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It would seem like that would have been A from a logical stand point. Does anyone know the origin of this as to how music evolved this way with C being the so-called starter key? Just a curiosity on my part as nobody I know has ever had this answer.

Social Exodus
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    A natural minor does have no sharps or flats. – minseong Apr 06 '16 at 14:06
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    Dorian D likewise lacks sharps and flats, and could easily be defined as the starter key, chance predominance of the major/minor monopoly over the last few centuries aside. – thrig Apr 06 '16 at 14:13
  • This answer explains it nicely: http://music.stackexchange.com/a/317/7222 – Dom Apr 06 '16 at 14:17
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    Possible duplicates: Why is music theory built so tightly around the C Major scale? and Why is C the base note of standard notation and keys? – Caleb Hines Apr 06 '16 at 14:19
  • I had actually thought about A natural minor scale as the relative minor. I didn't think about D Dorian though. Thanks for the pointers and the link! – Social Exodus Apr 06 '16 at 14:31
  • The note A was indeed the starting point for western religious music, based on what the scholars of the time thought was the Ancient Greek system of scales, at the time when western music notation was invented. However the illiterate peasants preferred making music (without writing it down) in the mode starting on C (equivalent to the modern C major scale), which the Church fathers named "Modus Laviscius" because it was considered far too sexy for use in Church music. –  Apr 09 '16 at 04:16
  • ...but having started naming notes from "A", the original note "B" was actually the modern note B flat. Having completed the scale at G, they found they also needed a name for B natural, and the "obvious" choice was for the next name after G was H. This use of B and H still survives in the German system of naming notes, of course. –  Apr 09 '16 at 04:23

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