jsantos wrote:I don't know what the big deal is with playing a song in different keys?
You can play "Smoke on the Water" in G, or C or even Eb. Its called TRANSPOSING.
Real musicians do it all the time to accommodate the vocalist's range.
Right on JSantos!
I became somewhat adept at transposing back in the late 60's when I played in a band with a "front man" singer who had a good ear for pitch, great stage presence, but very limited range.
Also, back when we used vinyl to work out songs, you sometimes got tripped up if your turntable wasn't turning at the right speed. I recall the first time I worked out Spencer Davis Group's "Gimme Some Lovin... In F sharp.. Imagine my surprise , when after attempting to play it at rehearsal, everyone else worked it out in G! ( It was a hell of a lot easier in G, but F# would have been just as cool. That is probably when I realized that there really isn't any real RIGHT way to play a song, as long as everyone else is in the same key and is somewhat hip to the arrangement.
HJ