The Dread Key of A

[Sirion]

So, I'm trying to come up with as many riff ideas as I can these days. Unfortunately, the vast majority of them ends up being in A (or rather in A position, since I am actually tuned down). I'm trying to mix it up, but it is such a guitaristic key. The baryton range of the guitar is still prominent in the tonic (my pet peeve with D position), and extends a bit further down still, but you also have enough range above the tonic to reach the all-important dominant. And you can do pedal points. A lot of pedal points.


Still, having more tonal variation is good, both in the context of a gig and to make sure that the ideas actually sound different. Has anybody else felt like they've got stuck in a rut on this matter, and do you have any suggestions on how to proceed to avoid it, when writing riff-based dino music?

[Dinosaur David B]

Amy used to give me shit for writing riffs in A, E, F#, and D. So a wrote a riff/song in F, and trying to belt over it damn near killed her voice.


So my opinion is, if you write in common keys WHO CARES??? The number of people who have the pitch awareness to pick up on that is infinitesimal. Write a great riff. It doesn't matter what key it's in.

[inmyhands]

Between the ages 6 to 15 I wrote and sang in the key of "F". At 16 I had to switch "D" and transpose my earlier songs. By stretching my vocal limits I stayed in "D" into my mid 40's. When I finally admitted to myself that my high notes were sounding like shit I switched my new material and transposed my older tunes to "A". Now I'm closer to Hoyt Axton than John Lennon but I can live with that.

[TravisW]

One thing I've done is develop ways to get more comfortable riffing off of fretted strings. Sometimes, I'll get into C# or G. One tune, I dropped to D only to play most of the song in F#m. Now, these types of riffs are likely to have a different character to those that allow you to play around with a handy open root, but the upside is that it breaks you out of muscle memory and forces you to try to flesh out the idea of the riff.

[Dr Nick]

In the Whitesnake bio, Keith Olsen pokes fun at Adrian Vandenberg for being incabaple of writing in any key other than A, so if nothing else you're in good company!

I had to write a song as the "theme" for a kids camp last year, and it went down so well I've got to do it again. It was in Bm, and I'm desperately trying to use ANY key other than Bm again.

Unfortunately the idea that has gained traction is in...Bm.


So I'm working out whether Cm or Bbm will work, just to be annoying.

[Osky]

Dr Nick said:


In the Whitesnake bio, Keith Olsen pokes fun at Adrian Vandenberg for being incabaple of writing in any key other than A, so if nothing else you're in good company!



[/quote]
Brian May likes writing in A too .... A LOT! It didn't do him much harm!


I really like B, quite a bit of Billy Idol''s stuff is in that key. Love F# too.

[Eclipse II]

It makes me wonder as rock/metal guitar players how important is it to learn every key known to man?

[MAdX]

For some strange reason, the nine songs on our upcoming album are in seven different keys... The good thing is you really learn how to solo in different spots on the neck, and get more even wear on your frets... haha

[EugenicScum]

Tony IommE

RitG Blackmore

Halvor HosAr.


It's fine.

[Tatosh Guitar]

Some guys like say, Blackmore mostly play in the same key. And we totally dig them nevertheless. I think it was Bob Daisley who said that Gary Moore could play in any key. Randy Rhoads probably could as well. There's no rule for this.



If you think learning to write songs or solo in every key will make you a better musician, then by all means do it. I guess it can't hurt to learn more stuff, but I don't think it's a must.