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 Most common keys in music on Spotify There are statistics for the most commonly used keys in the music on Spotify, but if we take all the musical styles on Spotify into consideration, the result would be slightly different than only looking at one particular style of music. Statistically there is more metal music on Spotify than pop music, and considering all the different musical styles that you will find on Spotify, the findings would be slightly different if you only looked at one particular musical style. If you look under you can see a chart made by Spotify data analyst Kenny Ning, hope you find it interesting.  Chart by Spotify data analyst Kenny Nin Most common keys in pop music There are definitely some logical explanations why some keys in pop music are more commonly used than others. Most songwriters play guitar or piano, I’m sure the statistics will agree on that. I should think that some keys are more handy to play than others.
White keys on the piano On the piano the white keys are easy to play, here you get the C major scale, or the relative A minor scale served on a plate. Without too much effort you will soon be able to get your chords going for your next hit. If it where only that easy, at least for your next song.  The Guitar Key On guitar the key of E major is also very convenient to play, with the open chords of E, A and B(7) you will easily come up with chords for your songwriting, and if you’re a guitar player you probably already have. The Spotify stats will show you that the E major scale is used on 3.6 % of all the music on Spotify, there is probably a crazy amount of guitar players out there, don’t you think? But still, in pop music of today I think the key of E major would be slightly less used. E major is convenient on guitar, but still we are stuck with 4 sharps in this key. Pop Music The tendency in pop music is often the usage of keys with less sharps or flats, with the possible exception of the key of C minor, with 3 flats. If you look at the chart made by Hooktheory, you will see what I mean. They have analysed a huge amount of pop songs when it comes to keys, chords and melodies. You will see in the chart under the most common keys in pop music, starting with the most frequently used keys to the less common ones, both major and minor keys are presented.   Chart by Hooktheor Major and relative minor C/Am (no sharps or flats, white keys on piano) G/Em (1 sharps) Eb/Cm (3 flats) F/Dm (1 flat) D/Bm (2 sharps) A/F#m (3 sharps) E/C#m (4 sharps, ¨The Guitar Key¨) Bb major and D minor Also note that the key of Bb major and it’s relative D minor with two flats are further down on the statistics, interestingly enough. Is it because it sounds more dull than other keys, or is it less practical on guitar and piano? Who knows, It’s probably not a coincidence.  C major and C minor on the piano I, IV and V in the key of C major and minor (T, SD and D)But why is the keys of Eb major and it’s relative C minor with 3 flats more common in pop music than some keys with less sharps or flats in it? I think the C minor is the exception here, because it’s easier to relate to, especially on piano. I, IV and V in the key of C major and minor The key of C major is convenient with it’s white keys, if you take the primary chords in the key of C you get C, F and G. All you have to do with these chords is to convert them into minor chords by lowering the thirds in each chord, than you get: Cm, Fm and Gm from the key of C pure minor. There is more minor scales, but I won’t get into it here.
The Parallel C major and C minor This ¨Parallel¨ relation between the C major and C minor can’t be overlooked, also in practical terms on the piano. It’s easy to interchange between the C major scale and the C minor scale, because both scales uses the same tonal center, which makes comparison between the scales very easy. On the Piano this is easy and natural to do, and also sometimes in music you borrow chords from the parallel minor when you use major, this is called modal interchange chords. I will get to this in the future blogs, but I will cover the basics first.  Musical examples in theory In music theory the C-tone or the C-chord is often used as a reference point, usually to show various musical and theoretical examples.  Some keys sounds better than others From a musical perspective another reason can be that the flat keys like the key of C minor or Eb often sound softer and less harsh then some keys with lots of sharps. Especially because all the overtones in the various keys produces different result from key to key. This is possible why some people say that some keys sounds better than others.  Listen to the Eb note versus the F# note If you listen to the note Eb carefully on the piano you will hear it got softer vibrations than for instance the note F# that sounds more vibrant and harsh. You have to pay close attention to these two notes to hear the difference i’m talking about. If you play long notes it will be easier to hear. The different characters of the notes in the keys you use, has an impact on the music you do. Sometimes it’s just a feeling, but still go with the feeling and pick the best key for your song. Rounding off That’s enough about keys for now, I hope you found it interesting, please share if you can. I will soon come back and talk about chords and voicing in pop music, with some great examples that I hope will be useful for your songwriting.
