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What Key ??
I am ukulele player who has recently got U bass. Thought it would be easy to work the U bass into our groups Uke stuff. For the uninitiated Ukuleles are usually tuned to re-entrant tuning that is the four highest strings on a guitar 5 frets up eg GCEA with the G being a high G eg between the E and A. For the uninitiated to get the right sound it is often necessary to play in keys that aren't normal or true to recordings. Have just started searching for bass tabs and ‘lo and behold’ have found a complete absence of anything saying what key its in. Why is it so difficult to not put this is in C or G or f ????????
We're just a bunch of knuckle-dragging bass players?
I felt the OP was a little condescending.
If you know your keys you can pretty much work out the key a tune is in.
Is the f an f or an f# Cmajor or Gmajor
Is the b a b or a Bb Cmajor or Fmajor
&c.
Quote:
I felt the OP was a little condescending.
Agreed, and perhaps lazy. As purplez points out, you can figure out what key a song is in with a bit of effort. And the expectation that a tab (or online tab at least) would identify what key the song is written in is an error; 99% of tabs online do not identify the key of the song.
Nontheless, the earlier thread revealed that we are knuckle draggers. I pick my nose too. And if I don't wipe it on my fretboard, I eat it.
With a tab, does the key really matter? You're repeating what is written down, so theory pretty much goes away. If the tab says to play a G, play a G. Then if it says to play a C, play C. Then D, play D. If you're just playing what is written down, stop thinking so much and just play it. If you want to understand WHY you play a C after G, then the D, theory comes back in and the key becomes relevant. But to just play it, no.
You can safely replace a light switch without knowing anything about electricity as long as you follow the directions exactly. If you want to go out on your own a bit is where you need to understand how things work.
I didn't find the OP condescending as much as impatient. I understand the frustration of picking up a new instrument and wanting to be able to jump right in. But it's not a matter of it being difficult to include the key of the song, it's a matter of how much a reader expects the tabber to do their job for them. When I write a tab, I figure I've just given note-for-note instructions on how to play the song. I've done my part. Key, tempo, etc. – that's all stuff the reader can figure out on their own or by just listening to the song.
I'm happy to give directions, just don't expect me to drive you, too.
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