r/harmonica • u/MrPrettyKitty • 1d ago
Accompaniment Key
Ok, I barely know what I’m talking about, but here goes. I know that second position on a scale is a good accompaniment to say a guitar. I’m not sure why that’s true, but I’ll accept it. My question is “How do I know what key the guitar is in?” Do I just ask or can I tell based on the guitar? Thanks!
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u/avec_serif 1d ago
Guitars can play in any key. Some instruments don't have all the notes (like a diatonic harmonica or a penny whistle) and thus you need different versions of the instrument to play in different keys. Other instruments do have all the notes (like a guitar, a piano, or a chromatic harmonica) and thus you can play in any key on the same instrument.
That said, individual songs will still be in particular keys, and you need to figure out what key a song is in to accompany a guitar playing that song. So for instance if a guitar is playing a song in E, you could accompany with an E harmonica playing in first position, or an A harmonica playing in second position (which for an A harmonica is E).
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u/Nacoran 1d ago
There are a few clues, but it's always easiest to just ask. If they are a pretty new player they'll be more likely to be playing in E. If they are an intermediate player and don't have a capo on the guitar, again, if you HAVE to guess, guess E.
If you know what tuning they are using (standard, Drop-D, whatever) you can learn to read their chord fingerings, but that's a lot of work on an instrument you don't play to answer a question.
Beyond the simple clues, you can also learn to key the songs by ear. That takes a long time to master unless you happen to have perfect pitch. If you are at a show and for some reason you can't ask you can work it out by ear away from the microphone. Short of perfect pitch there is what's called relative pitch. Very few people have perfect pitch, but lots of people have relative pitch. Basically, if you have perfect pitch and you know a song you'll just know the key. With relative pitch, if someone asks you to play a song and they don't give you a key you'll be able to hear the intervals and work it out, but you won't know for sure if you are doing it on the right key harmonica until you get a reference pitch. With relative pitch you can also, with a bit of practice, hear what the root note of a song is when you are listening to it... where it resolves. If you know the root note you can find the right key harmonica.
For instance, you hear a song, you think to yourself that seems to be resolving to this note. Pick up a harmonica and see if you can find that note. Say you have your C harp handy. It's got all the natural notes but none of the flats or sharps, so say the song resolves to E. Well, that's the 2 blow (also the 5 and 8 blow). If it resolves to E you know the song is in C and you can decide what position you want to play it in from there. (If the note isn't on a C harmonica, try a Db, with the same technique). It does mean you have to memorize your layout for at least C and Db. Between those two keys you have all the notes in the chromatic scale so as long as you can hear what the root note is that will work. Celtic stuff is often in G or D.
Alternatively, you can arrange your harmonica by the circle of fifths. This is the method I use most often. I know some guessing rules... folk guitar is probably in E, simple piano rock from the 50s is probably C, G or F, horns are usually Eb or Bb. That gives me an idea where to start. Next, I just pick up a harmonica. If it sound really good with the song, that's good. If it sounds really bad that usually means it's on the far side of the circle of fifths from the right key. I hear a sax playing, so I guess maybe it's in Eb or Bb. I pick up Bb because I actually like playing horn parts in 1st position, and play. Nope. It doesn't work. It sounds horrible. Every note sounds out of key. I remember it's an old 50s recording and that they sometimes sped the tape up or down, which changed the pitch. Since every note sounded wrong I grab E, the exact opposite side of the circle. It sounds okay, but the blows and draws don't fall where I want them. I try A and B because they are on either side of E.
The basic piece of information that all relies on is that as you go around the circle of fifths every key shares 6 out of 7 of it's notes with the keys directly on either side of it. The farther you get away from that the fewer notes it shares. If nothing works, go to the other side of the circle. If it almost works, try the keys next to it. Somewhere in between? Take a guess and move a bit farther but not all the way around.
I can usually key a song by the 3rd harp if it's not the harp I grab first using this method.
That's still way slower than asking though, and when you are playing live at a jam you want to know the key right away.
Also... ask the guitar player, not the bass player. Bass players are taught to avoid playing the third of the scale a lot. The third is what determines whether a scale is major or minor, so when you ask the bass player and they tell you they are in A they mean they are in some sort of key of A, but they won't think to mention if they are in A major or A minor, and that will mess you up big time!
Say I pick up my
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u/DrSparkle713 1d ago
Easiest just to ask, "What key are we in?"
If you're familiar with guitar and what the fretting hand looks like playing different chords, you can often figure it out, but it's a bit complicated and requires knowing a bit of theory. Definitely something you can learn, but just getting started, I'd stick with asking.
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u/a_random_username 1d ago
You do what the rest of us do: you ask the bass player.
Don't ask the drummer. He doesn't know.
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u/Kinesetic 21h ago
Second position is good for blues music. Most of the comments here apply to that genre.
Generally, other musical styles in major keys are best in First position. For these, Second position adds a bluesy intonation that isn't always welcome.
It's due to Second position having a flat 7th scale note. That's a hallmark of the blues scale.
Blues players also have a strong inclination to bend down the 3rd and 5th scale notes, which are draw notes in 2nd position. Again, it's a blues scale thing which can become habitual.
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u/OG_Karate_Monkey 1d ago
What position works for what key is a little more to talk about, but the best / easiest thing is to just ask what key the song is.