Best of Luck! Johan
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 I should think that every songwriter wants to write great songs, but how is it done and what background do you really need in order to do it? I’m afraid there is no straightforward answer to this, but I will definitely try to say something about it, even if I’m still searching myself. What background you need depends on many things. Do you write songs for guitar and vocals, or piano and vocals? Or is your music production an integral part of your songwriting, using music software like Logic, Ableton, cubase and or other software. What is needed ?Some people attend songwriting courses, or even study music to learn to master the craft of songwriting and some are self taught. Many people only had lessons on their instruments, which I think is probably the most important, but some write great songs even without playing an instrument at all, it is all possible. In order to illustrate more about the background that is needed to write songs, I will need to break down the musical elements into different categories. I will also discuss where the musical education comes in all of this, how much is it needed. There are so many options, so it’s definitely worth taking a further look at this. Some musical categoriesMelody and lyrics, chords and riffs, counter melodies and music production, music theory, and not at least the value of playing an chordal instrument.  Play a chordal instrument or music theoryIt´s always useful to learn some music theory, but what part of musical theory is important when you write songs? To connect music to lyrics you need some inspiration; strum some chords on your guitar or play some chords on the piano and you are almost there. This is what I’m getting at. It´s not a coincidence that most songwriters play piano or guitar, and they write better songs because of it. But unfortunately it’s not the only credential you need to write good songs, but maybe the only thing you need to learn, except from lyrics? I think the key to writing good songs lies in learning to play piano or guitar at a fairly decent level, especially learning to play chords and trying to understand more about harmony is a good start.  MelodyWhat about melody? What background is needed to write decent melodies? It probably sounds too easy, but I think most songwriters play some chords and get the vibe, and use their voice creatively to come up with melody. I don’t think using a theoretic, academic or an analytical approach to making melodies is the way to go. It will probably sound too calculated and possibly lack the natural creative flow that we humans somehow possess. I also think that creating good melodies should be a highly intuitive, inspirational and spontaneous prosess. You can’t learn it, but you can practice to get better at it. Harmony, chords and music theoryHere there is usually some work to do, learn how to play chords on piano or guitar, take some lessons if needed. Spend some time reading about music theory, especially learn more about harmony, voice leading, intervals, ear training and the most important scales. All this has great practical use, also when producing music, how to lay down chords in a skilful way comes in handy both in a band situation as well as in studio. I will write more about this in my future blogs, I’ve only just started and will come back to this.  RiffsRiffs should come up automatic when you jam on your guitar, bass or keyboard, and even when you produce music in your music software. If you play in a band this is a common way for musicians to make songs together, and often the riffs are part of it. Work on your instrument, the riff certainly doesn’t happen because of something ¨boring¨ you once read in a dry music theory book. I must confess I enjoy music theory, but not everybody does, or needs to know too much about it either.  Counter melodiesSometimes a melody with lyrics can sound boring by itself, but when you add chords it can become more interesting, have you experienced this? In that case this can possibly tell us what harmonies can do to a song. It’s the same story when it comes to counter melodies, this is additional melodic material, often instrumental melodic stuff that goes in between the vocals with lyrics. This can be a game changer and make a huge difference in the outcome of your song. The counter melodies could be part of the arrangement of a song after the song is finished, but often broken chords, voice leading and complimentary melodic material makes its way into the song, long before the arrangement. RhythmI won’t talk much about rhythm this time, but the importance of it is pretty obvious. Melody, lyrics, riffs, chords, drums, bass lines and counter melodic material need to be part of an overall rhythmic structure of a song, just like everything else. Rhythm has something to do with the flow of the song, and the development. Rhythm is important for every musical part or instrument, it doesn’t have to be complicated stuff, less is sometimes more, but keep it together.  LyricsMost people have gone to school for many years and have learned to read and write, so why not apply this great knowledge when you write lyrics to a song. My first tip would be to find something that you feel strongly about when you tell a story, use your imagination. Put yourself in that creative flow, make it personal, but without people knowing it if you need to. There is a lot of nourishment in relating or even identifying with stories. Get your scissors out and cut it until it’s in place. Take a course, read more about it on the web, many ways to learn. But remember the lyrics have to fit the melody, that’s crucial and a later chapter by itself. Try to connect melody and lyrics intuitively, not necessary to be too analytical here either. Music and art should hopefully transcend to some form of greater expression, but it’s important to know the tools to get there. Talent definitely comes into this equation, but without steady and sometimes hard work the songs won’t get any better. Write a songIt doesn’t matter how you write your song, what matters is that you actually write a song, and remember it can be done in many ways. Some people do lyrics first, melody first, chords first, do a music production without melody first, even a bass line first, if it’s groovy enough it can easily spark off in any direction. You can do it!  Please share, comment or likeI’ll be happy to hear what you think about this songwriting subject, please leave a comment, in English or Norwegian.
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By Johan M. LeivaComposer, songwriter, music producer and tutor. Categories
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March 2022
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Now I will step up my blogging, and write more about what's going on in Jmlmusic. What we do In Jmlmusic Compose music, write songs, produce music, make sheet music and some books on the music subject. SataraNicholas H. Leiva
Satara is my sons artist name, he produce music and currently studying Music Production here in Norway.
Nicholas has about 4 million views on YouTube with one of his tracks, about 8 million views and listens all together on different platforms. Nicholas is now also a part of the Jmlmusic team. We're reaching out
If you are a talented singer we want to collaborate with you, We release music, maybe we can feature you on a song release on Spotify, or other platforms? Collaboration on songs is also something we do, Contact us and send us a demo of you singing, or your song. Film projects Do you work on films, contact us for music, we'll be very happy to contribute with music on your film project. Johan M. Leiva My background is in music. I studied music both privately and at Berklee.College of Music, where I graduated in Film Scoring with a Diploma. Everyone in my family plays an instrument, so our home is pretty much surrounded by music. Jml Sheet Music Instagram
Some of my film music under
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