Give 'Em The Finger(s)

[Mike Delaney]

This was mentioned on another thread, and I said I would post how it is done.

I'm aware that a good many of you already know this system, but for those who don't, its a good thing to know as opposed to showing up on a gig and wondering what all these hand signals mean.

What is happening is that the players are telling each other what key the next song is in. The key of G has one sharp, which is a raised note. So if you point up in the air with your index finger, you are relaying that the key is G. Two fingers is D, etc. The key of F has one flat, or lowered note. So if you point at the floor with one finger, they know its F. C has no flats or sharps, and is signified by making a half circle with your hand, like you were holding a glass and had tipped it up to take a drink.

Since most of us only have five digits per hand, we won't worry about keys with more than five sharps or flats. (Pianist Keith Jarrett must have 6 or 7 per hand, I'm just sure!)

The sharp keys, where you are pointing upward are G,D,A,E, and B, with G having one sharp and B having five sharps. An easy way to remember this is the sentence "Good Dogs Always Eat Better". GDAEB. (You may also notice that this is a cycle of 5ths)

You need to note that flat keys, with the exception of F, have the word "flat" in their names, for example "E Flat". The first five flat keys are F,Bb,Eb,Ab, and Db. And our easy to remember sentence is "Farm Boys Eat At Dinner". For the flat keys you point to the floor. (You may notice this is a cycle of fourths)

There is also an easy way to tell what key you are in if someone hands you a chord chart or lead sheet with key signatures written on it. The reason I think this is important is that not all songs start on the tonic or 1 chord. For example, "Just Friends" starts with Cmaj7, Cmin7, Gmaj7. So the song starts with 1maj7, 1min7, 5maj7...that doesn't make much sense?? It does if you look at the key signature and realise that there is one sharp, key of G. Now the progression is 4maj7, 4min7, 1maj7, which does make sense.

Anyway, should I explain that now, in this thread, or wait a week or so and start another thread? I don't want to confuse the issue, it isn't that difficult, but give me some feedback and I'll do whatever.

Actually, now that I think of it, as long as there are no more than 5 flats or sharps this system still works, so maybe we don't need to jack with any more?

[Rex Thomas]

To all of the above... CORRECT!!!

[Bobby Boggs]

Interesting concept.I've been giving bass players the finger for years. --------bb

[Danny Bates]

Let's say you missed the key signal and you're trying to find out what key the next song is in:

Look at the other musician and hold your hand like you're holding a set of keys and starting an ignition. Works everytime<FONT SIZE=1 COLOR="#8e236b"><p align=CENTER>[This message was edited by Danny Bates on 17 November 2002 at 02:31 AM.]</p></FONT>

[Mike Delaney]

Danny-I forgot about the car keys example when asking for the key. Thanks for putting that on there.

[Bill Cunningham]

I learned this system from a bass player friend many years ago who had played mostly pop/jazz and top 40. He didn't know Nashville numbers and you can imagine the train wreck resulting from signaling chords to him! We both learned something new when we took a break that night.

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"Gimme a steel guitar, 2 or 3 fiddles and a Texas rhythm section that can swing"..W. Nelson