what does it mean when a song is in a certain key. Like when someone sais "i want it in the key of D Major". I dont get it. Does it mean u cann only play the notes of D major scale or something.
If anyone got any sites that can help that'll be great

It means it is based on the notes in the D major scale, but that doesn't mean you can't use other notes too.

Imagine you play the notes of the D major scale and then you re-arrange them to make a tune. You have a tune in the key of D major.

The key name simply indicates a set of notes to play with, and in many cases means that most of the piece will use that set of notes, although not necessarily within the one or two octaves, of a scale.

In a simple piece there may not be any other notes. In a more complex piece there will be notes (somewhere) that don't belong to that key (or scale) and that's fine. A long or medium length piece will usually change key somewhere in the middle and probably return to the starting key for the end - depends on style and period.

Pianists and keyboard players are sometimes asked to play a piece in a different key from the one written, that's called transposing. Some keyboards will do this automatically if needed.

Hope this helps - a bit??

It tells you whether certain notes will be sharp or flat e.g. if you're in D major then all your F's and C's would be sharp, unless of course they are changed within the piece to be natural or something.

oh thanks everyone, just one more question. Is the scale of any key, first key then up two , up two, up one, up two up two? or what?

Do you mean the pattern of tones and semitones?

For major keys it is ...T T S T T T S

T- tone

S- semitone

thanx
thats a lot of help

The question is not as simple as it may at first seem. I think of it as the FINAL point of rest of a piece, with the exception being tierce de picardie.

As it happens, nearly all classical music and movements begin and end in the same tonality, so the key signature and early stages of a piece will establish the key as well.