In all keys?

[stratovani]

Some thing I don't get. Whenever someone says to practice something they always say "in all keys". Why? I can see it for jazzers, why always seem to play in flat keys, but as a strict rock player everything I play is in the key of E, D, G, A, or C, with the occasional F or B. Why would I want to learn something in a key I'll never play? I'm pretty proficient with major and minor pentatonic scales in the keys I mentioned, and it seems to work well in the songs I play.

 

[Jazz Ad]

You say you often use up to 7. Why not learning all 12 at this point ?
Exercices in all keys are usually physical executions, it is a way to keep familiarity with the neck as well as breaking repetitiveness.
I think learning in all keys is essential in your head, no so much on the instrument. Knowing what note leads to what other, which notes are important in the key.
More than anything else, if you're happy with what you know you don't HAVE to look further. Do it if you wish or need so.

 

[jallenbass]

Practicing a lick in 12 keys ensures at least 12 repetitions while keeping the mind engaged in the activity.

 

[Mushroo]

You're off to a good start. But becoming fluent in "flat keys" will come in really handy if you ever try to learn more advanced songs like "Shut Up and Dance" by Walk the Moon, "Never Gonna Give You Up" by Rick Astley, "Sweet Child of Mine" by Guns n Roses, or "The Star Spangled Banner" as performed by Jimi Hendrix at Woodstock.

 

[AGCurry]

There are players who are musicians and there are players who are just players.

If you want to be a musician, you will need to know how to play in any key.

 

[JRA]

a key I'll never play

because you can't! ...and at your next audition you can say: "sorry, i don't do that key!"

just learn the sharp keys (black keys on the piano) and call it a day! those sharp keys actually figure into the keys you generally play, anyway. easy peasy: five of them! best of luck in all keys!

 

[SteveCS]

You say you often use up to 7. Why not learning all 12 at this point ?
...

I agree, but it seems to me that a lot of folks stop learning keys when they come across the ones with enharmonics, such as E# or Cb, and those minor keys that start to introduce the double-sharp/double-flat accidental.
YMMV

 

[Govner22]

I think “ear training” is a reason for playing in all keys just so the relationship between notes becomes second nature. The more keys you practice in, the more your ear is trained to recognize intervals.

 

[stratovani]

I may be wrong, but to the best of my knowledge the only song Tom Petty ever wrote in an enharmonic key is Runaway Trains. Luckily for me the bass line was simple, so I was able to play it. Our guitarists had to use capos!

because you can't! ...and at your next audition you can say: "sorry, i don't do that key!"

I disagree. I can do it, and I've done it before, as you can see in my previous sentence. And while I'm pretty sure there won't be a next audition, if there is it won't be a jazz audition but a rock one.

 

[Inara]

At some point, you may very well run into a guitarist who tunes down a half step, or a singer who needs the key changed slightly to accommodate their range (or because they're sick that night, etc.). It's just another tool in the toolkit, and you can of course take it or leave it. But in answer to your question of "why" people advise this, these are a couple of reasons why, along with the other things people have posted.

 

[JRA]

I may be wrong, but to the best of my knowledge the only song Tom Petty ever wrote in an enharmonic key is Runaway Trains. Luckily for me the bass line was simple, so I was able to play it. Our guitarists had to use capos! I disagree. I can do it, and I've done it before, as you can see in my previous sentence. And while I'm pretty sure there won't be a next audition, if there is it won't be a jazz audition but a rock one.

ok, ok, ok!

let me get this straight: you start a thread looking for other points of view, you get them, but they have no value because they're not the same as yours, and you were right all along!

my apologies, sir! i just didn't understand. good luck with those sissy* keys!


* just kidding! but the key of G is kind of lame.

 

[Pings Bass]

string players shouldn't complain about practicing 12 keys. Try it on a clarinet! Movable patterns on a fingerboard are so simple by comparison. For me the question isn't "why" but "why not." It's easy and useful (someday, anyway, if you ever decide to expand your horizons).

