Wrong Key!

[Bill Duncan]

Did you ever play the intro to a song in the wrong key?

[Tony Prior]

Yes and in front of several hundred people, BUT, if you catch it fast enough a simple GLISS up to the right key sounds like it was intentional. I played a specialty concert with an artist not long ago , the song was in E, I kicked it off in D - SOLO - and I knew it was wrong - , my heart was sinking fast but I had ONE beat left so I slid up to E on the return to the root.

The guys in the band never even knew ! I knew !

And yeah, I'm sure I've kicked off many tunes over the last 4 or 5 decades in the wrong key. Far as I can tell nobody died !

[Duane Becker]

You mean, "Do I play and intro in the wrong key?" Yep once in a while, I even did it on the Opry back in 1997. I felt terrible, and everyone in good humor teased me about it. I felt better when I seen a major Opry steel player do the same thing.
So in short: Get used to it and move on. Worrying about it may cause one to miss a lick or another intro.

[Bill Duncan]

The guitar picker and I had worked out a harmony part in A, but the song was in B flat. He did his right, I blew it. At first, I thought he was out of tune, but it came out Ok. Luckily, I only did a few licks.

[Paul Wade]

Oh yes when the singer dates C intro in D but he means. C. My mistake a few times

[Ian Rae]

Never ask the guitar player for the key. He'll tell you the first chord, which may not be it.

[Lee Baucum]

Thankfully, I've never done that; but, back in the 1970s, when I was playing guitar, our other guitarist kicked off "Brown Sugar" one step too high.

Such a frightful train wreck ensued when the rest of the band came in.



~Lee

[Donny Hinson]

Did you ever play the intro to a song in the wrong key?

Look, it's not my fault when the stupid singer can't "adapt"!




But seriously, I think we've all done that a time or two. I've also been guilty of playing the wrong intro when two different songs had the same title. Case in point, the old "Sweet Memories" by Don Gibson and Dottie West, and "Sweet Memories" by Webb Pierce. They're two entirely different songs. (And I guessed wrong.)

One thing I used to do to "take the pressure off" whenever something musically embarrassing happened was to pull out a big roadmap, open it, and spread it on top of my steel. Invariably, the singer would ask "What are you doing?", and I'd respond "Just trying to figure out where you all are going!"

That never failed to get a big laugh from the audience!

[Sandy Inglis]

I did a Duo gig yesterday and the woman I sing with started a song in the wrong key. Fortunately it was a harmony key so I sang the lead (female) part and nobody noticed! Afterwards she said she used to do it in that key and knew something wasn't right. It made for a great duet.

[Chris Brooks]

I, for one, have done it.

[Floyd Lowery]

I was backing a famous singer in front of thousands one time and kicked the song in the right key. He stopped and said lets do that again in D. So we did it again in D as we had the first time. He was playing in the wrong key. No one died.

[Ian Rae]

Lee - that's amazing! Brown Sugar is one I was thinking of

[b0b]

Never ask the guitar player for the key. He'll tell you the first chord, which may not be it.

Most guitar players are totally clueless about music theory. They learn by ear and by watching other guitarists. You're lucky if they even know the name of the first chord.

I've often kicked off a song in the wrong key. Luckily, almost all of my gigs have been so casual that the band can stop and start over, laughing it off. Things are pretty laid back here in Northern California.

[Fred Treece]

Most of the guitar players I know will tell you the first chord when you ask for the key because they assume you are the music theory idiot, which is often the case.

I have started songs in the wrong key in a band where the singer changed keys once every couple months. Drove us all a little crazy.

[Jerry Overstreet]

Did you ever play the intro to a song in the wrong key?

No....Never...

[Ian Rae]

It occurs to me that by definition the intro must be right and anything weird that follows must be wrong.
Jerry seems to realise this

[Roger Crawford]

Not the wrong key, but the wrong song! It was my instrumental, played a different song from what I called, played the right song after the guitar break. It was. A long night!

[Pat Moore]

This past weekend I was filling in with a variety band! Singer called Blues Bros "Soul Man" in G so I kicked it off. They all came in playing in E!

[Roger Crawford]

When someone from the other side of the stage calls out a key, sometimes it’s hard to hear exactly what was said. G, C, D and E all sound similar, and lip reading is next to impossible. I’ve learned basic guitar chords and pick up on keys that way. Still, it’s a shot on the dark.

[Roger Rettig]

Guilty!

And my error could not be 'glossed over' or 'slid out of'!

I had just finished a run of 'Always, Patsy Cline' at one theatre, then driven across a couple of state-lines to the Alabama Shakespeare Festival in Montgomery, AL.

On the previous production, our 'Patsy' had asked the MD to shift the key of 'I Fall to Pieces' from Bb (that's what's in the 'book' of the show) up to B major.

'Any problem, guys?', he'd ask, glancing at me - most MDs are unfamiliar with pedal steel so are unaware if they have limitations in this regard. I cracked the customary gag and said: 'No problem - I'll just move my chair half-inch to the right'. Smiles all around, then off we go.

I know this show by heart now so, when I got to Montgomery, I make a mental note that this 'Patsy' (the excellent Jackie Petroccia) probably wants it in Bb and such proved to be the case.

Opening night, and I'm soaking it all in and anticipating the champagne reception later on. Then I allowed my mind to wander (who knows where?) Brainwashed by four weeks of playing it in the 'wrong' key, I took the intro (paired with a terrific NYC guitarist, Mike Rosengarten) with unabashed gusto, except I played it in B!

As you'll appreciate, sliding back down doesn't have quite the sonic grace of moving gently upwards, yet I was left with no alternative.

General mirth and merriment followed and Jackie, trouper that she is, took it in her stride. She even handed me my first glass of champagne afterwards but I can never forget my faux pas - I've stayed 'on my toes' ever since!

[Bill Ferguson]

I have, many times.
Mostly when we have a guest singer and they have no clue what key they sing a certain song in, so they just start humming and hope everyone finds the key.
I have never understood a "singer" not knowing what key they sing their songs in, especially if they are going to guest spot on a stage.

And it's not just the amateurs either. hehe

[Jerry Overstreet]

This past weekend I was filling in with a variety band! Singer called Blues Bros "Soul Man" in G so I kicked it off. They all came in playing in E!

That may not have been all your fault. The original 67 Sam and Dave tune was in G. The BBs was in E. Since that's the most recent and generally most referred to, many groups do it in E, mainly for the singer's range.

Don't fret, I had the same thing happen to me. I'm old school and the other guys are a lot younger and some of them had only heard the movie version, so the discussion ensued concerning G v. E.

I guess that's why we have charts or calling keys or signing number keys [do you know anybody who can or still does that?] to the band before we start.

[Roger Rettig]

Back in England, I'd use 'signing' keys as it was common practice.

Eb has three flats in its scale so three fingers pointed downwards was the signage. D major has two sharps - two fingers pointing upwards; you get the idea.

G major - one finger pointing upwards - could raise the odd eyebrow, though.

[Jerry Overstreet]

True, but signing is much more accurate than trying to yell B, C, D, E, G across a noisy stage with a noodling guitar and a birdhouse building drummer.

Unfortunately, that's a lost art or a lack of musical knowledge with all the bar bands I know.

[Roger Rettig]

Exactly, Jerry.

I learned it very young on function gigs where the personnel were mostly old-school musicians. Playing for dancing might require an impromptu change-of-song - hand-signing is next-to-invisible to an audience of dancers and the smooth transition sounds planned and professional.