[Dixielandjazz] Keys?

[Bill Gunter]

Hello troops,

Mike wrote (regarding keys):

>I like the timbre of the sharp keys.

I've heard of this notion before but I never have quite understood it.

As I understand it, timbre (pronounced "TAM brughhh" or TOM brugghhh" or 
maybe "TOM burr" of something in an unpronouncable French accent) has 
nothing to do with the pitch or volume of a note, but rather it's "color" or 
tone quality.

Are there those among you who can distinguish the difference in "tone color" 
between, say, E and F?  Does a piano solo played in the key of E (4 sharps) 
sound (color wise) different than the same piano solo played in F (1 flat)?

I'm not saying that such things as "tone color" don't exist. For example I 
can certainly tell the difference between an oboe playing A and a trumpet 
playing A. That, to me, is what I would recognize as distinctive timbres.  
But if I hear an oboe playing a tonic scale in E and then repeating the same 
thing in F . . . to tell you the truth I can hear no significant difference 
in tone color. It still sounds like a freakin' oboe.

Oh sure . . . I can tell the F scale is a half step HIGHER (not LOWER) than 
the E scale when rendered on an oboe - but that's a difference in pitch.  To 
me, the tone color is the same.

Please tell me what I'm missing here.

Respectfully requested,

Bill "tin ear" Gunter
jazzboard at hotmail.com