[Harp-L] re: Harmonica key listings for songs...

[Greg Heumann <greg@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi, Derek =-

Not sure why you want this, but in case it is because you want to  
know which harmonica to play with which song, let me explain why this  
is probably not a good solution. First, just because an artist did a  
song in a particular key one day doesn't mean everyone does the song  
in that key. Particularly when vocals  are involved, artists pick a  
key that fits their range. Second, even the same artist does the same  
song in different keys, for whatever reason. I can't think of titles  
but I know I have some Muddy Waters tunes (i.e., old) and some Robben  
Ford tunes (i.e., new) where one recording was in one key and another  
version of the same song was in another. And of course, once you know  
the key, you STILL might choose a different harp depending on which  
position you want to play in.

You can learn to determine the key of any song very quickly. I  
learned from Dave Barrett (harmonicamasterclass.com) to use my C harp  
as a pitch pipe. This requires that a) you be able to identify in  
your head the root note of the song that's playing (I usually sing it  
to know I've got it right) - and b) that you know the names of all  
the notes you can play on the 1st 4 holes of the C harp. Now, just  
find the root note on the harp and you know what key the song is in.  
It is a learned skill, but ultimately the way to go. I now can  
determine the key of any song very quickly.


> From: "derek windram" <stokesy@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Date: April 16, 2006 10:56:37 AM PDT
> To: <harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx>
> Subject: [Harp-L] Harmonica key listings for songs...
> Reply-To: derek windram <stokesy@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
>
>
> Scratching around on the internet looking for something, I came  
> across a site (German, I think) that listed all the keys and  
> harmonica keys used for a ton of songs. Not just any songs... all  
> blues songs. It listed all the tunes by album, giving the album  
> title, name of the tune, and harmonica details.
> Great, I thought, I'll have a look at that later... I thought I'd  
> bookmarked it, but now I can't find it.  Can anyone help?
>
> Tks
>
> Goatstroker