The Dread Key of A

[Sirion]

My problem with the whole thing is that writing in one key tends to create similar-sounding ideas, at least when writing with the guitar: The key of A/Am, for instance, has certain possibilities on the fretboard. In A, for instance, going to the deep E at some point is almost unavoidable, whereas the equivalent is not a possibility when writing in E/Em. Since Blackmore was mentioned, I think that a lot of the material in F#m and Gm tends to sound similar, since it is easy to get stuck in the blues box in those keys. I say stuck, even though we all obviously love what Blackmore did with it, but a lot of his riffs ARE built the same way.


(There is, of course, a lot more to this, such as the range of the singer, but for now I am talking merely about guitaristic effects.)

[Andy G]

Tatosh Guitar said:


Randy Rhoads probably could as well. There's no rule for this.





[/quote]
I read somewhere that Randy chose to write each of the songs on Blizzard of Ozz in a different key in order to further set them apart.

[eduardoritos]

The Thumb Plays E trick is a must if you can riff up tones like G, C...

[Tatosh Guitar]

Andy G said:



Tatosh Guitar said:


Randy Rhoads probably could as well. There's no rule for this.





[/quote]
I read somewhere that Randy chose to write each of the songs on Blizzard of Ozz in a different key in order to further set them apart.





[/quote]
I have never checked if this is true, but if it is I wouldn't doubt it at all it was a deliberate thing. Randy was proficient, schooled enough musician to be able to pull that off.


I once read an interview with Ozzy that he was totally impressed with Randy because he would actually sit with him and figure out what pitch worked for Ozzy's obviously limited vocal abilities. Something like that had never happened to him before, as in Sabbath they would just work with whatever riffs Iommi was coming up with. Randy figured what worked best for the singer.

[eduardoritos]

Andy G said:



Tatosh Guitar said:


Randy Rhoads probably could as well. There's no rule for this.





[/quote]
I read somewhere that Randy chose to write each of the songs on Blizzard of Ozz in a different key in order to further set them apart.





[/quote]
Wolf Hoffman do so; many songs on Bm, C#m, etc.

[Osky]

Brian's love of A in Queen was never a problem as all four of the band wrote material so the mix of keys on their albums was wide and I think they benefited from that. Having Freddie's piano tunes in the mix meant lots of stuff in piano-friendly (and guitar unfriendly) keys like F and Eb, John wrote some stuff on keys too. All of which were a nice counter balance to Brian and Roger's guitar based compositions.

[Tatosh Guitar]

I think this is pretty usual with bands where more than one member actively writes: songs will naturally sound different. This is even more apparent where they play very different instruments. Journey comes to mind as Cain would write on the piano and Schon with his guitar. In bands were most songs start with the same guy (Blackmore with Purple) this is less the case.

[MAdX]

Sirion said:


My problem with the whole thing is that writing in one key tends to create similar-sounding ideas, at least when writing with the guitar: The key of A/Am, for instance, has certain possibilities on the fretboard. In A, for instance, going to the deep E at some point is almost unavoidable, whereas the equivalent is not a possibility when writing in E/Em. Since Blackmore was mentioned, I think that a lot of the material in F#m and Gm tends to sound similar, since it is easy to get stuck in the blues box in those keys. I say stuck, even though we all obviously love what Blackmore did with it, but a lot of his riffs ARE built the same way.


(There is, of course, a lot more to this, such as the range of the singer, but for now I am talking merely about guitaristic effects.)




[/quote]
Try F#, that's a great guitar key. B)

[Tatosh Guitar]

MAdX said:




Try F#, that's a great guitar key. B)


[/quote]
I immediately though of Lights Out and You Got Another Thing Coming!!

[Osky]

Tatosh Guitar said:



MAdX said:




Try F#, that's a great guitar key. B)


[/quote]
I immediately though of Lights Out and You Got Another Thing Coming!!


[/quote]
Crazy Train was my first thought.