Keys Different for Guitar and Bass?

[Misifus]

However, there is no inherent key difference between guitar and bass. That is, neither is a “transposing instrument” as are some horns. In other words, in a sane world (always questionable) the two instruments play in the same key.

[Andyrondack]

Originally Posted by essiecab

Hello, I am new to the forum and have a question about key signatures. I have been playing for a few years and took about a year's worth of lessons but had to quit a while back. I play guitar and my husband has picked up the bass (electric) and we are hoping to play some simple songs together.

The problem is, I can find music for a song for bass, but it is in a different key than the music for the guitar. We want to play Elvis' "All Shook Up." His sheet music is in key of A, while mine is in Bb. How do I resolve this difference?

I did have one lesson about transposing keys, and I can (very very slowly) change each note in one or the other, but is this how everybody does it? I know I can use a capo to change the key on the guitar, but I found a transposition chart and it doesn't look like I could change from Bb to A or vice-versa using a capo.

I've searched high and low but I don't find much talk about this problem, so I'm thinking it must be something simple that I'm missing. Can anyone help?

Hello, if your husband capos his guitar at first fret and plays as written A comes out as Bb
so try that first and see what happens.

[JonPR]

Originally Posted by Brooklyn Bob

Bb is indeed a strange chord but I checked the original recording and that's what it is! Who know? Maybe they sped up the tape to make Elvis sound younger.

Or maybe they just played it in Bb. They were real musicians back in those days... ;-)

Having said that, when he sang it live in 1968 he was in A.

[JonPR]

Originally Posted by essiecab

Hello, I am new to the forum and have a question about key signatures. I have been playing for a few years and took about a year's worth of lessons but had to quit a while back. I play guitar and my husband has picked up the bass (electric) and we are hoping to play some simple songs together.

The problem is, I can find music for a song for bass, but it is in a different key than the music for the guitar. We want to play Elvis' "All Shook Up." His sheet music is in key of A, while mine is in Bb. How do I resolve this difference?

I did have one lesson about transposing keys, and I can (very very slowly) change each note in one or the other, but is this how everybody does it? I know I can use a capo to change the key on the guitar, but I found a transposition chart and it doesn't look like I could change from Bb to A or vice-versa using a capo.

As mentioned, the original recording is in Bb, but most guitarists (especially any beginners!) would play it in A with a capo on fret 1.

IOW, with a capo on 1 an "A" chord shape will sound like Bb, so (with no capo on the bass!) you'll both be in the same key - not only with each other, but with the original recording if you wanted to play along - and as relative beginners you probably want to be able to do that.

As also mentioned, though, the choice of key for a song should always depend on the singer. Not everyone will be able to sing it in Elvis's key, although most men probably could (it's an average male register, and not too challenging in its range). But bear in mind there is no rule that says you have to play it in the original key. (In the 1968 comeback special, Elvis sang it in A.) Whoever is singing it should find their most comfortable key, and then the musicians have to follow along (and understand how to do that). So its a good skill to develop, to be able to transpose a song - either to change the chords, or use a capo to keep the same shape,s

[ljguitar]

Originally Posted by essiecab

…I can find music for a song for bass, but it is in a different key than the music for the guitar. We want to play Elvis' "All Shook Up." His sheet music is in key of A, while mine is in Bb. How do I resolve this difference?

Can anyone help?

Hi essiecab
This is a transpose chart I created for students (I taught guitar for 40 years locally). I use a bright colored fine tip Sharpy on the song chart so the chords show up easily.

Feel free to duplicate this and/or use it (or send me a private message with your email and I'll send you the pdf).

The major key is shown on the left, and the relative minor key on the right side. If you leave the original chords alone (don't cross them out), and just add colored chords next to them on the original chart, if you ever need the original key, then it's there.

Going through the song and changing every instance of a single chord, then go back and do the next chord etc till done is much quicker than changing them sequentially.

Hope this helps…

[essiecab]

Thanks everyone for the advice! I agree that it should be a more organic process to make it work, but I do enjoy learning about the keys and what a capo is all about.

I think in the short-term I will just play the chords in my key and tell him the chord so he can play single notes on the bass. That's about the level that I think we can both handle together, but I will keep trying to learn and experiment with different keys.

[Hobo_King]

Some old recordings were sped up or slowed to adjust the pitch. Also many were written and played in keys friendlier to piano and horn players like Bb.

[Brent Hahn]

Originally Posted by Hobo_King

Some old recordings were sped up or slowed to adjust the pitch. Also many were written and played in keys friendlier to piano and horn players like Bb.

If you play fake-book gigs you start to notice that half the book is in guitar keys and the other half is in horn keys -- F, Eb, Bb. FWIW the Elvis record is in Bb (despite having no horns) and all the live versions I found are in A (despite having horns). So I'm voting that they cut it in A and sped it up.

[Tadmcd]

Originally Posted by ljguitar

Hi essiecab
This is a transpose chart I created for students (I taught guitar for 40 years locally). I use a bright colored fine tip Sharpy on the song chart so the chords show up easily.

Feel free to duplicate this and/or use it (or send me a private message with your email and I'll send you the pdf).

The major key is shown on the left, and the relative minor key on the right side. If you leave the original chords alone (don't cross them out), and just add colored chords next to them on the original chart, if you ever need the original key, then it's there.

Going through the song and changing every instance of a single chord, then go back and do the next chord etc till done is much quicker than changing them sequentially.

Hope this helps…

i just wanted to publicly thank Larry for this invaluable tool. as a noobie, it's like being handed a Rosetta Stone.

thank you.