Favorite key's to use or play in.

I haven't seen much of anything on this, and it would be interesting to hear what keys people tend to play in. I like to try different keys when I can, but theres always those that just sit very naturally with me. Mine are A major, D minor, E major, F minor, and G major. Also the harmonic minor scale is really cool, but also the harmonic major too. Anyone else like that scale?

I love harmonic minor. But I usually play in Am, Em, Dm, well basically all the minors. I think minor scales sound better than the major ones.

Bassicaly all the keys in which you have some open chord positions. When I compose something I hate doing some acrobatical excercises to play it, and I don't like having a capo because I loose positions. If I have a problem with a singer who cannot sing whats necessary, I'd rather detune my guitar to lower.

I like to use minors as well, Am, Dm, Em. Sounds better to my ears. I tend to shy away from major, since I play mostly rock and metal.

I used to play pretty much just in C, Am, G, Em, D, and A. This was because the first things I learned were open position chords. Now, 5 years down the road, my most common keys are... A, C, D, E, F, G, Am, Bm, Cm, C#m, Dm, Em, Fm, F#m, Gm. I figure in a couple more years I'll play in all keys equally. Oh, and I do this all without a capo - bar chords, or figuring out ways to turn some chords into open chords (ex, C#m can be played as x, 4, 6, 6, 0, 0 for a nice C#m7 open voicing)

Over the years I've become very sensitive to keys, there really is a big difference. Here are a few of my favorites;

Playing Blues;
G (my favorite, kinda dark sounding), E , and Bb. Eb also sounds nice but can be a pain in the butt unless you tune down. I Hate Blues In A, to damn bright, same w/D & C.

Minor;
E and A minor sound really nice, as does D, C, & G.
The only really minor key that bothers me is B, just never sounds good to me.

Major.
These I'm real picky with. I enjoy G.....E and D can be okay depending on the song, but generally I much more prefer the flat keys when dealing w/ major (Bb, Ab, Eb).
Definitely not a big fan of A & C, too bright, too much clarity.

Originally posted by TheDirt
(ex, C#m can be played as x, 4, 6, 6, 0, 0 for a nice C#m7 open voicing) [/B]

Technically C#-9

Originally posted by chris mood
Technically C#-9 [/B]

x, 4, 6, 6, 0, 0 (chord diagram) =
C#, G#, C#, B, E (actual notes) =
C#, E, G#, B (from low to high, deleting repeated notes)

That's a C#m7, I'm pretty sure. It would have to have a D# in there to be a C#m9

On the chord difference. x46644 would be a C#m9, x46600 is a C#m7. Not sure where the disagreement is there, although the first one is a more common voicing than the other. I definitely have respect for those who can play all the chords without a capo or tuning, that's pretty tough. I usually go farther down the neck to find an easy way to play the more complex ones.

Yeah chris, there definitely is a difference in the different keys. You noticing subtle reasons why certain songs are written in certain keys? Other than how easy they are to play, or the major and minor, but a "feeling" to each one. The flat major keys are cool too, especially Eb, a very nice sounding key. B minor is an extremely dark sounding key and may need a little depression to feel it right. ;)

I like major keys even though I am a rock and sometimes metal player too. Major key’s don’t necessarily mean “happy” keys which is sometimes a misconception. Major key’s also have strength to them. Minor key’s tend to be softer on my ears. Something that doesn’t always work when your writing a tune that is hard hitting. A common thing to do with major keys when writing them in rock songs is to alter chord tones, like bIII, bVI, or bVII for example.

One thing I do also is if I write a tune that I haven’t really thought of an appropriate key for. I’ll write it in C major or A minor. It’s a lot easier to transpose a song from one of those than any other key. Usually if your write a tune in a altered key, it sounds too awkward when moved to another.

My Bag.....sorry.