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Thread: So What - Miles Davis

  1. #21
    Join Date
    Dec 2009
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    341

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    Thanks, dflat. Makes sense. Be great to be able to designate the bass notes as, e.g., /E1 or /E2. And for those who enjoy bass guitar (not myself) you might start with /B0 and go up to /E3, which would give 2 full octaves to even the double bass players. That'd be something bassists here would really dig.
    Last edited by nimbleswitch; 01-11-2015 at 03:04 AM.

  2. #22

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    Quote Originally Posted by nimbleswitch View Post
    I see that what I had thought was a fairly easy, almost mathematical determination requires much more feel for music theory than I have or am likely to acquire. I truly believe that I do not have the training and experience necessary to consider the factors you guys point out here. [...] I'll continue to take my best shot at the correct key, but I won't be at all surprised or offended if you guys correct it for me. I'll edit my posts then, like I've edited my "So What" charts now. Again, thanks to you both!
    You're very welcome!

    Hey, when I was young it seemed like a magical feat to write music with no instrument (some friends could do it)!! I just practiced, and now can.
    Same with musical theory and analysis - can be learned, so keep at it!

    Regarding corrections, I think we're all here to help. Keep dishing out the charts, and some kind soul will furnish you with indications on how to make them better or more correct, if need be.
    Happy playing!

  3. #23
    Join Date
    Sep 2009
    Posts
    2,093

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    Quote Originally Posted by nimbleswitch View Post
    .. I do find this considerably exasperating, however! I see that what I had thought was a fairly easy, almost mathematical determination requires much more feel for music theory than I have or am likely to acquire...
    A few further comments:

    - The key signature itself is really related to how a musician reads the notation. (Not useful to anyone hearing it. A melody could be set in any key signature and still sound the same with the appropriate accidentals.) It gets complicated with music theory or no music theory—and depending on the theory you are looking at (modes go back a very long way historically).

    - Some refer to the tonal center of a piece, based on what you are actually hearing and the chord of where it rests naturally, its ‘home key’. (This could include many modal tunes.) This may not be related to the key indicated by its key signature.

    - Modal, we have commented on this.

    - Slightly related, but probably not really
    Bartok’s Mikrokosmos I remember had odd key signatures, like a piece with just a single C# or each of the two (piano) staves having entirely different key signatures. (They were simple pieces so were easy to play. Determining the key from the key signature was not possible—but it did not matter).

    - A jazz song might be called up in a certain way to define the key where it could be confused depending on the experience of the band members (songs like Stella by Starlight or even My Funny Valentine) …
    Eb, starts Cm
    but if someone calls out 3 flats you have to still think what key it was set in iReal Pro

    - Setting the key for a song in iReal Pro needs thought then; making sure it plays in concert key for your backing or the bands you are in; also that global transpose works for horn players and everyone is in agreement for concert key as you all know it (especially if they have their own charts/keys, not reading from your song files from iReal Pro). A song needs to be set in some kind of key

    - A few songs like Ligia are difficult to determine. Some songs might just as well be called out with the first chord—you can always write some text in the song file as a reminder.

    ——
    Where all these ‘keys’ are congruent for a song and you all get through playing the piece correctly—it’s a happy day

    Personal anecdote:
    a few years ago I was at an art gallery attending an informal playing of some of Bach’s Preludes and Fugues (piano). I was sitting beside my music teacher from my old school days and as we were listening to one of them he said, “you know, this one is either written in C# or Db depending on the publisher.” “So which key is she playing in?” I asked with a grin … He listened and finally said “C#” with a smile. I had already settled on Db. When she had finished we asked …
    “C# …!” she said very emphatically (as if it would ever be done otherwise).

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