The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
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  1. #1

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    I am processing Real Book tunes data and as a side product I've got distribution statistic of approx. 1000 standards. Major and minor keys are not distinguished yet (in one bucket), so it needs more refinement.
    ***EDIT***: For refined statistics where major and their relative minor are in one bucket see this later post

    If anyone interested, the results are:

    F: 221
    C: 191
    Eb: 159
    Bb: 141
    G: 110
    Ab: 52
    D: 49
    Db: 21
    A: 9
    E: 10
    Gb: 3 (Twisted Blues)
    B: 3 (Giant Steps, at least it starts in B so I put it to the B bucket)
    Last edited by Gabor; 05-07-2019 at 05:08 AM.

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  3. #2

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    Quote Originally Posted by djg
    twisted blues is in Db
    I am sure there are different versions both leadsheets and recordings but this Wes recording seems to be in Gb for me:


  4. #3

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    It starts on a Gb7 chord but works its way back to Db briefly then at the end it finishes on a Db. It’s one of those tunes that sounds a bit ambiguous.

    Both the iReal pro app and the Hal Leonard real Book give the key as Db.

    I can’t find it in the old real book.

  5. #4

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    Thanks! I find this interesting.

    I wonder what has been so unappealing or repellent about the key of Gb, to players and composers about over the years.

  6. #5

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  7. #6

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    Thanks for all the corrections. That's the drawback of computerized processing.

    I've never played Twisted Blues, and when previously I checked the recording for a few secs and heard Db as dominant, obviously I was wrong.

  8. #7

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    I would not have guessed that Eb appeared more often than Bb.

  9. #8

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    Quote Originally Posted by MarkRhodes
    I would not have guessed that Eb appeared more often than Bb.
    That surprised me too.

    Also I though G might place higher. Or maybe it's just that I really like G.

  10. #9

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    Quote Originally Posted by Gabor
    Thanks for all the corrections. That's the drawback of computerized processing.

    I've never played Twisted Blues, and when previously I checked the recording for a few secs and heard Db as dominant, obviously I was wrong.
    I think the final chord is a Db7 in order to turn back to the Gb7, so it is ambiguous. But maybe that’s why Wes called it ‘twisted’!

  11. #10

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    I’m a bit surprised Bb wasn’t higher.

  12. #11

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    Quote Originally Posted by Thoughtfree
    Thanks! I find this interesting.

    I wonder what has been so unappealing or repellent about the key of Gb, to players and composers about over the years.
    Er... six flats?


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  13. #12

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    ISTM there are a couple of factors that affect having a tune in a key. One is the range of notes, because it needs to be in a key which makes it at least a little easier to reach all the notes, especially for singers. Another is that it needs to be in a convenient key for horn players, both because there are a lot of horn players and because a lot of the tunes were written by horn players. Key is mostly a matter of convenience. Thus bluegrass and country music tends to be in E, D, G, and A, because the instruments used there allow the use of open strings in those keys. Not much difference between E and Eb except for the ease of playing for some instruments.

  14. #13

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    Quote Originally Posted by Thoughtfree
    Thanks! I find this interesting.

    I wonder what has been so unappealing or repellent about the key of Gb, to players and composers about over the years.
    Um ... 6 flats?

    (Clearly I didn't read completely before posting. My apologies to docsteve!)
    Last edited by M-ster; 05-05-2019 at 04:53 PM.

  15. #14

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    If these are standards with horns as the lead, or show tunes written for orchestration, etc., if might be more telling to analyze based on what keys the Bb and Eb instruments end up in. I think, more often, it's putting the horns into comfortable keys that influences the key choice. (Same goes for vocalists, of course.)

  16. #15

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    ...and pianists; they prefer keys with accidentals because their fingers can feel where they are on the key board through the playing of black keys... so the pianist may play without looking at their hands. Many pianists deliberately practice in the dark in order to develop this ability to never have to look at the keyboard. Contrary to popular assumption, the key of C major is the worst because all the keys feel the same (one may sneak fingers onto black keys and not play them to get a reference).

    I don't trust the results of the list because it is not clear that the determination of the keys used a correct methodology or informed musical verification, and because the majority of what I'm called to play seems to be in Eb, while I only play a couple of tunes in F major.

    For the 30 million songs on Spotify... I don't trust their's either, looks like non-musician programmer product...

    Last edited by pauln; 05-06-2019 at 01:53 PM.

  17. #16

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    Quote Originally Posted by M-ster
    If these are standards with horns as the lead, or show tunes written for orchestration, etc., if might be more telling to analyze based on what keys the Bb and Eb instruments end up in. I think, more often, it's putting the horns into comfortable keys that influences the key choice. (Same goes for vocalists, of course.)
    But why is Take Five in Ebminor / Gb major ?

  18. #17

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    I think you would have to ask Paul Desmond that question, or perhaps Dave Brubeck, but it's too late for that.

  19. #18

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    Quote Originally Posted by pingu
    But why is Take Five in Ebminor / Gb major ?
    Because it puts the alto sax (an Eb instrument) in C minor. Easy to think and solo in. And the B-section is in Eb (for the alto) - not bad.

  20. #19

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    Quote Originally Posted by pauln
    ... the majority of what I'm called to play seems to be in Eb, while I only play a couple of tunes in F major.
    Concert Eb is C for the Eb instruments (like alto and bari) and is F for the Bb instruments (trumpet and tenor). No flats or 1 flat. They love it.

