Playing in different keys

[red7flag]

I played with a fiddler this weekend that played things in different keys than I was used to and was lost, especially at the speed he was playing. This may be a function of still being relatively new at playing mando with others. I am now trying to work out arangements in different keys. It turns out this is a great exercise to do on a mandola, working out the melody and chords in the original key on the mandola seems to open my mind up to new arrangements and patterns on the mandolin. Being a fifth lower, making arrangements is kind of a neet puzzle, requiring a bit of open-mindedness. Plus, I love that mandola sound, especially on a quiet mellow evening. I am finding that the mandola takes the role the guitar did when I was playing banjo.

[Stephanie Reiser]

IN time you will be able to effectively change keys. With your fiddle-playing friend, perhaps he can whisper to you what the key will be. If I am in a bluegrass jam, I generally look to a good guitar player's left hand for the key. Much of the time I can just tell what key we are in simply by "ear".
Your changing keys by a fifth is fun, too. For example, by itself, I play Red-Haired Boy in key of A. However, I sometimes play a little medley starting with St. Anne's Reel in D, going right into RHB down a fifth from usual to D as well. Then I play the second part of RHB twice, the second time up a fifth in A and then I go right into Brilliancy which is in A. Basically I change keys by a fifth in the middle of the medley. I know what I have written is confusing, but it is a fun use of changing keys by a fifth.

[red7flag]

Stephanie, Lost was a poor choice of words on my part. I knew what key he was playing in, just was unable to work out an arrangement at that speed on the fly. I have a bad habit of always playing a song in the same key. I like that changing RHB by a fifth and will try it when I get home this evening. Thanks.