[Harp-L] RE: Harp-L Digest, Vol 93, Issue 10

["Bill Kumpe" <bkumpe@xxxxxxx>]

Steve said:  The easiest way to tell the key of a song, other than asking,
is to learn some basic guitar chords and look at the guitarists fingers... 

Great idea but it assumes 440 A standard tuning. (A) Some guitarists and
whole bands tune anywhere from a few cents to few steps off of 440, usually
down.  When that happens visual recognition does not necessarily help and
(B) A lot of guitarists (especially bluegrass, etc.) use alternate tunings.
It is asking a lot for someone who plays another instrument to know that a
particular chord looks like in DADGAD.  

Bill Kumpe
Tulsa, OK