Since, the notes in music theory (A-G) are cyclic, how do tell which key is higher and which one lower?
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A couple of ways:
1. you reference the octave in relation to middle c saying “2nd G above middle C”. Miiddle C on the piano is a common anchor point.
2. A notation method for doing the same thing as #1 is “C4” – that’s middle C (the 4th octave from the left, although having learned the middle C and being a geek I always wanted middle C to be C0 (c-zero) and go down to negative numbers, but…i digress!
3. You place the notes on a cleff in musical notation. E.G. the treble cleff has a specific location for an absolute C4 or middle C, and for all notes. The notation on the various cleffs is absolute for both note within octaves and the octave on which it occurs.
Keys aren’t higher or lower than one another. You can choose notes so a specific chord is higher or lower than another, but as you mention notes are cyclic, so there is no highest or lowest key.
This gives rise to a cool auditory illusion known as [Shepard’s tone.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BzNzgsAE4F0) By playing a combination of tones that get higher at the same time as introducing low tones and removing high tones, you can give the illusion a tone is getting higher indefinitely.
To distinguish octaves, notes are written with their tone and octave. A C4 is middle C, and the one above is C3, and the G in between is G4.
Edit: Ahhhhhh! I messed up (thanks to u/rubsub for pointing it out). The octaves go the other direction, so a C3 is the octave below C4, and C5 is the octave above.
By ‘key’, I assume you mean the key signature (I.e. what set of notes the piece or song uses) as opposed to a piano key or something. If so, there is no concept of higher or lower for key signatures. A key signature just refers to a different set of notes. It’s like asking which numbers are higher – odd numbers or even numbers.
Perhaps you’re thinking of cases where a tune suddenly shifts up one or two semitones but continues with the same or similar melody, technically known as “modulating by step.” In this case the new key is higher than the old because it’s only one or two steps around the twelve-step cycle of keys; it’s more sensible to consider it one step up than eleven steps down. And, of course, The actual notes being played are a semitone higher, not eleven semitones lower.
But if you had a shift from C to F or G then it’s not so clear whether the shift is up or down and it doesn’t really matter anyway.
Please pardon my ignorance and lack of details in the question. I play acoustic guitar. When I feel like the key that the song is composed in is making me sing in a pitch too high, I move the capo backward and that allows me to sing comfortably but I never understood the theoretical basis for this. I learn from guitar lessons on youtube and I have heard people say that, for example, this song is composed in the key of F# which maybe too high for you so you might want to move the capo backward. That’s what my question refers to. Is there a general way to tell which key is higher and which one lower?
Thanks to all those who have replied to my post!
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