 

[Kmonk]

Some thing I don't get. Whenever someone says to practice something they always say "in all keys". Why? I can see it for jazzers, why always seem to play in flat keys, but as a strict rock player everything I play is in the key of E, D, G, A, or C, with the occasional F or B. Why would I want to learn something in a key I'll never play? I'm pretty proficient with major and minor pentatonic scales in the keys I mentioned, and it seems to work well in the songs I play.

"They always say in all keys." Really? I've been playing over forty years and never once heard anyone say to practice a song in all keys. I suppose it couldn't hurt but why bother? Learn it in the key in which you will be playing.

 

[james condino]

The obvious answer is sooooooooooo much more simple:

It is because of $#@%!#$ guitar players with capos and singers who want to be a 1/2 step off so it is easier for them! Put a capo on your bass and watch their reaction...

 

[JW56789]

You'll forgive me, but often changing keys is nothing more than playing the same fingerings in a different position on the neck. Of course, right down at the nut (the classic 'tuned down to E-flat so I could play it') things may have to be re-arranged, but in a lot of cases you just move up or down a fret or two or three. I will say I find it far easier on a five-string, where it seems for me it's harder to run out of room down at the deep end vs. a four-string.

I too have rarely been advised to learn something in every / any key, and would think that applies more to instrumental music, as I've rarely played with singers that could get very far from their native range.

It's not nearly as hard on a guitar-style instrument: It will REALLY grow you a pair on keyboards, where there is a huge difference because of the black keys. Believe me, the same song in C Major is W-A-Y different and harder to handle transposed just a half-step to C-Sharp Major. Doing that on a necked instrument is a breeze alongside of that.

Sure, it's a hoot to blast along on open E's and A's on more simple music, but just as often you can forget about that, there's always going to be songs in F, G, B-flat, and on and on.

In Nashville, where we use the Number System quite a bit, you learn to almost quit caring in terms of what key a particular song is set in: Someone will call out a tune and a key, and you're off. You think of it as where to be on the fingerboard to start from, then walk through the changes in your head as numbers instead of chords. In this way, it's a great way to break yourself of not wanting to play in certain keys and think in terms of intervals and where to be on the fingerboard.

 

[jamro217]

There are at least two schools of thought on this issue. 1.) Be the best musician you can be and that involves the extra familiarity with your instrument to never get foiled by a key change. This is especially important at a gig. 2.) I just wanna RAAAAAHHHHHKKK!!!! I know the damn record was in E so that's being true to the original. I might detune to E phlat. It's all about attitude, Dude. Or to put it more eloquently: it is in the spirit of the music to use the keys best suited for the tonal response. Each key has its associated mood and changing keys means changing moods. Nobody likes a happy dirge or a sullen samba.

 

[brocket]

Try it on a clarinet! Movable patterns on a fingerboard are so simple by comparison.

I played clarinet for years before starting on bass. Changing keys was a revelation-“I only need to move my left hand 2 frets up, not think through scales and fingerings!?!”

 

[mambo4]

I like to practice things in all keys in the first 4 frets, using open strings. The finering changes with each key.I enjoy the way it breaks me out of pattern based thinking. Ab is really tiring though.

 

[jpmcbride]

At a minimum for practical purposes as a rock or blues player, its good to make sure you can play certain patterns in different positions, not necessarily all keys. For example if a certain baseline uses an open string, I'll try to figure out how I would play it in another key where the open string isn't available. This way I'm not stuck if someone changes the key. Another example might be basslines that use a 5th below the root, or start on the b3 below the root, or ones that run off the neck in certain keys.

My point is if your goal is to be a good rock or blues player, then you don't necessarily need to learn everything in all keys because mostly you can just shift your pattern around to any key. But watch for those cases where you can see that a bassline is not playable if moved to certain keys and take the time to learn an alternate pattern just in case someone changes the key on you.

 

[Killing Floor]

Coronavirus lockdown, what better opportunity to ramp up your skills!!