Re: Key sign language (minimal harp)

[Pat Missin <pat@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Tom wrote:

>I went home thinking about what exactly he meant though. Now I think I know. 
>Yesterday I was hanging out with a good friend and we talked about it, and 
>then it hit me! What I THINK he meant was the NUMBER OF SHARPS OR FLATS IN EACH 
>KEY can represent the key itself. That number is unique to each key, right? The 
>number of sharps or flats increase by 1 each time you move forward or 
>backwards respecfully from C in the circle of 5ths. C has no sharps or flats so it's 
>represented by a neutral fist. One finger up = 1 sharp: key of G. Two fingers 
>up = 2 sharps: key of D. One finger down = one flat: key of F. Two fingers 
>down = 2 flats: key of Bb......and so on. 
>
>Is this right? It seems to make sense. Has anyone else out there used this 
>method of communicating keys on stage? I feel like I learned something new. New 
>to me anyway.

This is quite common in the UK jazz scene, although it is very easy to
confuse the signal for D major/B minor with a suggestion that you
should leave the stage...

 -- Pat.