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DATE: Sun, 23 Jan 1994 15:30:28 CST
From: ti~p-eug.com (Tim Moody)
Subject: Re: I've lost my keys!

My response:
Paul, I see you've asked the age old question, "How do I figure out what
key a song is in so I can play along with it?". There are two answers to
that, and you may not like either one.
Charlie Musselwhite says with a grin, "Ask the guitar player!"

1.) Assuming you are playing to a song that already has harmonica in the
first trick is to figure out what key the actual song is in, and then the
second trick is to figure out what position and what harp the harmonica
player is using to play in that key. For the most part, we hear a LOT of
second position harmonica played in the blues, but not always. Usually when
you play a little blues in A you grab a D harp and rip off a lick in second
postion or "cross harp", which amount to most of the bottom side of the
harp. But you can also grab your A harp and stay on the top four holes for
the key of A and play the blues. You may not be able to reproduce a
particular riff because you are playing in the right key, but on the wrong
harp, wrong position. Blues in A( first position on A harp ) sound a lot
different than blues in A( second position D harp). Position/harp is as
important as key. That still doesn't help you figure things out, though. I
qiuck way to tell a key with the blues is, the I of a I-IV-V progression is
usually the key it is in. You can use your chromatic to determine that way.
If you blow an F note on the I, then grab your Bb harp and play in second
position.
2.) Even though you can take a C harp to figure out most keys( because
it is in the middle of the range) it can be difficult. My only real
reccomendation for the serious harp player is to BUY ALL TWELVE. I have seen
so many people with only three or four harps. They try to rationalize it by
saying things like, "Most blues is playing in X"( X being their favorite
harp key). If you really want to play the harp IMHO it is a must to have one
in every key. ( No the chromatic won't do, it is just another harp ). I have
a ten-hole diatonic in each of the twelve standard keys, plus Low F, High G
and a 16 hole chromatic. Until I got all of the above, I struggled with harp
keys, too!
I know that wasn't what you hoped for, but it is what I have found
throught trial and error. I hope it helps.

Tim Moody
MississippiSaxophone