New Poll. How many keys do you *actually* play in?

[micahcowan]

I'd be surprised if most chromatic button accordionists don't play in every key regularly. I mean (with some mild oversimplification), every piece plays the same regardless of what key it is, both in the right and the left hand, just a matter of where your hand is. If your left-hand has fewer than 96 keys (maybe even then idk - I've only had 72, 78 and 120 so far, though I'm buying a 96 in March) you might have to avoid playing some pieces in certain keys, to avoid ridiculously awkward and unfamiliar jumps (I certainly do in my 72's), and if your RH ends up in a different row then figures may get broken up slightly differently, but...

 

[PhiliGol]

Hm, basically anything from Db to F#, but I'd be a liar stating it's evenly distributed.
Normal distribution centered around C (what else) perhaps - while Ab major admittedly sounds so much nicer over C major.

 

[CC_PDX]

Almost all. There are some keys that are more common across the various traditions.

I have my spreadsheet on an iPad with many hundreds of tune names and I have noted the original key for no other reason than it increases the likelihood of compatibility with someone sitting in who may only know it in that key. I find this speeds up the sometimes awkward negotiation process of picking a tune to play if I give them a huge trove of ideas of mutual tunes. I don’t have a preference for most, but it is true that some do sound better at certain ranges, all else being equal.

 

[CC_PDX]

I'd be surprised if most chromatic button accordionists don't play in every key regularly. I mean (with some mild oversimplification), every piece plays the same regardless of what key it is, both in the right and the left hand, just a matter of where your hand is.

Yes and no for this. It depends on how many rows you have in the right hand. With five rows, you do get this isomorphic option. I have grown to love and prefer the minimalist 3 row layout, which gives you 3 distinct “ways” of playing a tune that can be shifted. I’m pretty agnostic on what key as long as the reeds are in a pleasing range.

 

[Plinky]

Hi Tom I played with a wonderful classically trained pianist many years ago. He was subjected to our rather simplistic covers band repertoire and he had a phrase.

“I met a man that spoke several languages ,but said nothing intelligent and any of them”

He favoured certain keys but he said that's only because he was not really confident or competent to play everything in all keys with complete freedom.

I played professionally for most of my adult life and have never played with anyone that actually had that total freedom.
I could pretty much busk something in most keys but most instruments have ,if not physical limitations certainly practical ones

I,m trying to learn some folk triplets at the moments and 1,3,2,1 is probably possible to slide onto the black notes but if one is fannying around incorporating it in a pentatonic run it might be impractical

Wonder if one suggested to Glenn Gould it sounds just a little shrill ,can you knock it down to F# please

 

[Rosie C]

I played professionally for most of my adult life and have never played with anyone that actually had that total freedom.
I could pretty much busk something in most keys but most instruments have ,if not physical limitations certainly practical ones

That's true - my mandocello is easy to play in C, G and D major. The keys of F, B♭, E♭, A and E major are a bit harder with awkward chord shapes, but quite playable with a bit of effort. But C# and F# chords are virtually impossible to play well (at least with my hand shapes) so there are a couple of keys I just won't attempt. But then I can use a capo

 

[micahcowan]

Yes and no for this. It depends on how many rows you have in the right hand. With five rows, you do get this isomorphic option. I have grown to love and prefer the minimalist 3 row layout, which gives you 3 distinct “ways” of playing a tune that can be shifted. I’m pretty agnostic on what key as long as the reeds are in a pleasing range.

You're absolutely right, of course. I was thinking in 5 rows.

 

[JEBrown]

I generally play traditional Scottish (and a little Irish) dance music, which is almost exclusively in G, D and A major keys, probably because penny whistles often play this music too, and those whistles are made in a particular key, as they aren't really chromatic. Occasionally we'll get an E minor or A minor tune, very occasionally a C major or E major. More often we play in a mode e.g. A major but with a natural G (someone smarter will have to tell me what mode that is).

So that's what I play mostly, but I'm comfortable playing in many other common keys, although realistically the music I have never really goes beyond 4 flats or sharp in the key.

 

[CC_PDX]

More often we play in a mode e.g. A major but with a natural G (someone smarter will have to tell me what mode that is).

That makes it A Mixolydian.

Without needing a lot of theory, the two main modes beyond major and minor you’ll encounter in Irish (and Scottish, I believe) are Dorian and Mixolydian.

If it sounds “minory” it’s Dorian, if it sounds “majory” it’s Mixolydian. People will think you’re a genius if you can identify them by ear. I *do* know the theory but still use this quick shorthand that someone told me when I got into Irish trad.

 

[losthobos]

Hint....mixolydian sounds like old school gospel/Blues
Dorian....think Besame Mucho...

