When a traditional jazz band picks a tune, the first thing to do is decide in which key to play it.
There are 12 different keys.
So why is it that some of these twelve keys are virtually never used? The answer is that - for technical reasons concerning the physics of sound and the design of instruments - some notes in certain keys can sound slightly out of tune on clarinets, cornets, trumpets, brass basses and sousaphones.
The order of preference for keys is:
The order of preference for keys is:
1. Bb (=A#)
2. F
3. Eb (=D#)
4. C
5. Ab (=G#)
6. G
7. Db (=C#)
8. D
9. Gb (=F#)
10. A
11. B
12. E
So, you will hear more than 90% of our music played in Bb or F or Eb - the first three in the list. (More than 40% of our tunes are played in Bb.) You may have to search for months to find a tune played in a key from the other end of the list (notably A, E or B). There are odd exceptions. I was once astonished to hear two Australian buskers (trumpet and banjo) in Jackson Square, New Orleans, playing When the Saints in E. And that great band Tuba Skinny, of course, are never afraid to challenge conventions. On rare occasions you will find them using such keys as Db and G, especially when the unusual choice seems best fitted to the vocalist.
Over time, most of our musicians become so accustomed to playing in Bb, Eb and F that these keys are embedded in their fingers. They play easily in these keys but are thrown if suddenly asked to play a familiar tune in, for example, A instead of the usual Bb: they have to struggle and think fast to find the right fingering.
Of course, each of the twelve keys also has a related minor key. So there are also 12 minor keys. C minor uses the same notes as Eb major, Db minor uses the same notes as E major; and so on. But all I have said about the major keys applies exactly to tunes in minor keys. Most of our minor key tunes are played in G minor, D minor or E minor - which correspond of course to the three top choices for major keys.