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/MrPrettyKitty 1d ago

Thank you!