Key & harmony
Open key vs Camelot
Open Key and Camelot are two competing relabellings of the same twenty-four keys, both arranged so that neighbouring numbers are compatible. They differ only in where the numbering starts and whether it uses d/m or A/B.
Measured in real DJ libraries
Camelot notation appears on 74.5% of tracks in real DJ libraries. Open Key appears on 0.21%.
This is not a close contest and it is not really about the notations. Camelot is what the software defaults to, what the wheel on every chart is drawn as, and what another DJ will recognise if they look at your screen. Open Key is a defensible design that lost. Unless you have a specific reason, use the one your gear, your charts and the person taking over from you already read.
74.5%
Camelot
0.21%
Open Key
24
Keys either way
Updated daily from Rekordbox collections DJs have imported to Mixgraph. Method: the notation itself.
Why it matters
Because they encode the same relationships, neither is musically better and the entire question is which one your gear, your library and the people around you already use. A notation nobody else reads is a private system, and DJing is not always a private activity.
That makes this the rare comparison with a measurable answer rather than a preference. One of the two is what real prepared libraries actually contain, and the gap is not close.
Frequently asked
Is Open Key better than Camelot?+
Musically they are equivalent — the same twenty-four keys, arranged so neighbours are compatible. The difference is adoption, and Camelot has almost all of it.
How do I convert between Open Key and Camelot?+
They map one to one, so any conversion tool or chart handles it. The important part is converting your whole library rather than ending up with both in one field.
Why does Open Key exist at all?+
It was designed to be more intuitive, starting its numbering somewhere more musically natural. It is a reasonable design that arrived after the alternative had already been adopted.
Related terms
Open Key
Open Key is a second notation for the same wheel Camelot describes. It numbers the positions differently — C major is 1d rather than 8B — and uses m and d for minor and major, but the mixing rules are identical.
Camelot key
Camelot notation renames every musical key as a number from 1 to 12 plus a letter — A for minor, B for major. 8A is A minor. Codes next to each other on the wheel share most of their notes.
Camelot vs classical key
Camelot relabels the twelve major and twelve minor keys as numbers and letters arranged so neighbours are compatible. Classical notation names the actual key. Both describe the same twenty-four keys.
Harmonic mixing
Harmonic mixing means choosing the next track by key as well as tempo — staying on the same Camelot code, moving one step around the wheel, or swapping between the major and minor of the same number.
Explore: Key converter · Open key · Camelot key · All DJ terms