What is your favourite key?

[SIMON GABRIELOW]

There's so many key tones to choose from in music; some familiar, and more exotic ones.

I have travelled round many key tones in my time; but f major, or g major often pops up frequently.

What do you all prefer, if you read some music; what is most oft used for you?

[d.elliott]

E Flat Major, often used in church music or ballads

 

reasons:

1. there are several enharmonic notes Eb-D#; Ab- G#

2. super to sing to

3. Strident Anglos cannot get started and spoil things

4. Noisy melodeons cannot over play you

5. it is satisfying to have to work the keyboard more

6. four or more flats keys mean you have to learn to substitute C# for Db, I find that a bit tricky, but I can do it, if I must.

 

I don't mind four sharps either

 

[SIMON GABRIELOW]

I suppose we should be grateful for the tempered system evolving; whereby those substituted enharmonic notes ( say C sharp similar to D flat).. etc.. came into use.. and everything was streamlined..or imagine all those extra buttons required on free Reed instruments! If they still all used the multitude of partially similar tone remained!

[wunks]

C of course, Bb and F.  For his duet Mr. Jeffries placed the Bb in the C major scale upper row instead of the accidental row.  I can play chromatically in Bb two full octaves on the left hand.

[Pistachio Dreamer]

3 hours ago, d.elliott said:

E Flat Major, often used in church music or ballads

Also a favourite of Beethoven, I believe. As a string player I'd also have it high on the list, with the open G string giving resonance on the major third.

 

For folk, you really need to talk about modes. C with Bb is mixolydian, that's a favourite, more commonly starting on G. Along with the dorian, e.g. D minor with the B natural major 6th.

[seanc]

The snark in me answers “whatever key the singer is actually able to hit the right notes”.

 

as opposed to.. “so and so does it in X.”

 

1.So even though I can’t sing it will in that key I’m gonna do it anyway..

2. but I learned my note for note guitar solo in that key, so we need to do it that way.

 

ymmv.

 

[Richard Mellish]

As an Anglo player I've never gone beyond one key away from the two basic keys of a given instrument (i.e. F or D on a C-G). Even for those I need much more time working out how to play a tune than for those in the basic keys. So over the years I have been glad to acquire instruments in various keys. But I have played my G-D much longer and much more than any of the others so I have got used to what the actual notes are on that. If I need to read from the dots I can just about manage for a tune in G or D on that instrument but not with any of the others.

[robert stewart]

On English Concertina (56 button Edeophone) I always enjoy playing in Bb. I like the sound and the feel of Bb. I am thinking of having my concertina "dropped" a tone, so that the C scale sounds Bb, the D scale sounds C, and so forth. It would be interesting to hear input from the concertina makers, tuners, and experts on this idea (please?).

 

Robert Stewart

[seanc]

30 minutes ago, robert stewart said:

On English Concertina (56 button Edeophone) I always enjoy playing in Bb. I like the sound and the feel of Bb. I am thinking of having my concertina "dropped" a tone, so that the C scale sounds Bb, the D scale sounds C, and so forth. It would be interesting to hear input from the concertina makers, tuners, and experts on this idea (please?).

 

Robert Stewart

 

Is this how horns generally do it? Where the music you read comes out different from what comes out? (Not being a horn person, I never really got that).

 

but otherwise. Aren’t you constantly having to transpose everything while reading? Or if you are playing with others? 
 

if you are just playing solo, then no big deal. But, it seems like it would be a pain if playing with others.

And re/un/learning  the muscle memory of playing something if switching between a standard and Bb would confuse me greatly.

 

 

[wunks]

I have similar aspirations for my Jeffries duet C core in old high pitch (close to C#) but up to C=D.  The most friendly fingerings (for me) are C,F and Bb so I'd have the common dance keys of D,G and A.  I have a second instrument in C core modern pitch.  

 

Sorry to step on your post seanc.

Edited March 27, 2022 by wunks
double post

[seanc]

A great exercise and something that really helps. Is to learn a simple thing. Be it a melody, a chord structure and then transpose is.  Move it up a half step, down a third etc.

 

I have to do this quite a lot. Some singers just don’t do well in the “standard/written” key. So to make the song doable, it needs to be shifted to make it sound right.

 

the idea of not saying, D maj, C maj, G maj. And instead learning as V-IV-I. Makes this a lot easier. 
 

this also can also be a very frustrating way way to learn, and hopefully overcome the limitations just about ALL concertinas have. 

[SIMON GABRIELOW]

Adding to thoughts here, on keys and the like, Myself I never think too much about the key instrument is set out in; my 30 key Anglo type,

Although in C and G set up..

has extra flats or sharps here and there anyway, and so you can adapt to many other scales, even quite exotic ones with a bit of careful fingering! Most exotic key I tried is C sharp!

 

[Little John]

On 2/10/2022 at 12:35 PM, SIMON GABRIELOW said:

I suppose we should be grateful for the tempered system evolving ...

 

Should we? Equal temperament allows us to play equally in all 12 keys, but in every single one the major third is horribly sharp. And who needs 12 keys? Six is enough for most of us (two flats through to three sharps*) and this allows any instrument to be tuned mean tone**, which sounds much sweeter than equal temperament.

 

* Giving the major keys of C, D, F, G, A and Bb; plus all the related minors and other modes.

 

** As indeed they were, at least in the nineteenth century.

[DaveM]

For some reason, I like playing in flat keys(G minor, D minor espcially).  I wonder if it is just something about my particular concertina sounding better (to me) in those.

[seanc]

3 hours ago, DaveM said:

For some reason, I like playing in flat keys(G minor, D minor espcially).  I wonder if it is just something about my particular concertina sounding better (to me) in those.

maybe you are just a closet horn player?

 

at one point, the classical composers assigned emotions to various keys. And I would make the assumption these guys know a lot more than I ever will. So, there may be some truth to it.

 

but as this was before our modern tunings, I am sure the different keys actually sounded very different from today.

[SIMON GABRIELOW]

The oddest key tone I have ( rarely used).. has to be a C sharp key with all the sharps and things in it! Very odd to use on Anglo system concertina ( but on my late father's button accordion.. it is strangely  very approachable on the other hand!