Higher Ground - Stevie Wonder

[brianh]

I have a question for some guys who have been doing the club date thing for a while...

Do most people play Higher Ground (Stevie, not RHCP) in the recorded key of Eb or in E?

I guess it's not a big deal becuase anyone could call it any key... I only ask because I'm playing less 5 string these days (back to the 4 string j bass) and I'm thinking of getting a hipshot on the bass. It's frankly been a while since I've gigged on a 4 string and I'm just trying to figure out what guys do for tunes like this one.

I did a concert with Stevie's long time keys player (Isiah Simmons) a few months back and he had me play a different bass tuned down a 1/2 step for a few tunes becuase thats what Nate Watts always did in the band.

[Deacon_Blues]

I've never played that song actually, but Superstition by Stevie Wonder is somewhat similar and also in the key of Eb. That one I've always done in E. I guess if I ever start to play higher ground, I would do that in E too.

[salcott]

I play all songs in the key the singer sings them in.

[rappa29]

Originally Posted by brianh

....tuned down a 1/2 step for a few tunes becuase thats what Nate Watts always did in the band.

I played keys in a band that did this, except all the way across the board, the entire set.

So we ended up playing Superstition sonically in Eb but physically in E.

We did "I Wish" also which is in Eb, but obviously ending up sonically in D.

Never completely understood why we did this, but it didn't seem to hurt anything and actually was helpful for our singers to hit the range.

[Andrew Jones]

So we ended up playing Superstition sonically in Eb but physically in E.

We did "I Wish" also which is in Eb, but obviously ending up sonically in D.

?????????


Aj

[MarkTAW]

> ?????????

He means the chord shapes the guitar player hit, the frets he hit, corresponded with the key of E.

C shaped open chord tuned one half step down is B.

Key is a slippery thing, it's only in the past 200 years or so that we really got so concrete about it. Most covers, FWIW, are a half step sharp of the originals. It helps, ever so slightly, to make it sound fresher & more interesting. Just like artificial key changes in the middle of songs.