Keyboards basic sheet music question

[smithmiller6]

Hi, The sheet music for songs has this indication: key: C (sometimes Cm, D, A etc)
what does that mean ?
Iam assuming just like we play scales, where we place our starting finger on that key. Example if the song says play in the key of C, then i should position my hand such that the thumb is on C. Lets say , if the song is to be played in the key of A, then i should place my thumb on A (atleast have the finger positioned that way to start with). Is that correct?

[ed]

More or less if you're playing chords. Most, but not all, chords would start with the key as the left most piano key.

[Bob]

The key defines the notes that make up the scale being used. C uses the C scale, Cm uses the C minor scale, and so forth. For instrumental music, that's pretty much it. Not so for vocal music.

People vary in how they can sing. Besides pitch (soprano, tenor, alto, bass, etc.), people vary in range. The average person has a range of about two octaves but that can vary considerably. Yma Sumac, for example claimed to have a range of over 4 octaves (5 at her peak). People also vary in where their range starts and what they can sing comfortably. This makes some keys easier than others for the singer to perform. The key that is most effective and comfortable for the singer to be able to use is called the singer's key. The key indication on the vocal sheet music is for the benefit of the singer who will naturally want to get an arrangement of the song in their key.

As far as playing the music on the piano, often the song will begin with the main chord for the key of the song. But, that's not a hard and fast rule. Songs can, and often do, begin with a different chord or note.

[Chuck Engels]

Very good Ed and Bob, here is another good reference
Key in Music Wiki

If you are playing chords, like a guitar, you don't really have to know the key.
But if you are playing a lead instrument or vocal you need to know the key and any key changes that are made.

Scales are the keys, the key of C uses all of the possible note combinations that can be made using the notes in the C scale. At least that is my limited understanding of music theory

And welcome to muvipix smithmiller

[ed]

When you're playing in a certain key you will often have a set of chords that are usually played together. It's not unusual to change the key as Bob said for a singer. If so then you have to calculate the steps from the key on the sheet music to figure out the chords.

[Chuck Engels]

When I was really getting involved in guitar playing I was able build chords as I played.

Based on the key a G chord is played differently, although it is still a G chord.
Can't do that stuff anymore, it's one of those things you can lose if you don't use

With a guitar you can use a Capo, that will allow you to play in a different key and still use the standard chords.

[ed]

The capo rocks!

[Ron]

Sorry guys, he's a classic spammer. It's just that his poor links in his signature didn't work.

He's now deactivated/banned - How do we want to handle this thread?

[Chuck Engels]

I figured as much but thought the thread was interesting anyway. Let's just leave it alone

[Dave McElderry]

I've fallen for these things several times here, but I recognized this one. With a lot of years of piano lessons I have to admit that I nearly began to compose (pun intended) an answer. But when I saw that this was his first post the warning bells went off.

[Bobby]

Yeah, like Dave I thought I spotted this one at first and was just lurking around to C what happened. But I think it shows an example that we should ponder.

Obviously it was a very novice question, if taken seriously. The guys tried to answer it well but perhaps in a way over the head of the poster, IMHO. Sometimes we stretch too hard...

Counter-opinions welcome!

PS: In my old MIDI setup (don't bother any more) my keyboard had an easy slide lever to select the key - loved it. Played in C, transpose to what I needed.

[Dave McElderry]

Good point Bobby. I guess to begin with, it's potentially a rather technical question. At one time I had to memorize all the keys and the sharps or flats of each. Just like memorizing multiplication tables for us old timers. It may seem pointless at first, but once you've done it it helps you to see the relationships of one key to another. There's a real mathematical precision about it.

When I first started thinking about how I could answer the question, I began to realize that I wasn't really sure what the question was. The part about where to place the thumb of course made me think that this was someone who was trying to learn to play keyboards on their own - self taught. However, of course there's a lot more to playing keyboards than just learning scales, and all of a sudden the whole topic became wide open. The relationship of the black keys to the white ones, and the change in frequency between each key and the next, and of course there's the half step between E & F and B & C white keys. Anyway, my point is that there may not be a simple answer to that question, depending on what the question really was.

Isn't this true of so many things? On this forum someone asks what appears to be a simple question, but when you try to answer it you find yourself tied up in a logic ladder. If you do THIS, then THIS takes place, UNLESS this happens, in which case you have to do THIS instead.

BTW, what exactly is the point of spamming with a question such as this? Is the idea just to sit back and laugh that people are trying to answer your question? I don't exactly understand the entertainment value.

[Chuck Engels]

my keyboard had an easy slide lever to select the key - loved it. Played in C, transpose to what I needed.

Transpose, that's the word I was trying to think of
Thanks Bobby

[Bobby]

Glad to help Chuck!

Dave, music theory is really deep and I never got into it that much. But the "well tempered" system we use today with 12 notes per octave and each separated by the multiplication or division of the 12th root of 2 in frequency and A4 at 440 hz. seems very mathematical but is still in fact a compromise. It just happens that it sounds "OK" or musical to our ears when playing in each key. I had a friend who minored in music at Duke and (maybe) she understood it.

There was a really great series on the Ovation channel a while back that did a terrific job of explaining that, but I have forgotten the name of it. Maybe one of our local gurus can give us a quick course and so this thread may have some meaning after all!

[Dave McElderry]

Bobby, just to clarify...
The memorization that I was referring to was that I had to learn the number and names of the sharps and flats of each musical key (not keyboard keys), such as the key of F having one flat - B flat, for example. I wasn't referring to some kind of perfect mathematical relationship of the tones one to another. You're absolutely right. The oriental scales, for example, are completely different, and produce an odd sound to our Western ears. It's all a matter of what we were brought up on.