keys have different feelings or characteristics? I know Am over A will be darker but is there a reason why someone might choose A over Bb besides that the singer sings better in that key or the instruments that are available?
In that vein, do "naked" notes have characteristics? In other words does C have an inherent emotional quality outside of a particular scale.
I agree with David. Pitch is fundamentally relative. A=440 wasn't even the standard reference pitch until about 75 years ago. Prior to that the definition of "A" varied by as much as several semitones in different regions and eras. For example, in Mozart's time an "A" in northern Germany might the same pitch as an F# in southern Germany, which might be equivalent to a sharp "G" to us today. Even today, some orchestras tune to A=442, or A=446, etc.
So to answer your question, "does C have an inherent emotional quality", the answer is no because there isn't even an inherent definition of "C". It's all relative to whatever the ensemble adopts as it's reference pitch - the pitch it tunes to. You can read all about it here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concert_pitch. (I'm an oboe player by training so I've learned about this stuff - the oboe player tunes the orchestra.)
Different keys favor can favor certain playing styles on some instruments, kind of like switching positions on the harp. For example, guitar players can play bar chords in open string keys like E, A, D. Switching up the key from E to F might encourage the guitar player to avoid bar chords and use jazzier voicings. I recently sat in with a band that tuned down a half-step, like Stevie Ray Vaughan, because they liked the feel of the looser strings. So when they said "key of E" it was actually Eb in standard pitch. Good thing I brought harps in all 12 keys! But all of that has to due with the idiosyncrasies of the guitar, nothing fundamental about keys or pitches.
In the baroque era and earlier, different tuning systems were used on fixed pitch instruments (like keyboards) from our standard "equal temperament." Chords in different keys would sound more or less in tune. For example, on an organ in the baroque era, a I chord in the key of C might sound pure and in tune, and a I chord in Eb might sound kind of sour. Composer's would exploit this when choosing keys. But that's a product of how the intervals related to each other in those tuning systems in different keys. You can read all about tuning systems ('temperaments") here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musical_temperament.
None of this will make you a better blues harp player! But it's kind of interesting to me.
Steve
The short answer, no. For each instrument, each note speaks differently across it's range... that's why each instrument or style of music tends to have common keys. A pitch by itself caries no importance. I've heard of studies (none I can remember right now) that they can, but that's getting very esoteric. This would be similar to the study of specific colors and what they do for mood.