  21. #20

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    Quote Originally Posted by Gabor
    I am processing Real Book tunes data and as a side product I've got distribution statistic of approx. 1000 standards. Major and minor keys are not distinguished yet (in one bucket), so it needs more refinement.

    If anyone interested, the results are:

    F: 221
    C: 191
    Eb: 159
    Bb: 141
    G: 110
    Ab: 52
    D: 49
    Db: 21
    A: 9
    E: 10
    Gb: 3 (Twisted Blues)
    B: 3 (Giant Steps, at least it starts in B so I put it to the B bucket)
    Gabor, thanks for doing this.

    It would be interesting to see the breakdown showing the relative minor vs. the parallel minor. So, instead of F (major & minor), C (major &minor), etc, show F/D minor, C/A minor, etc. But I don’t know how hard it might be from where you’ve started.

  22. #21

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    The key of F is the favorite key for tenor players to play the blues and such, because of the layout of the horn.

  23. #22

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    Quote Originally Posted by cmajor9
    Gabor, thanks for doing this.

    It would be interesting to see the breakdown showing the relative minor vs. the parallel minor. So, instead of F (major & minor), C (major &minor), etc, show F/D minor, C/A minor, etc. But I don’t know how hard it might be from where you’ve started.
    You are right, it makes more sense to put major and its relative minor one in bucket, I am going to do that also in the next few days.

  24. #23

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    Gabor and pauln, thanks for posting the stats.

    I recently did the same exercise based on my own repertoire (more than 100 arrangements/transcriptions) for solo guitar (not including my band compositions/arrangements).

    It's a fascinating subject that leads to a couple of interesting questions:

    -Is there a preferred key and if so; -why and in what context?

    There are a couple of references in this thread aiming for rational explanation.

    My personal reflections on the subject;

    When I write, arrange or transcribe, I have the power to decide the key. The choice is not a coincidence.
    The decision is based on one or more of the following factors; Sound, Emotion, Feasibility, Convenience, Tradition, Trend.
    These factors are in turn dependent on the target instruments/setting and style.

    Feasibility is obviously of major importance, the chosen key must support the viable range of the target instruments. Important passages of the arrangements mustn't be outside the range.
    Maybe less obvious is, what's feasible or not depends on the player/ vocalist. Also, certain instruments can only play a certain key.

    Convenience on the other hand could be me being lazy or even perfunctory, idiosyncrasies of the composer instrument (e.g intonation, the feel of a particular piano key, a dead spot, open strings) or just attention to the fact that certain instruments are designed in a certain key.

    Tradition is when I follow the footsteps of other writers/musicians, like a proven concept, e.g "slow movements in Ab do have something in common."

    Trend is when someone wants to copy a model by using the same key.

    Leaving us with the final and truly important dimensions; Sound and Emotion.
    Different keys sound different (not a matter of perfect pitch). An instrument has a sweet spot within its range. Sometimes it's not possible to transpose a composition and maintain the original emotion.

    Anyway, comparing my guitar repertoire with the Spotify base it appears like the most popular keys (including their respective parallel minor key) are: C, D, G, A
    And I do see a lot of good reasons from the perspective of C-instruments including standard guitar tuning.

    The relative Spotify peaks at C# (bbbbb) and F# (bbbbbb) look weird to me.

    The Real book bias for flat-sign keys may be explainable from the perspective Bb-transposing horns, but not from any other view point. Not at all ideal for guitar, with the exception of F /Dm (b) which are pretty nice keys in standard tuning.

    The very low representation of Real book songs in the lovely key of A is a real shame (imo).
    Last edited by JCat; 05-06-2019 at 07:45 AM.

  25. #24

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    I used to play the tenor saxophone in a blues band and was forced to learn F# major (E major concert) and B major (A major concert). I would have loved G major (F major concert) but there was no arguing with the guitarists. Anyway, I was lucky - the alto player had to play in C# major resp. Db major (E major concert)!

    Later I played the guitar in a swing trio and was forced to learn Eb major. Again, I would have preferred G major but there was no arguing with the pianist.

    Every instrument has keys that the player is most comfortable in. For the piano, it seems to be Eb - several pianists I played with spontaneously preferred it to other keys with less accidentals. Horns love flats, strings love sharps.

    There is a film about the British blues scene of the sixties. Georgie Fame recounts that at his first encounter with Muddy Waters, Muddy wanted him to play in E major (or a similar sharp-heavy key) and Georgie had a hard time following him. When he said so after the event, Muddy just responded: "Why didn't you say so earlier? We would've moved the capo!"

    Bottom line is: it actually pays to learn scales and arpeggios in any key, even if some keys are more likely than others.

    But am I the only one who is surprised that C# / Db is the fifth most popular key on Spotify? Who ever plays in that key? Even in the horn-friendly Real Book, it's only on eighth place by a long margin. Or is that a mistuned C or D major?

  26. #25

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    Quote Originally Posted by docsteve
    But am I the only one who is surprised that C# / Db is the fifth most popular key on Spotify? Who ever plays in that key? Even in the horn-friendly Real Book, it's only on eighth place by a long margin. Or is that a mistuned C or D major?
    Me too (see above). F# + D#m combined makes up 3,6% of the Spotify base. Doesn't make sense. Could have something to do with unstable tape recorders...

    But what's more alarming is 0.9% A major in Real book....