Where many other artists/songwriters tend to have "favorite keys" to play and sing in, I've noticed before that Prince usually employs a large number of tonal centers on his albums - hardly ever two songs in the same key.

I've written some posts on this issue a long time ago, you can probably find them here somewhere. However, here now are the keys from the Planet Earth album:
_ _ _

Planet Earth: D

Guitar: A

Somewhere Here On Earth: G

The One U Wanna C: A

Future Baby Mama: A

Mr Goodnight: E minor

All The Midnights In The World: B

Chelsea Rodgers: F minor

Lion Of Judah is a little ambiguous. The verse is in F# minor, while the chorus could be considered B minor, or A major if you like.

Resolution: C
_ _ _

To me, what's interesting about this is the emphasis on:

1. Major keys (7 out of 10 songs, probably more than any other Prince album)

2. Sharp keys (8 out of 10 songs, including three (!) songs in the key of A)

It seems that Prince has been writing most songs on guitar this time...

Oh, and another thing that I just noticed:

The first half of the album is very much centered in the same tonal area (D, G, A) while the second half moves around much more... Perhaps there is a reason for that, I don't know?

Cool post. Really interesting. Out of interest, which keys are 3121 written in?

yxl1 said:

As I mentioned, I've written a post about it here a long time ago. But I can't seem to find it now... The keys on 3121 are:

3121: Bb

Lolita: A

Te Amo Corazón: G minor

Black Sweat: G# minor

Incense and Candles: Bb minor

Love: F minor

Satisfied: G

Fury: G minor

The Word: C minor

Beautiful, Loved & Blessed: A

The Dance: Eb minor

Get On The Boat: C minor


Heavier on minor keys, and overall more diversity - this is more of typical Prince album! Also more R&B and (presumably) keyboard-written songs, which at least partly explains the emphasis on "flat" keys.

Interesting. I've never really given it much thought but the same applies to my own music, I don't bother too much about what key a song is in.

The point I was trying to make with my old posts was that...

1. Prince, as a songwriter, uses a wider array of different keys than many other artists.

2. This, of course, is a result of his instrumental proficiency. But not only that - I also believe it comes from having different procedures for songwriting and recording. (Writing on different instruments, different ways of layering tracks in the studio... Sometimes starting with a chord progression, sometimes with a bassline, or a beat etc)

3. It seems to me that Prince - once again, more than most other artists - considers the key centers when he's sequencing an album. Think of a key as a particular color - Prince like his albums to have as many different colors as possible.

From that aspect, the first half of Planet Earth is very much in the same color, which makes it unified in a way - but it can also be perceived as dull.

I know what you mean, but I rather like the uniformity of the first half of the album. I guess thats why I like Elton John - his whole careers been based on grinding out the same formula each year.

Thanks for the post. Makes a nice change to read about something other than Princes hair...
.

To further illustrate this, here are the keys from the Musicology album:

Musicology: B

Illusion, Coma, Pimp & Circumstance: A minor

A Million Days: D minor

Life O' The Party: E

Call My Name: Bb

Cinnamon Girl: Bb minor

What Do U Want Me 2 Do?: C

The Marrying Kind: E minor

If Eye Was The Man In Ur Life: G# minor

On The Couch: G

Dear Mr. Man: G# minor

Reflection: E
[Edited 7/26/07 4:29am]

RealMusician said:

Te Amo Corazon is in A Minor

Dewrede said:

Really, you think so? I wouldn't say that.

Yes , i just checked

OK well, personally I'm quite sure that you're wrong in this case...but I'm not gonna argue with you, that's not what this thread is supposed to be about.

listen man !
100% sure
[Edited 7/26/07 9:26am]

At least get the keys right, people

Dewrede said:

I really think this is beside the point, but anyway...would you agree that the chord progression is as follows (I've reduced all extensions):

[Verse]
Gm - F - Cm - Bb
A7 - Cm - Bb - D7
Gm

[Bridge]
Cm - Bb - Ab - Gm
Cm - Bb - Eb7 - D7
Gm


I don't know, to me that's G minor...