gui**** doesn't play in sharp or flat keys!

If he can't be bothered to learn his instrument then you'll be plauged with having to work around him all the time. Personally, I would find another group to work with.

 

he's totally right on. anything with a sharp or flat- it's just...unnatural. don't even get me started about quarter tones.

...what?

 

Learn it as-recorded, then once memorized just move it up and play it there from memory.

 

Yeah, they do this a lot. There are often some real reasons for this. Oftentimes the original song is recorded with the singer's range in mind, so they'll change THEIR key before they record the song. And sometimes the guitarists, who have to play chords and prefer when they can get open sounding chords and natural shapes, will retune to reflect this.

I play with a female pianist/vocalist who many times will choose a key that suits her better than the original song (most often sung by a man). She calls the new key the "girl key".

You'll get used to dealing with different people who play different songs in different keys. The 3 bands I play in have songs that overlap, and rarely do we do them all in the same key. As a matter of fact, all three bands have played "I Wish" by Stevie Wonder, and each band does it in a particular key. It's a good thing I have a 5 string bass.

 

Get used to it. There are a number of songs my bands play where they transpose the key to suit the singer. Example, we play Folsom Prison Blues in G when it's actually in F.

There are programs that can alter the tuning of an MP3, WMA, WAV, etc so you can play along. I use Transcribe! myself.

 

Hmmm, does he know that the chord shapes are the same regardless of key ? This guys doesn't sound like a very good guitarist. It's one thing transposing for vocalist's range, it's another to do so to cover a player's shortcomings.

 

i wouldn't have a problem with transposing to fit someone's range per se, but it sounds the the gui**** in question refuses to play in any other key other than C/Am ?
if that is indeed the case that's really lame. all your sets would sounds strangely monotonous.
on the plus side you could retune your bass so that all your lines could be played on open strings, and just drink beer with your left hand all night!

 

I've been in rehearsals where we try a new number in two or three keys before settling on one that works for us. Just learn the parts and don't worry about it.

 

? A G# major shape isn't the same as an A major.

 

You should work on getting comfortable playing songs in any key, but a gui**** refusing to play in flats and sharps is a gui**** not worth trying to work with IMHO.

 

? I guess I don't understand. Elaborate, please.

 

There are other reasons why a guitarist would want to play in an open key, other than because they can't.

Open keys have a different sound to them compared barre chords and allow for different fingerings and voicings. There's some phenomenal guitar players out there who use alternate tunings just so they can have open notes. I don't think that Leo Kottke, Michael Hedges, Phil Keaggy, etc have any problem with playing in other keys in standard tuning, although they use open keys with alternate tuning. It's a matter of taste and creativity.

 

I had a guitarist who was quoted as saying,"That has to be the right key because it's on the fretmarkers".Idiot! Sounds to me like he has the same attitude. Ask him how many sharps or flats are in a C maj scale.If it takes more that a few seconds for an answer,or he can't answer at all,tell him "no thanks".

 

Nope that is incorrect.

A C chord played open has the intervals of I,III,V,I,III
A C chord played as a barre chord with the E as the bassline has the intervals of I,V,I,III,V,I
A C chord played as a barre chord with the A string playing the root has I,V,I,III,V

 

Ha, that's easy.

4.

 

The key of A has 3 sharps, so the guitar player is playing in a key with sharps. If he only played in a key with no sharps or flats everything would be played in C major or A minor.

 

Would it make a difference if he used a capo?

Open keys allow for different fingerings, and are much easier to add embillishments to than a barre chord. For example, an open C chord will let you hammer-on a II to a III in the chord voicing, while it would be almost impossible to do as a barre chord. With an open C, I can alter the bass note to be a C, B, A or anything below those. I can't do that with a barre chord. An open E only requires 3 fingers to play fully, so it leaves my pinky free to add a a number of additional notes. While a F barre chords will take up all 4 fingers, leaving less fingers for me to use to add embellishments. And there are many more examples.

 

I prefer D minor, as it is the saddest of all keys.

 

I personally have no problem at all with capos. But assuming we're talking about a gui**** who DOESN'T use a capo (or at least that's what I got out of it) then I wouldn't care too much to work with that gui****.