Für Elise

All I can help you with (which isn't much), the notes that are in that riff (useing standard tuning) are, E-D#-E-D#-E-B-D-C-A.

I'm pretty sure it's in A minor. Now the Eb probably confuses you but the problem with most music is that it doesn't always follow the rules, if you listen to the opening riff (or motif), the Eb to E succession of notes is just in there to cause a sort of tension. You'll also notice that the riff ends on A (the riff ends every 4 bars) and also the piece itself ends on A, which is a good inclination of what key it's in (but of course, not always).

Alot of times, songs will go out of key to create melodic or harmonic tension, it's definitely something that I personally had to figure out early on cuz if you ALWAYS stick to the notes in the key and scale, then things can get boring.

Another hint is that the only other keys that it could possibly be in would be C major, G major or E minor, because E minor and G major have only one sharp (F#), any other key would have C# or Bb and that perticular riff as B and C. It could also be in C major but since it ends on A, it's probably A minor.

The Eb is basically the b5 of the A minor blues scale. Used as a passing tone to add tension. Nice.

Actually, to be correct, those aren't Eb's...they're D#'s. The key is A minor, and the D#'s are just the leading tone of the dominant (E). The E-D#-E-D#-etc figures are really just a slow mordent--the D#'s themselves are nonharmonic, ornamental tones. :)

Yep, A minor. As RTB_Chris points out, that's because E is the dominant - you should also see a G# in about measures 3, 7, 11 and 15... and probably a full E7 chord in measures 22 & 23.

Measure numbers might vary by one or so due to pick up notes.

Actually, to be correct, those aren't Eb's...they're D#'s. The key is A minor, and the D#'s are just the leading tone of the dominant (E).

OK, now I have another question. E is the 5th (dominant) note of Am, got that. D# is the 7th note (leading tone) of E, got that.

E F# G# A B C# (D#) E

Is this why we call it D# and not Eb? If I'm just stating the exact same
thing as the above quote, it's because I'm trying to confirm. LOL

...

Is this why we use D# and not Eb? If I'm just stating the exact same
thing as the above quote, it's because I'm trying to confirm. LOL

Not entirely. On many instruments D# and Eb are not the exact same pitch, though they are very close. On the violin, for instance, the D# is supposed to be a hair higher than the Eb.

OK, now I have another question. E is the 5th (dominant) note of Am, got that. D# is the 7th note (leading tone) of E, got that.

E F# G# A B C# (D#) E

Is this why we use D# and not Eb? If I'm just stating the exact same
thing as the above quote, it's because I'm trying to confirm. LOL

Yes. :)

The most commonly used accidentals occur when you find notes borrowed from closely related chords and keys. D# is the leading tone of the dominant...if we were to label it as Eb, how far would you have to go to find that note? Bb and Gm are the first keys you'd come to that have an Eb, and they're both more remote (2 keys away on the circle of 5ths).

Also, alternating E and Eb in notation is messy! :lol:

Uh Oh, since you mentioned the circle of fifths I realized we went to E major to get our D#.

But shouldn't we went to E minor?

A B C D (E) F G
i ii III iv (v) VI VII

Ofcourse there is no D# in E minor.

E F# G A B C D

Why did we go to E major?

If we go to Eb on the circle of fifths(fourths...)

A minor
A B C D E F G
i ii III iv v VI VII

D minor
D E F G A Bb C
i ii III iv v VI VII

G minor

G A Bb C D (Eb) F
i ii III iv v (VI) VII

If we go to E major for some reason I'm not aware of then...

A minor
A B C D E F G

E minor
E F# G A B C D

B minor
B C# D E F# G A

F# minor
F# G# A B C# D E

C# minor (E major relative)
C# (D#) E F# G# A B C

Isn't Eb closer on the circle of fifths(fourths) than D# when our starting point is A minor?

No, you wouldn't go to E minor... let's deal with this in two parts:

First, there's the chords of the harmony. You want to have a strong feeling of resolution, and the strongest comes from an authentic cadence. In major keys this is V7-I; in minor keys, it's V7-i. So even though you're in A minor, the strongest resolution comes from E7-Am, rather than Em-Am.

That's the biggest reason for the harmonic minor scale, with a raised seventh. In Am, that seventh is G#... which makes the dominant chord E7 (E-G#-B-D).

Now for part two...

That E7 chord has a D, rather than a D#. That brings us back to the question of why it's preferable to use D# instead of Eb. Let's look at how that works out in standard notation - first with Eb:

E-Eb-Enatural-Eb-Enatural-B-D-C-A

You've got four accidentals - two flats, two naturals. Now let's try D#:

E-D#-E-D-E-B-Dnatural-C-A

Two accidentals. The second occurance of D is understood to be D# - there hasn't been a bar line to cancel the accidental yet - so you only need the first D#, and a D natural a bit later on.

The music is less cluttered that way.