 

[nou]

Not to derail the thread, but in your opinions do different keys have a different "emotional charge"?

If the relative chord progressions etc. are exactly the same in 2 different keys, will they evoke the same, or slightly different mood?

Not really a mood, not in equal temperament. But played in a different key that I’m used to will sound off, kind of „untrue”.

This changes dramatically when playing on/listening to instruments in historical temperaments, where different keys really do have different emotional impact. I’ve recently built a Janko MIDI piano and took a deep dive into virtual organs. The difference between the same piece played with Romantic organs tuned in ET and Baroque organs tuned in one of the meantine temperaments is huge, even in one of the center keys, and then the scale of effect only gets bigger when you change keys more and more off the center. In comparison, any variation in the character of keys in ET sounds to my ears more like placebo effect.

 

[Ventura]

Not to derail the thread, but in your opinions do different keys have a different "emotional charge"?

when it comes to pop music, playing in the original key has
always been a given for Pro's

of course there are lots of times and reasons to play any given
song in a different key, but we play Pop for the people, not for ourselves,
and the collective memory of people and their beloved hits seems to
include the pitch of that first note, in essence the original key..
The hook into that memory is what makes the song a hit once again, for us
when we perform it, even as an instrumental, because of the feeling
and memories it evokes.

old hit list musicians publications always listed the original keys for the songs

 

[Plinky]

when it comes to pop music, playing in the original key has
always been a given for Pro's

of course there are lots of times and reasons to play any given
song in a different key, but we play Pop for the people, not for ourselves,
and the collective memory of people and their beloved hits seems to
include the pitch of that first note, in essence the original key..
The hook into that memory is what makes the song a hit once again, for us
when we perform it, even as an instrumental, because of the feeling
and memories it evokes.

old hit list musicians publications always listed the original keys for the songs

Hi Ventura I think you give the punters far more credit than I do, in a covers band inevitably at some point in the evening somebody would ask uncle Fred or Auntie Fabel to get up for a tune ,at weddings is a constant interruption and I have never had a single person that either knew the key of the tune or when one is suggested as being the original key wound have noticed a semitone in either direction and i,m being kind with semitone.

An old favourite was Tom Jones “I'll Never Fall In Love Again”In E
Thankfully my pianist could busk a country gospel feel in most keys ,but watching him trying to find a key they could actually sing it in was always a great source for amusement to me
I just see keys as vehicles for vocal ranges or maybe to suit the characteristic of certain instruments, but perfect pitch in the populous
I think you must play for a more discerning audiences that I ever did

 

[brna]

I prefer to play keys between Bb and E major. But I try to play in the original tonality, even Slak's compositions in F# major.

 

[stickista]

So yeah, in looking over my songs, they are all in the first 4 keys (G, C, D, F or relative minor).

How about you, gentle forum accordionists?

Are you a remarkable jazzer playing in 18 or 20 keys, or a hobbyist playing in 2? And I don’t mean “how many keys *can* you play in, I mean how many keys do you *actually* play in on a regular basis? No judgement here, curiosity only….

For popular music, it depends on what instruments you generally play with. Guitarists in particular and stringed instruments in general prefer sharp keys to take advantage of those open strings. Woodwinds drive content toward flat keys.
Either way, I suppose a statistical analysis would show less frequency of keys with the greater number of accidentals.
But as a ‘jazzer’ its important to not get caught up in the key that a song starts in because most interesting songs take a detour into unusual key centers along the way, particularly in the bridge.
Interesting side note… apparently Chopin did not start his students out in C, which can actually tricky to finger on piano, but instead in C#, B, and F#, which lay easily under a pianists hands.

 

[Squeezeplay]

I pretty much play in whatever key the singer, or the lead guy at the session uses. at the regular jams, we use them all. we have one guy who does everything in F sharp.... and he uses a capo on his guitar to do it.

 

[noelekal]

Well, just whip out your accordion capo and go to it!

Or, hide his capo.

I'm envious. I don't transpose keys as easily as I once did.

 

[micahcowan]

Well, just whip out your accordion capo and go to it!

I guess this is another argument for digital accordions, which pretty much have this functionality, heh.

 

[GeorgeH76]

E flat Bflat F C G D A and the minors ---Aflat and E are difficult for me to play. Can anybody play "The Flight of the BumbleBee" in D flat?

 

[Zevy]

E flat Bflat F C G D A and the minors ---Aflat and E are difficult for me to play. Can anybody play "The Flight of the BumbleBee" in D flat?

The degree of difficulty is not determined by the key signature alone. “Minute Waltz” is in the key of D flat major, and that’s how I learned it. It was actually more difficult (at least to me) to play it in the key of C major.