or using transpose +/- ....is almost the same thing.
Nothing wrong with that as long as the music sounds good and is easier for the musician to interpret his feelings. Some keys are easier to play in for your finger positions, runs, solos, & your brain thoughts especially while singing & playing.
There are NO rules, Just Good Music,..

Yamaha arrangers & If I remember my Korg pa3x have ONE TOUCH Transpose +/- on the fly which is great.
but Roland arrangers I've had G70, etc, is a two button execution which is much more difficult in real time for a split second modulation etc.

No one in the audience knows, or for that matter, cares whether or not you transpose, use a capo, etc... They just want to be entertained and that's why we get the big bucks.

Gary

Most important to me is that the transposer doesn't immediately "transpose" after I hit the +/- button, but waits till I play a new chord or key before the change. My Yamaha Tyros4 does this with ease, and I suspect the other manufacturers have similar setups.

I usually go through my home-made restaurant fake books and because a lot of the music is written in the original key, I get to play in many keys other than "C", which is good for keeping my skills up.

As far as an "easiest" soloing key, I would have to say "C, "G" "A", or "E" the latter two I became accustomed to playing in due to being in bands with guitar players.

The transposer is especially cool to use when tunes have a lot of repetition.

Ian

When I am recording a song with more than one solo break and no key change, I will often transpose whatever instrument I'm playing (keyboard or EWI) for the second solo. This forces me to play the second solo a little different than the first because the solo to me will be in a new key thus avoiding (hopefully) repeating any favourite licks. Not useful for live play, but it works for multi-tracking.

WAY BACK IN THE DAY ... when I was just starting playing gigs, there was a guy who played piano and every song was in 'C' ... after a while all the songs started to sound the same ... Now with the 'Transpose' key it is easier to play all songs in the same key but vary the keys people are hearing ...
As for me, I like playing songs in the original key - unless of course it doesn't fit my vocal range (which is not that great) -
I really like playing in the keys of F,G,Eb,Bb, perhaps because so many of the 'Standards' are written in those keys, and those keys often fit my vocal range ...

Ian, when I read that you enjoy playing in A and E I immediately thought 'he must have played with a lot of guitar players' ... it's kind of funny to me that I don't mind playing in 3 or 4 flats, but don't like playing in 3 or 4 sharps ...

Hi Tony, I don't mind the flatted keys too much, because, as you say, a lot of the standards were written in those keys.

When I played the restaurant, a few lady music teachers were sitting near my setup, and I could see them looking at one another in some sort of amazement as I transposed tunes several times during the performance, and I always did the transposition on a "turnaround" key, so it sounded very convincing.

Sometimes I would transpose down instead of up, which, actually sounds pretty cool in some instances.

I felt more like a "magician" than "musician" at that point. Smoke and mirrors...ha ha!

Ian

I think you need to mix it up a bit ... playing the same key can make you lazy, and you may start to finger the same chords in the same way all the time ... too much chance of monotony, I think.
Certain fingerings "lay" differently and provide a better hand position over "C". As a matter of fact - "C" is not AWLAYS the easiest for lots of chords. The "B" major scale falls so naturally under the right hand on a keyboard - it's much easier to hit the notes than in "C". It smooshes your hand less. There's nothing wrong with using capos or buttons, but it does chisel away at your skills, and reduce your effectiveness when those features are not present. I really like most of the keys up to 4 or 5 accidentals. After that - I loose some dexterity due to thought fatigue!

Yep...it is good to play in other keys rather than one or two favorites, although sometimes a singer's vocal range makes that decision for them.

Soloing in unfamiliar keys can be a bit exciting, but I wouldn't go on stage without at least a few rehearsals in the new signature.

For Rock and Roll and a lot of Pop Tunes, I find the keys of A and E work equally as nice for pounding out a piano lick as well as soloing with an organ or other sustaining type voice...but that's just my preference.

One thing for sure, in the early days, with Hammonds, Rhodes, DX-7's and MiniMoogs, you didn't have the luxury of transpose buttons so you played in the agreed upon key, and made the best of it. One could say, it was certainly never dull.

I do have to say, the tranposer has certainly made some potentially difficult situations much easier, so I'm a supporter for sure.

Ian

The G70 is the simplest...2 buttons one for up ..and another for down...and is lit when transposed..

Personally, I rarely use the transpose feature..I am comfortable in most keys..

Why is it though...my vocal keys always seem to be in the keys "B" "Ab" and "C#"


My favorite playing keys are "Eb" "G" and "F"