Re: [Harp-L] Just what exactly is 'key'?

["Joel B. Chappell" <joel.b.chappell@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Fawooosh [Sound of old electrical engineer entering deep water over his
head]; It seems to me we have been missing one of the main reasons for "key"
differences. Aside from 12th root of two spacing and the circle of 5ths math
based rules, most music is assigned a tonic root to accommodate the range of
soloing vocalist[s], and is transposed on occasion to suit the vocal
artist's range. Also to be considered is the fact that various transposing
instruments have dissimilar tonic roots. There are horns in F, trumpets in
Bb and C, Tubas in F and so on with strings and reeds as well. It's the job
of the orchestral arranger to try to get them all reasonably in pitch on any
one given performance. Have we been looking at this thread with "harp
colored glasses" and lost sight of the needs of other fellow musicians?
Uhhhhhh [Gasping for air as I return to the safer water of electrons].

Note to Michael: Most of the material I attempt to play here at home is in
song books or sheet music with key signatures. One senior citizen group I
jam with even has their own song book which includes key signatures and
guitar notation. There is a group I jam with that plays mostly old Irish
tunes and I improvise with my #65 Echo Harp in C/G.I try to sit next to the
accordion player and I can usually find all the chords she is playing :-) 

Joel B. Chappell
21 Billings Street
Milford, NH 03055