Howdy HB,

Thanks for uploading the file - that's always helpful And please - there are no stupid questions We can all learn from each other, and that's a great part of being in a forum like this one - I've learned a ton here myself. I apologize for throwing out the term without any explanation.

"Modes" just means that you can use where you start in any given key to get very different "feels" for a song. For example, if you sit at a keyboard and play the white keys from C to C, it's the classic "doh re mi fa so la ti do" major scale, which is called Ionian mode. However, if you play the white keys starting with D and ending at the D an octave higher, it's a very different "feel". You've just played all the same notes, but it's a different order called the Dorian mode, which gives a different feel. If you start at A and play the white keys to the next A, you've just played the minor, or Aolian mode (which also tells you why pieces in Am have a key signature of C.) You can do the same with E to E, F to F, etc. Using different modes is what can give a song it's "feel".

In looking at the music, this is a case where the key signature, based on the sharps in the song, could be either D or G (ie, two or just one sharp), because the C notes are sometimes sharp, sometimes natural. Looking at the bass line, the bass notes begin as D. This is often (but not necessarily always) a good indication of the key of the song. Also, because the Cs are sometimes sharp, sometimes natural, it's a sort of "switch hitter" for modes, as explained above. So the song as it is transposed now is actually in the key of D. I'm guessing that you transposed the song up a whole step from where it was initially?

I hope this is helpful

ttfn,
Sherry