You’re probably looking for the term TAPPING. Here’s an instructional video
Never believe it, for myself – I’ve studied Mr. Johnson a lot, and this is a straight-up horn-key type player. I’m 100% sure he’d go for Bb over A any day of the week, just based on his live concert with commentary.
Otis Spann, that’s another matter – he’ll get down in A any day. And, for me, being primarily a blues/rock player, I can throw down in A also. Actually, it’s kind of a good piano key, as is E and D, among the sharps, but I didn’t come up in the 1950s playing with a bunch of horn sections who’d probably kick some ass if some chooch made them play in sharp keys all night! I learned it all in them sharp keys from Otis Spann – a lot of his stuff just makes sense in sharp keys, ergonomically. And I ain’t talking about no G neither (nor in B – feh – Brahms had good stuff in B, but he’s special).
ETA I think I misunderstood your post. Oh well, I got the gist of it, I guess, and vice versa I presume. Be more clear next time, WordMan! You about gave me a coronary after I thought I missed something important in your post!
We’re good, aren’t we? My basic point was that A is a guitar key and B, let alone Bb, is not - so the fact that Mr. Guitar plays The Guitar Lick Song in a non-guitar key tells us something about Johnson’s influence. The fact that you can share that Johnson favored horn keys is interesting. And your run down of how a pianist views keys is also cool. Good stuff (please tell me you like Ian McLagan of The Faces - I’m listening to their stuff right now and loving his work).
Er, if I had a dime for every open jam when I was coming up where some guitar player decided to screw with me by calling (or just start playing) tune in B or C#, I’d be a rich man. Db/C# actually is a good key for pianos. I always thought you guitar types lived for playing in B! Just to eff with us poor keyboard players, you know.
Pretty sure they pitch-adjusted a lot of those Chuck (not Chu, but Chuck!) Berry tunes to get them out of the cracks between the keys or get it out of a nice, good old-fashioned key like Bb or Ab. They must have. My impression is that Johnson was an old-old-old-school player who’d as soon blow a donkey than play in some fancy guitar player key. Otis Spann was so crazy, he probably just didn’t care (FWIW on a lot of his solo records, he just sticks to C, G, F, and maybe D, Spann does, IIRC).
Anyway, propers for that amazing HomeSpun private concert with Mr. Johnson – it’s worth picking up, but there isn’t a lot there aside from a bunch of piano. I didn’t even realize Jimmy Vivino was the same guy on…Conan…I guess until I mentioned the concert to some people who actually watch TV more than me.
ETA Sorry, I don’t really know The Faces – will check it out. Obviously, I know of them, just not really anything that comes to mind.
Actually, I didn’t know; interesting. Guess I don’t play much in B when keyboardists are involved; I didn’t know it was a problem key for you guys. I gotta get out more often with keyboard players.
Spann is great, isn’t he? I have the one he did with Peter Green’s Fleetwood Mac, The Biggest Thing Since Colossus. Great stuff.
I should check out that Homespun video - when I can find the time :rolleyes: I never have enough time for music these days.
I am listening to The Faces collection, Five Guys Walk into a Bar. Totally recommendable. But McLagan’s keyboard work really stands out to me - just perfect boogie keys, keeps it simple and more than holds his own space in the band, carving his own line through the songs. A perfect complement to Wood’s guitar playing - he occupies a full Keith-like rhythm groove voice.
Sorry for the drift from the OP…
Definitely OT. Will indeed check McLagan out. Memphis Slim did a lot of pop music – didn’t know Spann did so much – but he’s funny because he only plays in G and C, pretty much.
Any piano player (a pro, not some kid) can tear it up in B – Johnnie Johnson said, “Well, B isn’t my favorite key,” which was a cool way of saying it IMO. It wasn’t until I was 25 that I could get by in B pretty good – the matter is, that, unless you hear somebody else play in a key and get it down that way, there’s no real reason to do it. And since most pianists stick to the horn keys or, get as high into the sharps just shy of B, there ain’t no reason unless it’s one of you damned guitar players forcing us trying to give us static if we can’t hook it up, and, if we can’t, saying “Hey, how about a nice boogie in C? Can’t you play that, boy?” Fucking hate playing in C, just you slick six-stringers trying to fuck with a nice little kid trying to learn. Grrr!!! I still hit up some jams every now and then – works a lot better now that I’m not some little kid who only knows a few things or keys.
I love it. Inside baseball for keyboards.
Good call. I must have been mixing my rye with my gin, but it’s still fun too chat about oddball stuff (not odd to me, but the average person is probably nodding off about all this talk about keys). Besides, here, I’m anonymous whereas the other place I post I use my real name and stuff, so I can get all crazy here without worrying about shutting myself out of any potential jobs.
Oh, about five or six months ago, I went to an open jam just for fun with a friend of the family and an old friend of mine just for fun, not intending to play. Talking during a break with the piano “guy” and said hey maybe I can sit in – do you mind? I’m OK, I won’t break your shit up. Started up and the bassist called blues in “C.”
Guess what the key was?? A. Asshole. Obviously I figured it out right away and they gave me two choruses solo, which is more than I usually get (since I’m not a fucking loud-ass guitar player [/grumbleover]). The noive!
I guess he was right, sort of (if those guitarists can even read) – A is sort of the same as C. But why assume that “C” is some magical key for all keyboardists that makes them play like a fucking Liberace?
Object lesson: fret-instrument players and keyboard players are enemies!
Actually, it’s “mental masturbation” and the song is “One Way to Rock.”
But the meaning is the same.