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Pieces written in the flat keys ? (1 viewing) (1) Guest
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Donalrondo
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I'm somewhat of a novice on the accordion, am learning material from old music collections and it seems that alot are written in flat keys. In some cases it seems difficut to play in these keys. I'm curious as to why the flat keys seemed more popular in the old days.
Is it an advantage or disadvantage to learn these versions of material or should I seek out more modern settings of these old standards ?
Your input is appreciated
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Accordionist
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Are they specifically old accordion books? Maybe they were transcribed from music for other instruments?
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shadow
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Some people think music sounds better in the flat keys. Mozart's favorite key was Gminor, which has 2 flats.
A more practical reason could be that in bands, the brass and woodwind players, specifically sax and clarinet, find it easiest to play in flats. To them, the key of Bb has no accidentals because they are tuned to Bb.
If an accordionist finds himself playing with a sax /clarinetist, they have the easiest time playing in flat keys. Sharps pose a really difficult fingering problem for them.
However the key of C is generally a good compromise - easy to play by the keyboardist, and only 2 sharps to the sax/clarinetist, which they should be able to handle without too much difficulty.
Keys like A and E pose a real problem for them.
Hence, a lot of this music ends up being written in flat keys.
Keep on squeezin'
John P
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Donalrondo
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Thanks for the response, yes these are accordion books going back to the 40's.
I have played some material written in the key of C which I think sounded kinda boring so opted for versions in F or Bb.
Guess I'll just grit my teeth and keep squeezin.
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achat72
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There may be some good reasons why these pieces where written in flat keys,
I know that in Big bands, keys like Db are used to accommodate the range of the 5 saxes. (A horrible key for the Double bass...)
Bb on the PA is going to offer you some different "under the finger" voicings as well.
Only good can come from this!
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plasteraccordion
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I decided at one point that I was going to get more fluent in flat and sharp keys, so I tried to find as much music in those keys. I found that the more familiar I became with the "black" keys, the easier it was to play in them. Good luck-steve
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edward12
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 a lot of times songs are writtin in keys that are in range with a vocalist, and its true woodwind players & horn players are more comfortable when playing in flat key signatures & visa versa string players are more comfy playing in the sharp key signatures esp violin players, for me being a acc player it makes no difference as i can play in any key signature, thats the beauty of a acc and thats why those black keys are there, to play them.
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Crank
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I remember seeing a lot more music (mainly traditional & drinking songs) written for piano in B or E flat when I was in college, eons ago, that I see in modern song books. Rarely do I see those keys today.
I thought they were relatively easy keys to play because it is easy to find B flat and E flat on the treble by feel, especially descending, using the thumb, because they are at one end of a block of black keys. Now I more often have to find F# and C#, which are relatively easy to find for the same reason, although not necessarily with the thumb.
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