Re: I've lost my keys!

[Bill Long <LONGWJ@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

>Date: 23 Jan 1994 19:57:24 +0300 (EET)
>From: PBROWN@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx (PAUL V. BROWN...PH: +358-31-2407-375)
>Subject: I've lost my keys!
>
>[Tony's query about plastic soaking and Paul's humorous response deleted]
> 
>Okay, but actually, my question is about FINDING KEYS.
> 
>Simply put:
>What different methods to people use to determine what key a song is in,
>when you want to play along to a tape, etc...?

Well, the only way I can do it is with either my eyes or ears.  If I'm 
playing along with a guitar, banjo, or piano player I watch their hands to see
what chords they are playing, if it's a trumpet, baritone or tuba I watch to
see what valves they press and figure out what notes they're playing and 
try and figure out the chords from there.  Sometimes this don't work (like 
when you can't see their hands or when you are playing along with the stereo)
so you have to fall back on the old stand-by...your ears.
 
>And then a more detailed version of the same question...
>I've been told that a good way to get better is to listen to tapes and try
>and play along.

especially while driving in traffic ;^)

>Well, that's just fine, and I've tried, but I have troubles determining what
>*key* the songs are being played in, and thus, which of my 3 harps I should
>try and use to play along.  I've got a C, A, and G harp, and an 8-hole
>chromatic.  Mostly I'll just start up the tape, pull out the 3 diatonics, and
>try and see if I can get the notes that are being played on each harp.
>However, this doesn't seem to work very well for me.

This is about where I start out too, but with a variation.  I try to play 
different chords on just one harp and see if any of them fits the music.  
Let me try to represent this graphically:

key of harp 	   available pitches for that harp

    C			C  D  E  F  G  A  B 

    A			A  B  C# D  E  F# G#

    G			G  A  B  C  D  E  F#

So, without bending or overblowing we still have 10 out of the 12 tones, 
with only Eb (D#) and Bb (A#) missing.  So for instance if your song is in 
the key of F you'll have a problem because the Bb note is missing.  Now 
what I do is pick up the harp I use the most (key of D) and try it first.  
For this example let's use a C harp though.  Anyway, with the song playing, 
I'll play a blow4+5+6+7 (a Cmaj chord), then a draw2+3+4 (Gmaj).  If 
neither of those sounds any good then I'll try a draw4+5+6 (Dmin), blow5+6    
(Emin), a draw5+6 (Fmaj), or a draw3+4 (Bmin).  Also I'll try playing a 
little in 4th position (Amin) since I can't actually play that chord.  If 
none of those sounds any good with the music THEN I switch to another harp, 
probably in your case I'd go to the G harp next and try the chords available
on that one (Gmaj, Dmaj, Amin, Bmin, Cmaj, and F#min).  By the time you go 
through your diatonic you should have hit on the right chords but it still 
might not sound the same to you...it's probably in a different position, read
on. 

>On one occassion I was convinced that a certain song just had to be done on
>harp X, with some insane bending that I just couldn't quite get.

Always be suspicious of this, if it's hard or nearly impossible for you, 
it's difficult for others as well.  That's not to say that with practice 
you couldn't play those bends better, but I've found that a lot of music is 
like electricity...it takes the path of least resistance.

>Then one day I was fiddling around, and found out that if I used the upper
>holes of harp Y, I could get the song out without the insane bends.  Anyway,
>I was just wondering if anyone has any suggestions as to how to go about this
>in a more sensible manner.

This is that position thing I was talking about earlier.  A particular 
chord is available on more than one harp.  Time for another chart:

  stamped     key of 1st   key of 2nd   key of 3rd   key of 4th   key of 5th
key of harp    position     position     position     position     position

    C            Cmaj         Gmaj         Dmin          Amin        Emin

    A            Amaj         Emaj         Bmin         F#min       C#min

    G            Gmaj         Dmaj         Amin          Emin        Bmin

So you can see that with just these three harps the keys of A, B, D, E, and 
G are available on more than one harp.  Try playing a simple blues using 
cross-harp (2nd pos.) on your G harp.  Now try playing a simple blues 
playing your C harp in 3rd pos. (start on a draw4 and play a scale going up 
from there.  The draw4+5+6 is a Dmin chord).  See how they are in the same 
pitch but one has a different sound than the other?  Try it again playing 
cross-harp on the A harp and 5th position on the C harp.  The more you practice 
playing in the different positions, the better you'll be able to hear the 
difference between them, and the better you will be at recognizing the key 
AND the position in the songs you are trying to learn.

>Also:  I can bend 3-draw on a C harp fairly well, but G and A still suck.
>Is it just more practice, or what?

C harp is a good middle range harp.  A and G (regular tuning) are lower in 
pitch.  Take your C harp.  Play a draw3 bend, then a draw2 bend, and try a 
draw1 bend.  Do you notice that they get harder as you go lower in pitch?  
Now try playing some drawbends going up in pitch from the draw3 bend.  
Draw4 and draw5 bends shouldn't be too hard but much higher in pitch and 
they become pretty much impossible.  So now you've defined the range where 
the drawbend is an effective method.  You can still bend the higher notes, 
but you have to use blowbends instead.  So practice that draw1 bend on your 
G harp...once you can hit that one dead on then you should have no troubles 
at all with any other drawbend on any other harp.

>Also2:  If I buy a new harp, what key should I get?  (Currently I'm just
>trying to play along with records, and occasionally getting together with
>a guitar player to attempt to jam.  The guitar player is sorta just
>beginning as well, and has said that it's easier for him to play in
>e.g. E than in G  (so I play on my A harp instead of my C).)  So with
>those things in mind, what do people suggest?

Buy a D harp!  Your guitar playing friend will love you for it.  A is a 
good key for them to play blues in.  The D harp is also in the middle of 
the range so the draw2 bend comes pretty easy.  This is my favorite key...
for the longest time I had just a C and D.  This gives you both the keys of 
G and A in cross-harp, with the keys of C, D, E, F#, A, and B available as 
well.  Then I bought an A and an F harp.  The A was to play along with 
blues in E and the F harp for cross-harp in C.  I like the F because it is 
one of the highest pitches and has a real crisp response.  Next I got a G 
harp and a Eb harp.  G for cross-harp in D (another good key for guitar 
music) and the Eb for cross-harp in Bb, which is a good key for playing 
along with wind instruments, especially trumpets and tenor saxes (and 
guitar players can "cheat", capo on the 1st fret and play in A).  I think 
I might get a Bb harp next.  That would allow me to play cross-harp in F, 
another good key for playing along with trumpets and saxes.  Still, I find 
that I use the D harp the most, but if I played along with more bluegrass 
and folk I might use the C more.

>Thanks in advance....

Hey, I hope it's something you can use.  Let me know if I can clarify some 
point or explain some part of this post better.  Happy Harpin'!

"Wild/Mild" Bill Long -->ok so I'm moody!

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