How to find the key of a song based on the chords?

I wrote a cool chord progression and i want to make a melody to go over it but i dont know what key it is in. does anyone have any advise?

Scales, they help.

What are the scale tones that you lay out through the chords? What are the scale tones that are not in the chords and are therefore free to be altered?

what do you mean by free to be altered?

Put up the chord progression and i'll be able to show you. I promise I wont steal it :)

ok :D

Amaj Fmaj7 Amaj Fmaj7

Dmaj Fmaj7 Dmaj Cmaj7 Cmaj Dmaj Fmaj7 Fmaj Emaj

oh noes...

learn your scales and chords, learn your keys.

That will help.

These are your chord tones. These are the notes from the chords which define the key points for your scale.

Amaj = A C# E (G)

Fmaj = F A C (E)

Dmaj = D F# A (C#)

Cmaj = C E G (B)

Emaj = E G# B (D#)

So put into order, you have (over this progression as a whole):

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

So all of the notes are chord tones; this means that you've got no non-chord tones that you can alter to fit a mode/scale. That alteration is what I meant by "free."

So therein lies your problem -- you're not thinking in keys, you're essentially planing, that is "same chord, different position." This gives you a lot of options, but care has to be placed to avoid ugliness. What I'd suggest for the melody is to work with those notes (C D F G) that are both natural and sharp over the progression. That would strengthen the chords, I feel.

Alternately, break up the progression so you have discrete sections that are diatonic (or at least have only one option for each note provided. So if you took just the A/F section, you'd have

A B# C# () E F G

That D that's missing would be up to you to decide if it's sharp or natural. Actually, just having a D-D# pedal might work nicely, snaking in between the chords.

Anyway, hope that helps.

THANKS SO MUCH!

people try to be helpful, but he'll never learn...

Give a wookie a banana, and you will have helped him for a day. Teach a wookie how to get bananas, and you will have helped him for life.

well untill i learn i will be able to write a kick donkey song :D im new to all the theory

don't you mean, "until I learn [essential elements and building blocks of the music theory of the style I want to write songs in] I won't be able to write a kisk donkey song"? :huh: I am confused..

why cant we just be friends

Ferk may have helped you for now but in the long run, it's much better to actually learn your scales and keys. It's essential if you ever want to modulate or even so much as employ dissonance. And who knows, maybe you'll never feel the need to do so. But it's nice to know what your options are rather than be ignorant to them. Just as Juji said.

well yes i do agree that i need to learn those things, it just hasnt happened yet. but it will with time