Finding the Key
Hi David,
I have a few questions on keys. First of all, how do you determine what key a song is in when you hear it? Is this something that just comes eventually with experience? Is there anything one could do to jump start this process? I know that there is a listing on your harmonicamasterclass website but I was wondering if you had any tips for how to determine what keys songs are in or exercises to develop the skill. There are some non-harmonica songs that I'd like to jam along with eventually.
The other question is how does a musician determine what key to play a song in? Are there certain emotional attributes to different keys? A guitarist friend of mine said that as a very general rule of thumb, minor is sad and major is happy but I was wondering why someone would choose to do a song in D rather than say E, etc...
Finally, why is it that we most often use G, A, D, C, F, Bb harmonicas? Is there a reason that most blues songs fall under these keys (or their relative positional counterparts)?
Sorry, I know it's a lot but this is something I've been pondering for a few weeks now.
-Taylor
Sounds good. Thanks as always for the great info David. I'll check out Joe's video and keep playing with it. Do you feel like different keys have different feels to them or do we just do different keys to change it up?
-Taylor
The key itself has nothing to do with it... it's the instrument(s) that make the difference. Each instrument sounds different in different keys. Guitar can use open strings in the key of E, or Open D... violins in E, A, D or G... french horns sound super full in F and Bb... the harp sounds low and tubby on G and below harps and brash/in your face for D and above... so, in the end, it's all about the instruments... and most commonly who's the lead instrument and what's the purpose of the song.
Thanks David. Btw, I really dig the new 2.5 song. It's a great song to really work on my dynamics without racking myself too hard to learn new technique. I get to play my C harp, and it's a pretty song.
Taylor
Glad you like, I sure do!
Check out Joe Tartaglia's Lesson 13/14, the video "How to Figure out the Key of a Song." The simple way is to keep playing harps until the 2 draw (home base in 2nd Position) of a given harp matches... jamming a bit to known 2nd Position licks until it sounds like we've got it. When your bends get good enough, e.i. reliable for all the half steps, you can use a c harmonica as a pitch pipe to tell you the key (based on playing the note that sounds like it matches the best). You then grab the corresponding harmonica for 2nd Position and jam a bit, to again, known 2nd Position riffs to confirm that it works. It's not a science... it's all about using your best guess.
Basically we use those harps because they represent the most common harps used by great players before us... also for the reason they are common blues keys chosen by guitarists when we play in 2nd Position. The Bb harp places us in F and is NOT a favorite guitar key, but we love the Bb harp and they have to tough it out when WE want to play in that key.