What's your favorite or Most comfortable Key?

Hi. I just love playing guitar in D. Its easier for me to find notes when playing or trying to play by ear when using D. A number of times I would start with D then transpose to other keys. What's your favorite key and what key do you feel most comfortable playing your instrument in?

P.S. Do you have any special tips for playing in certain keys?

Lovemore Nanjaya.
 

John Watt

Member
Aaah, Lusaka_Guitarist, you ask a truly guitar playing question.
I like Am and G because they're low but have room for lower chords.
It's worth playing in Am just to hit the F to Em in "The Thrill is Gone".
Cm is nice for soloing up the neck and having Fm down there.

It's nice to be able to think in terms of different positions for the same note.
That makes it easier for guitarists to get favorite keys too.
Using tunings is ordinary for guitar, confusing your key question.
And a lot of heavy guitarists still detune for singing and string bending.
Many electric guitarists use pitch-bending and phase shifting devices with loud volume,
to propagate tone zones that defy ordinary musical descriptions of keys.

What's a key when you can't find it singing and a machine gets you there?
Some say we all gravitate to what reminds us of having been in the womb.

Now I'm not sure what my favorite key is.
Oh yeah! Em! That's right, I almost forgot.
I bent allen keys like staples into my one pickup cover, getting another E and D.
So that gives me four octaves of E on the E string.
I've got to love Em, it's loving me back.
 

Mat

Sr. Regulator
Staff member
Sr. Regulator
Regulator
When I'm at the piano it doesn't really matter what key I'm in. Although, when playing blues - F, Gm and Em seem to be the ones I choose most times. As for classical impro, I don't have any favorites.

Back in the days when I played the oboe, I remember that most hated keys were Db major and Bb minor (or their enharmonic equivalents - C# and A#m).
 

Montefalco

New member
I find ( as a pianist) I like D minor and G minor, especially for improvising. I also like D flat major.
 
Great post, John. Thanks for the tips. I too noticed that its eaier for me to sing when playing in G. I'll explore the minor keys and see what I can do with them.

Mat and Montefalco, I've observed that many pianists don't like playing in C major very much. Its kind of 'plain'. Some say, "the more sharps or flats, the better the sound."

Lovemore Nanjaya.
 

Krummhorn

Administrator
Staff member
ADMINISTRATOR
I like most any key ... as long as it's in 'flats' ... for some reason, playing in flats has always been easier for me than sharps, especially when more than 6 sharps and then all those double-sharp "x" things ... yikes!! :lol:

My absolute most favorite key though is D flat major ... there's lots of cuddly warm fuzzies to that key, at least for me.
 

JHC

Chief assistant to the assistant chief
I was more comfortable with Flat keys on the Double bass but any key on the Flute.
 
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