G-FLAT MAJOR
It has been written that the benefits of playing music help your brain more than any other activity, so yesterday I sat down to a new piece of music all excited to stretch my fingers and my mind. And what did I find? Someone decided it would just be a dandy idea to arrange it in the key of G flat major. To those of you who are not intimate with the different keys music can be arranged in, this means there would be six flats. Six… Flats. In order to have this happen, that means the 6th flat needs to be C.
When I sit down at the keyboard I sit at middle C. It’s called middle C because it’s in the middle of the keyboard. For those not initiated in the layout of the keyboard, C is a white key with only a sharp black key to the right that is in close proximity.
I’ve had a little chat with the C key and it appears it doesn’t enjoy being flat. It’s not made to be flat. When a composer chooses to write a piece in the G-flat major key, that means that C is now being played as a B. Because, you see, there is no black key to the left of C. The only key to the left is a B. Being the C key is a privilege and an honor, it tells me, and it doesn’t like being relegated to being a half baked B. It’s not right, it’s not fun and it hurts C’s feelings.
I know this doesn’t make sense to many of you not familiar with the keyboard and I’m trying to describe my frustration. But I’m now getting frustrated in trying to relay my frustration. The playing of the keyboard is both simple and complex, both beautiful and intricate. All ten fingers going different directions at the same time in order to touch these stunning ivories. The brain making shifts in key changes, tempo and trying hard to keep up ahead of the fingers as they fly.
It is well known that playing a piece in the key of C is the easiest of challenges. No concrete sharps or flats; only those that appears occasionally in the course of the music. At the other end of the spectrum is a piece written in all sharps or all flats. If a sharp is written in, my brain has to read the note as C sharp and adjust the fingers accordingly. But C flat? Come on folks. This is just cruel to my brain.
This arranger expects the my neurons to fire on all cylinders. That would be the perfect scenario. But, alas, that is not the case. I haven’t been on all cylinders for quite a while and definitely haven’t in the world of playing the piano. What’s a magical mess to do? Should she tackle the G flat Major piece? Should she put it away in favor of a simpler sheet of music? Should she give up on this blog because while proof reading it, she’s found it gives her a headache? She can only imagine what it will do to her blog readers.
This entry is indeed a mess but it follows my mind accurately. So I’ve decided to post it in hopes that a few will understand and those of you who don’t will forgive.
magicalmess 