Playing an unfamiliar song with no key

Andrew Goulet · Posted 20 Aug 2021 5:05 am

Hi all,

If you were in a live situation and the band struck up a song you weren't familiar with at all, and they didn't tell you the key, how about would you figure out what to do without bonking all over the place?

Let's assume for this example the band is in the country rock idiom, with a bassist, drummer, singer, rhythm guitar and pedal steel (no lead instruments besides steel).
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Jim Pollard · From: Cedar Park, Texas, USA

I listen for the "home" or root tone, and search around a bit (quietly) until I can match that. Then check (quietly) whether a major or minor third sounds right in the context of the song. Or as part of trying to do this I often accidentally find the 7th first and start working from there instead. I practice this a LOT by just turning on youtube and playing along with whatever comes along.

Edward Dixon · From: Crestview Florida

If the rest of the band wants to leave you behind, just let 'em go. You don't have to play at all and you don't want to be the guy that ruined the song.

If you insist on playing a song you never played before, the 1st thing I would do is turn the volume way way down (off). Watch what chords the rhythm player is playing (assuming you know what you're looking at) and try to learn the chord progression. Then if you are comfortable with that knowledge you can improvise, if you have the talent.
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Ian Rae · From: Redditch, England

Make friends with the bassist's left hand.
You're not expected until the second verse at the earliest.

We have it easy. Try playing bass on a song you don't know Sad

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Lee Warren · From: Nashville, Tennessee, USA

Iâ€™d lay out until theyâ€™ve played a verse and chorus at least.
The bass will often provide the tonal center as an anchor, so Iâ€™d be listening to that.
Iâ€™d also be watching the rhythm playerâ€™s fretting hand (if you play regular guitar) for clues about the key.
Beyond that, working on your ear with â€˜relative pitchâ€™ training helps a lot, so you can identify or predict the chord changes as they happen.
A great site for that is tonedear.com
Just my 2 cents â€¦

Colin Swinney · From: Wisconsin, USA

Iâ€™d wave my arms frantically in the air and yell until everyone stopped. Then I would exclaim, â€œI DONâ€™T KNOW HOW TO PLAY THIS SONG! LETS DO RED RIVER VALLEY!â€

Problem solved. Cool

Richard Sinkler · From: aka: Rusty Strings -- Missoula, Montana

I get the attention of a guitar player, give him a really bad look, and can usually figure out the key by looking at the chords he's playing. I played several years with a band that held jams (more of an open mic) every Sunday. Guests (and the band I played with) did rock along with country. Some guests even pulled out originals. I became very good at figuring out songs and what to playing them.
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Per Berner · From: Skovde, Sweden

Lynn Kasdorf · From: Waterford Virginia, USA

Some good suggestions here. If I can't hear it, I can usually deduce the key visually from the guitar or bass. I'll confirm by finding the key with just string 8 (E) and locating the chord center with that.

I have been thrown before by the guitar player doing an E chord using just his index finger, and it looks like he is playing an A.
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Donny Hinson · From: Glen Burnie, Md. U.S.A.

1.) Start somewhere in the middle of the neck with playing an octave (strings 4 & 8 are a good choice). Pick it once at reduced volume, and listen to see if it's "sour". If it is, slide up one fret. (You're never more than one fret away from a note that "fits" in the scale.)

2.) Now without moving the bar, pick strings 4 & 5 and see if that interval sounds right, and use the A pedal or slide up if it doesn't. Shazam! You're in either the I, IV, or V chord of the song, and you've hit and resolved (at most) only one "clam". It should be easy after that. Laughing

Of course, if you know and can "hear" your intervals, you'll find step #1 is all you need. And always remember to slide up from a "bad" note to a good one!

Bob Hoffnar · From: Austin, Tx

Make ear training a part of your daily practice routine. Knowing how to find the key and play a song you've never heard before is a rite of passage for freelance players.
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Ian Rae · From: Redditch, England

Never ask the guitar player for the key. If he says 'D' he means that the first chord is D, but there the trail ends. The song itself could be in anything.
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Jerry Overstreet · From: Louisville Ky

Yeah, been there. No excuse for thast though. Very unprofessional to just dig in and start playing without passing around the key. Also rude.

I can usually get the key from the guitar player if I can see him. Otherwise, I just fumble around til I find it. Other times, I just don't play. When they ask why I didn't play, I tell them nobobdy gave me a key.

Some of the old timers know finger signals which works better anyway. E,B,D,G,C,B all sound the same when someone is trying to shout the key from the other side of the noisy stage.

