There are two factors that arise when I'm trying to figure out what key we're going to use for a given song. The obvious one is "can I sing it starting on that pitch, or is it too high/low?"

Another one is, "Are we trying to incorporate any instrument that has limited coverage as far as keys?" Lap dulcimer, hammer dulcimer, autoharp, harmonica, are all "challenged" to greater or lesser degrees in this area, so sometimes a compromise is necessary.

There are then two more factors that don't affect the key you play in, but do affect which form you use after you decide on the key. This may be a personal eccentricity, but I have two guitars which I think sound better capoed a couple frets up than they do open, so if I sing in D, I'll capo at 2 and use C forms.

The other part of the "what forms?" question is how I want the melody to sound against the background. (I fingerpick a lot.) Yes, a person should be able to pick out a melody in any of the common major keys, but at least if you're stuck in first position, you might have a "baritone" or "alto" sounding melody that's easy to finger but is mainly on the bottom or middle strings. Melodies played on C or E chords, in my experience, tend to be up on the higher strings, so there again, if I'm playing a song in G and I want the melody to be up toward the "high lonesome" range, I'll capo up and use C forms. I'm still in G, so that's not really a change of KEY, but it's a logical consequence of deciding on a key.

I suppose I've said enough to say too much, so I'll go to my room now.

CC