How does the listener (subconsciously) know what scale a melody is being played in?

[YoungCapone]

I made a simple melody in FL studio that was in C Major. The melody consisted of two phrases both of which started on D. The only difference between the two is the second phrase ended on C (the tonic of C major). The only problem is, it didn’t feel resolved ending on the tonic like I thought it would. When I changed the last note of the tonic to a D it sounded resolved even though D is not the tonic of C Major. After looking further into it, I realized that all the notes I used were also in D Dorian as well as C Major. So, my question is what defines a melody as being in a certain key to the listener? What makes the listener want to hear notes in a certain scale within a melody or resolve on the tonic of a certain scale?

 

[rhythmgj]

It depends on the starting tone *sometimes,* but more importantly the ending tone and ending harmony. If you are using a white key approach, it could be major, minor, or a number of different modes, depending on what is going on around the melody.


GJ

 

[DRR]

Sorry a bit late with this reply, Just to add to what GJ said, the starting note does matter as well (at least in practice and in my experience!)
It sounds to me like you wrote it in D, not C, if the end D resolves the melody.
Here's an experiment: play all the white keys upwards from C. That's the C major scale.
Now play the white keys upwards from A. That's the A minor scale, even though it uses exactly the same notes. What differs are the start and finish notes. And you can hear it's not a major scale.


DRR

 

[OG_Triple_100]

YoungCapone,

From what I understand, each scale has it own flavor to it that evokes a mood. That's why some songs make you upbeat and some songs be having you ready to fight.

Found this app that helps with Music Theory and scale selection.



Sound Gunz