Brooks Montgomery · From: Idaho, USA

that's when I switch to blow'n harp. I can find the key pretty quick and quietly with a rack of harps cupping and holding my palm against the side of the harp, with my index finger on my ear ("polish tuning fork" my band-mate said once). Then I know the IV of the key, and hence the key. Then I can play a little harp on the song, or start with some steel. "Wow, a multi-instrumentalist!"
No-- I'm a lost band member that either forgot the key, or no one had the courtesy to do a little heads-up.
To be honest, more often than not, I've forgotten the key. Man-- it is happening a lot as I get older. . . .
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Richard Sinkler · From: aka: Rusty Strings -- Missoula, Montana

Jerry Overstreet · From: Louisville Ky

Never happens with professionally minded or considerate players. If you're working a tour with an act, that's different. You'll probably know all the keys, but they still probably have charts.

Sometimes, you may be expected to know certain things like Memphis, Honky Tonk etc. but it's never OK. I just figure they don't want me to play if they don't indicate the key.

And I love when they holler out "G chord" to the band.ðŸ¥º

Bill Terry · From: Bastrop, TX

Jerry Overstreet · From: Louisville Ky

Oh yeah, nothing like a song you never heard that has a handful of changes and you don't find the key until the song is half over....then they point to you for a lead break cold.

But some people get a big chuckle out of embarrassing another musician in front of a big crowd.

I don't care how seasoned you are. As mild examples, try that with a song like New Kid or Cherokee Fiddle...

George Biner · From: Los Angeles, CA

What I would do is 1. look at the guitarist's hands or if that doesn't work 2. listen for the root of the chord they are playing, match that note on the 8th string (E in a E9 guitar) -- assuming it's a major chord, you can play the open chord at that fret -- then, just keep matching notes until you build up a chord pattern in your mind -- most popular songs are pretty simple and the patterns aren't complicated.
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Tony Prior · From: Charlotte NC

Well Jeff Newman discussed this at a Seminar I attended back in the 70's , apparently this isn't so UNCOMMON.

Heres what he said and I have probably done this a handful of times over the decades of gigs.

E9th- LOW E string #8 - or C 6th , C - string 7

From the open position , slide up slowly and quietly ( gliss) until you reach the root note, but you gotta be listening !

Oh yeah you gotta know the root note fret positions too ! Laughing

The other thing mentioned above , and this may be a bit more involved, pay attention to the chord structure in the 1st verse. Lay out.

Thats how much time we have to learn the song. But truly this applies to seasoned players on any instrument. This takes more than a few times getting kicked in the head and it can be quite interesting especially with songs that are NOT sock formula's. For those, stay near the root, and play very little, even some chimes here and there, if they fit.
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Bob Hoffnar · From: Austin, Tx

There are tons of tricks to do to make it sound like you know a song you have never heard before.

Open position chord where you think something is going to happen lead in with a B pedal only. If itâ€™s a 4 chord push down the A pedal . If itâ€™s a 5 drop your Lever. If it doesnâ€™t change let off your B pedal. All the diatonic chords are pretty easy . If itâ€™s a major 3 chord give the bass player a nasty look and bail.

It does take a quick ear and a good bit of battle condition experience though. Oh yea and if you donâ€™t have a good bass player who knows the tunes give up all hope and embrace despair because it is gonna be a long night.
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Paul Sutherland · From: Placerville, California

Play long sustaining single notes lower on the neck until you figure out the key.

If the bass player is lost, stop playing and go get a beer. There's really nothing you can do that contributes to the music.
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Bill Terry · From: Bastrop, TX

Bill Terry · From: Bastrop, TX

Sort of on the same topic, I've been playing in cover bands since the 70's. I've covered a boatload of tunes over the years, and also just heard a lot of songs many times, many that I may have never actually played. It's pretty amazing to me how sometimes a song gets called (like Cherokee Fiddle that Jerry Overstreet mentioned) and while I don't know all the changes, somehow having heard it a zillion times, I hear it, and it sort of comes to me in the heat of the moment and I'm able to sort of fake through it. I guess it's in your brain somewhere all that time? I'm sure I'm not the only that has that happen, but it's amazing how that stuff gets stuck in your head, and then it comes back.. weird.

Back to this thread, I think every idea everyone has mentioned relies on at least a reasonable skill level at hearing and identifying intervals. That's just a basic skill every musician needs to acquire.
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Bobby D. Jones · From: West Virginia, USA

When I get caught, No one telling me the key.(()&^%$
Look at the rythum players left hand first, Then.
I go to the 12th fret and pick string 4 or 8. When I hear the string against the song. My ear will tell me go lower or higher. Move the bar up or down the strings till the string and song come together.
That puts the song in 6 frets of bar movement. Much less movement of bar to go to D 10 Frets down the neck.

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