Hey Friend,
I talk a lot about how individual notes in a key are used to influence how you feel. Each interval in a scale can be mapped to a particular emotion, and when used effectively, you can take your audience on an emotional ride all over the spectrum.
I've also demonstrated how using different chords in a progression moves the listener into the right emotional mindset to get the most impact from a song.
Today I found an interesting series of articles that illustrates how musical keys have been used to do the same thing. Composers would write their music in a key based on the overall theme they needed to the piece to convey. Back in the mid-1870s, the Austrian composer Ernst Pauer published a book called The Elements of the Beautiful in Music. In the book, he wrote about how the keys affect people. This isn't uncommon, as all composers studied this phenomenon. What IS different in his writing is that he provided a list of musical examples that portrayed the emotional characteristics for many keys.
I stumbled on these articles while reading about how research has found that singing isn't just a talent some people have - it is a skill you can learn and develop. Just like learning guitar, you can be taught the skills and techniques to sing well. Then it's all about practice. Despite what many of us have been told (and why we stopped singing as kids), with enough work you could have a shot at The Voice!
On the same website, I saw an article titled "How You Should Feel in the Key of C Major." Of course, you know I couldn't pass that up. From there I found an additional 10 articles that detail specific major and minor keys and various compositions from each key that display the emotions.
Each article has representative audio samples of the pieces that fit the key and emotions presented.
Think about this for a second. Pauer was able to list examples of music that portrayed various emotions, which meant he needed to be very familiar with them. When you consider the phonograph wasn't invented until a year after he wrote this book, it seems like an incredible feat. He had to study and know these pieces. We take for granted that we can do a quick Google search for a piece of music and be listening to it in seconds!
What does this have to do with Rock music? In a word, reference.
These are all musical pieces that have a couple centuries of staying power. Rock music is still young, and I would hazard to say The Beatles will still be listened to in 200 years, but the roots of Western music are found in these classical works.
Even though composers of the day probably couldn't describe the physics that went into sound creation, there's an intuition we all have to create music that draws on various emotions. They drew on that intuition (as well as study and practice) to write music that is still widely listened to all around the world.
Classical music influences many styles of Rock, from Neo-Classical and Progressive to Classic Rock and Pop. Take for example "Bohemian Rhapsody" by Queen. The song moves through a handful of keys to accomplish the different moods expressed by each part. Clearly there was understanding of Classical and opera techniques when Freddie Mercury wrote this.
If you get a chance, check out the articles and try to listen to some of the reference music. I'm always saying to expand your horizons musically, so a little Classical and Opera might be fun for you.
See you tomorrow.
Peace~
Dave | 
