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what's the most difficult key

#41
Are you talking about hardest keys to read, or hardest to finger?

In either event, for me it would be the flatted keys. With Eb being the suckiest cause I only play 4-strings and so I either have to detune a half step (which I loathe), or just live with not being to get down to that low Eb.

All of which pretty much dooms my prospects at landing gospel gigs I guess.
 
#42
Eb is hard, but really Fmin is the hardest for me, all the stretches to get that low F and not being able to exploit any open strings. So ironically Green Onions is a song I play often to try and strengthen my fretting hand, as it is in Fmin on the original recording.
 
#43
HolmeBass said:
Eb is hard, but really Fmin is the hardest for me, all the stretches to get that low F and not being able to exploit any open strings. So ironically Green Onions is a song I play often to try and strengthen my fretting hand, as it is in Fmin on the original recording.
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Yeah... I'm pretty sure that tune was written on a keyboard, hence the guitar-unfriendly key.

Songs written primarily by and/or for horn players are often a "joy" for bass, too.
 
#46
HolmeBass said:
Eb is hard, but really Fmin is the hardest for me, all the stretches to get that low F and not being able to exploit any open strings. So ironically Green Onions is a song I play often to try and strengthen my fretting hand, as it is in Fmin on the original recording.
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Yea you right
 
#49
I can read a little but I don't do reading gigs, so for me it's just what's easy or hard for the fingers. I would say Ab, especially on the upright. I understand the point about Fm as well. I play a fair amount of jazz and keys like Bb and Eb are now pretty easy for me: in fact I'd say Bb is about my favorite key to play in right now.
 
#50
SMILEYSIXX said:
Woops, don't know why I put a sharp. Cb is easier to write in because you can just put 7 sharps in the key signature and write then transpose if need be. C# works the same way.
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I haven't done any significant number of real sight reading gigs since my cruise ship/freelance whore days of the 90's but I've never seen anything in Cb that I can recall. I see exactly what you're saying but is just seems like a real hack amateur thing to do. That's not intended to be offensive or trollish, just calling it the way I see it. I'd rather transpose from C in my head than read 7 flats!
 
#52
HolmeBass said:
Eb is hard, but really Fmin is the hardest for me, all the stretches to get that low F and not being able to exploit any open strings. So ironically Green Onions is a song I play often to try and strengthen my fretting hand, as it is in Fmin on the original recording.
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It's one of the reason why in the first post I said G# (or Ab for that matters) felt hard for me.
Play in that key and you got Fm (Aeolian) in it.
Also Eb where you got Fm too (Dorian), and Db (Fm phyrgian).
Those three keys are harder for me, so I put more focus on them in practice. Including practice them along with other keys in first five frets, which ofcourse involving open strings here and there.
I'd like to be equally good in every possible position on the bass fretboard so I practice them all.

YMMV
 
#54
Horns that are in Bb are in a key a whole-step higher than those of us in concert pitch. So, if you like playing bass in, say, the key of E, they will be in the key of F# with its six sharps. Something to consider when picking keys sometimes, depending on the horn player's proficiency.

I wonder why so many jazz standards are in Eb and Bb. I don't see anything on keyboard that allures me to those keys. Or, is it due to vocal stuff? Ab is popular, too. Why so many flat keys? I can play it all, but just wondering why. Also, on guitar or bass, I just hate playing blues in Bb or F, something that seems to happen with jazzy blues for some reason. Sometimes, I think it's just that some folks think it's cool to play in a harder key, as if to show off. I dunno.
 
#55
Russell L said:
Horns that are in Bb are in a key a whole-step higher than those of us in concert pitch. So, if you like playing bass in, say, the key of E, they will be in the key of F# with its six sharps. Something to consider when picking keys sometimes, depending on the horn player's proficiency.

I wonder why so many jazz standards are in Eb and Bb. I don't see anything on keyboard that allures me to those keys. Or, is it due to vocal stuff? Ab is popular, too. Why so many flat keys? I can play it all, but just wondering why. Also, on guitar or bass, I just hate playing blues in Bb or F, something that seems to happen with jazzy blues for some reason. Sometimes, I think it's just that some folks think it's cool to play in a harder key, as if to show off. I dunno.
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Dude, you just answered your own question. Saxophones are either Bb or Eb, trumpets are mostly Bb and so are trombones. So by writing in those keys the horn players have a relatively easy time. Jazz tends to contain quite a few saxophone parts.
 
#56
They are all equal. If you have difficulty playing in particular keys, you might need a new way of looking at your instrument. If you play, in what I call, "bottoms up" (middle finger on root and play up from there), you are severely limited.

If you are fluent in 1 key, I can teach you to be fluent in all keys in a matter of hours. You just need a new perspective on the fertboard
 
#57
Mike Dimin said:
They are all equal.
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While I respect your expertise, I would limit what you say to fretted bass guitar. Once you're on upright, and to some extent fretless bass guitar, the open strings you hit as you go help with your intonation. So playing in Ab on upright bass is not "equal," in my view, to playing in A or Bb on upright bass. The latter two keys let you pass through open strings at will, while Ab generally does not.

If you use frets, sure.
 
#59
chuck3 said:
While I respect your expertise, I would limit what you say to fretted bass guitar. Once you're on upright, and to some extent fretless bass guitar, the open strings you hit as you go help with your intonation. So playing in Ab on upright bass is not "equal," in my view, to playing in A or Bb on upright bass. The latter two keys let you pass through open strings at will, while Ab generally does not.

If you use frets, sure.
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It's the very reason I had two pencil marks on my upright fretboard, one where the 5th fret would be, and one at the octave. Just a little something to keep me oriented. No one else could see the marks, but me, no, no, lol.:cool:
 

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