[Harp-L] What key is the band in?

[Wammo]

I used to write WHAT KEY? on my arm with a sharpie and then roll up my sleeve and try to get it in the sight line between the bass player's eyes and his shoes but I stopped doing that since I got it tattooed on my arm instead. 

Sent from my iPhone

> On Nov 2, 2016, at 10:59 AM, Greg Heumann <greg at xxxxx> wrote:
> 
> Hi, Mike
> 
> Lots of answers. I’ll share the David Barrett “Using your harmonica as a pitch pipe” method. This is what I do. It takes a little practice but all you need is a C harp and you can figure out the key to a tune quickly with no help from anyone. To do this:
> 
> 1) You need to memorize the names of the notes on the 1st 4 holes of your C harmonica. The blow notes are C-E-G-C and the draw notes are D-G-B-D. Other notes of the scale are there too - bend the 3 hole a half step you get Bb, a whole step you get A - etc. 
> 
> 2) You need to be able to hear what is the “root note” of the “I” chord of the tune. You can easily learn to recognize it - it is the one note that goes with everything. Humming it helps a lot at first. 
> 
> 3) So identify the root note, and then find that note among the 1st 4 holes. Ba-da-bing, ba-da-boom! That’s the key of the song. 
> 
> When I first started doing this it took some time, got it wrong once in a while… now I can figure the key of most tunes and pick the right harp to play along with it in about 5 seconds. 
> 
> 
> /Greg
> 
> http://blowsmeaway.com
> http://facebook.com/blowsmeawayproductions
> 
> "You’re going to like the way you sound. I guarantee it."
> 
>> From: "Mike Schmitt" <mike at xxxxx>
>> To: <harp-l at xxxxx>
>> Subject: [Harp-L] What key is the band in?
>> Message-ID: <09ec01d234aa$e9f5cb10$bde16130$@com>
>> Content-Type: text/plain;    charset="us-ascii"
>> 
>> Are there any tips to figure out what key the guitar player is in? It seems
>> like who ever starts the song does not share it and by the time I ask the
>> song has already started. Maybe it's just an experience thing?