arthurhenry Posted January 28, 2015 Share Posted January 28, 2015 (edited) Do you feel a certain way about some notes based on the keys with which you're most familiar? For example, due to being most familiar with the "rock keys" of Em, Am etc, I can only think of Bb as a "nasty" note. It wouldn't feel quite right to play a happy song in Bb! C# is a bright, happy note to me, so I struggle with the fact that F (another nasty one!) is its major third. There are many more examples, but I think that's weird enough for now. Edited January 28, 2015 by arthurhenry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billy Apple Posted January 28, 2015 Share Posted January 28, 2015 The £ note is my favourite. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spike Posted January 28, 2015 Share Posted January 28, 2015 I'm quite partial to a nice D, otherwise I don't mind. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xilddx Posted January 28, 2015 Share Posted January 28, 2015 Indian classical music ascribes values to the scale tones. This is an extract from an interview with Sheema Mukherjee, the sitarist I play for .. [color=#333333][font=Arial,] [b]My limited understanding of Indian music, there is a whole spiritual dimension wrapped into learning an instrument. Can you explain? Did this add to the challenge?[/b][/font][/color][color=#333333][font=Arial,] Yes, there is a whole spiritual dimension within the learning and performance of Indian Music, although I believe that spirituality is not to be equated with religion at all. There is a relationship of Indian music and especially the veena, to Saraswati the Hindu goddess of learning, but as many have said before me, music is the universal language of the soul and a vehicle to attain liberation. It crosses barriers of language and creed and unites the listener and artist. In this respect most music is spiritual. The meaning of the sanskrit word Raag (raga) is ‘to colour the emotion’ and that is one of my main goals as a performer. There is a whole philosophy behind each note – with reference to the solfa scale – Doh is infinity, Re is sorrow, Ma is peace, Fa is romance, Soh is joy, etc our notes are Sa, Re, Ga, Ma, Pa, Dha, Ni, Sa. Also, each note has a chakra, colour and body part! And then of course the micro-tones…[/font][/color] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CamdenRob Posted January 28, 2015 Share Posted January 28, 2015 It's more intervals that you hear rather than actual notes I think... a note is just a note, what comes before and after it gives it the character. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spectoremg Posted January 28, 2015 Share Posted January 28, 2015 A detuned D. Yummy! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FinnDave Posted January 28, 2015 Share Posted January 28, 2015 Ask anyone I play with and they will tell you I have a preference for F# Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arthurhenry Posted January 28, 2015 Author Share Posted January 28, 2015 (edited) F# is nice, but it's major third A#, is nasty. How can the two go together?! Edited January 28, 2015 by arthurhenry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Low End Bee Posted January 28, 2015 Share Posted January 28, 2015 F is a sneaky ***** who would get off with your girlfriend. A is the sort of upstanding chap you would like next to you in the trenches. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mykesbass Posted January 28, 2015 Share Posted January 28, 2015 [quote name='arthurhenry' timestamp='1422436269' post='2672494'] , but it's major third A#, is nasty. How can the two go together?! [/quote] Think of it as Bb - much more mellow, well grounded sort of note! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Weststarx Posted January 28, 2015 Share Posted January 28, 2015 I'm not one for anything fancy, so an open E when smashed hard with a pick is my particular favourite Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ras52 Posted January 28, 2015 Share Posted January 28, 2015 [quote name='Mykesbass' timestamp='1422437340' post='2672514'] Think of it as Bb - much more mellow, well grounded sort of note! [/quote] I love Bb. Harmonically, I love Bb maj7. If I'm writing - no matter what key I'm in - it always feels good to slip in a Bb maj7. About F... anyone who started out on guitar probably remembers having trouble holding down an F major barre chord, which may be the "childhood trauma" that colours their view of this innocent note. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ras52 Posted January 28, 2015 Share Posted January 28, 2015 [quote name='Billy Apple' timestamp='1422430559' post='2672443'] The £ note is my favourite. [/quote] Bad news, they're no longer legal tender. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JTUK Posted January 28, 2015 Share Posted January 28, 2015 They are all notes on the fretboard...personally I avoid open strings otherwise they are all fair game.. If you have an adversion to F and Bb etc I guess you don't play with horns much..?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris_b Posted January 28, 2015 Share Posted January 28, 2015 [quote name='JTUK' timestamp='1422440764' post='2672567'] ...personally I avoid open strings..... [/quote] Me too. On a 5 string bass there are always other choices. I love watching keyboard players squirm playing numbers in C# and even F#. My first 2 bands were Soul/Funk/Blues bands with 3 and 4 piece brass sections, so all keys are the same to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JTUK Posted January 28, 2015 Share Posted January 28, 2015 [quote name='chris_b' timestamp='1422442034' post='2672599'] Me too. On a 5 string bass there are always other choices. I love watching keyboard players squirm playing numbers in C# and even F#. My first 2 bands were Soul/Funk/Blues bands with 3 and 4 piece brass sections, so all keys are the same to me. [/quote] The beauty of a 5, Chris. Get the key an off you go...it matters not what it is. I 'avoid' open strings so I am always fretting the combination I am playing so it doesn't matter if it is a shift up or down. And then when you do use an open string..that brings more drama and presense to it then..IMO I like the look of some gtrs faces when you use flats for horns... that always sorts the men from the boys. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neepheid Posted January 28, 2015 Share Posted January 28, 2015 Some "definitions" of key characteristics here: http://biteyourownelbow.com/keychar.htm None of it bothers me, besides the "kick up the backside" moving the key up a semitone or a tone can sometimes do to a song. Keyboard player complains about "too many black keys" sometimes, but plays it anyway Keys mean little to me the way I compose, which usually consist of me finding a riff on the bass in a random place, retrospectively working out the key and the chords, trying to make a vocal melody over it, then shifting it if the singer ends up bottoming out on his range. It's probably completely the wrong way to go about it, but songs seem to come out the other end, so does it matter? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FinnDave Posted January 28, 2015 Share Posted January 28, 2015 Most of our songs go through a stage of experimenting with different keys until the wonderful Ms Haan is happy. I always get funny looks from the rest of the band when we play one in A, then she decides it's a little high so we try again in G, and it's still a tad too high ('half a semitone', says Jen ). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gelfin Posted January 28, 2015 Share Posted January 28, 2015 [quote name='Billy Apple' timestamp='1422430559' post='2672443'] The £50 note is my favourite. [/quote] Fixed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zenitram Posted January 28, 2015 Share Posted January 28, 2015 I love B flat, when played as part of a D minor (there's a name for it, I'm sure). I also really like F, and G, and D in general. A can be nice, as can C, but B and E can sod right off. G sharp is fun, just on its own. A flat is rubbish though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neepheid Posted January 28, 2015 Share Posted January 28, 2015 [quote name='gelfin' timestamp='1422446288' post='2672696'] Fixed [/quote] Fixed even better. Boom! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul h Posted January 28, 2015 Share Posted January 28, 2015 I only ever play Bb ironically. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zenitram Posted January 28, 2015 Share Posted January 28, 2015 I played it before it was cool. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thurbs Posted January 28, 2015 Share Posted January 28, 2015 Eb, Bb are quite common with horns and woodwind, so you soon learn to love them. Some singers also prefer songs in a particular key, so I ended up playing many songs in F for one band. Pop and rock 3 chord wonders in G tend to get a bit tedious.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bassassin Posted January 28, 2015 Share Posted January 28, 2015 Bb is like that guy who doesn't say very much but when they do it's usually interesting. And a little bit weird. I find when I'm messing around with an idea around Am or C, no matter what I do, F will always manage to ebow its way in. Jon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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