#16
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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.
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-Raf |
#17
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so try that first and see what happens. |
#18
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Having said that, when he sang it live in 1968 he was in A.
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"There is a crack in everything. That's how the light gets in." - Leonard Cohen. |
#19
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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
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"There is a crack in everything. That's how the light gets in." - Leonard Cohen. |
#20
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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…
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Baby #1.1 Baby #1.2 Baby #02 Baby #03 Baby #04 Baby #05 Larry's songs... …Just because you've argued someone into silence doesn't mean you have convinced them… Last edited by ljguitar; 05-10-2021 at 09:45 AM. |
#21
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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. |
#22
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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.
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#23
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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.
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#24
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i just wanted to publicly thank Larry for this invaluable tool. as a noobie, it's like being handed a Rosetta Stone. thank you. |