How is the scale of a song determined?

Some exceptions: newer C20 pieces that don't revolve around a particular tonality, a movement ending on its dominant/diminished chord to resolve at the beginning of the next movement, Tierce di Picardie where the third is raised in the tonic chord of a minor-scaled piece
By: jasminezhu

Date of comment: Mon, Jan 26th 2009

What you're really asking is how to find the key of a piece. Scales are played in different keys, but the scale is not necessarily part of the piece. A quick and mostly (all though not all the time) accurate way of finding out the key is to look at the key signature and then the last chord/note of the piece. The key signature will tell you how many sharps or flats there are in that key. (Also, flattening notes does not make anything minor) For instance, if a piece has one flat, which is b flat, it means the piece is either in F Major or d minor-both have one flat. This is when you'd check the last note/chord of the piece to see if it's an f or a d. The difference between major and minor scales is the distance between notes of the scale, whether or not they're whole or half steps.
By: emiesue

Date of comment: Wed, Oct 15th 2008