RE: [MUSIC] playing in other keys...
Posted by: jdwxly <jdwxly@...>
> I'm wondering when you play from lead-sheets etc., do you normally play in
the key the sheet is in,
> or do you (can you?) transpose at sight?
I am blessed with a MoM who makes sure we each have charts in the
appropriate keys. Since we've recently added a sax player, that has
increased his work load a bit. But he feels strongly that it is part of his
job to give us what we need to be able to play well.
For my part, I'm working on being able to transpose on the fly, but it's
coming slowly. Partly because we don't have to do it very often. On the
fly transposition is one of the reasons I went for a 5 string bass. I try
to learn our songs such that I do not use open strings - then transposing is
merely moving the known pattern to a different root.
The sax has been an interesting challenge for myself and our electric
guitarist. Usually, when we transposed it was a key change going up. Now,
we are often faced with a key change going DOWN. It's amazing how much
harder that is for me!
--
Dennis Weatherly jdwxly@comcast.net
Wilsonville, Oregon USA