Why did Frank Bradbury record the Banshee in E major?

[Austin]

I'm curious because I was told the banjo is best at flat keys not so much sharp ones which is why Emile Grimshaw wrote it in Eb. Why would he make this odd choice to shift up from Eb to E?

[Austin]

Never mind, I just put nylguts on my banjo so it tuned itself down a half step when the strings stretched lol

[Steve Harrison]

My theory regarding  the keys of why Emaj and A maj are rarely seen in banjo music is one of practicality. In both keys G is sharp and on the banjo, the 3rd and 5th strings are conventionally tunes to G natural. Unless the strings are tuned up half a tone, Ab and Eb are the preferred keys in which to play. Just a thought...Steve.

[Joel Hooks]

I believe the Banshee is in C minor. 

Regarding recordings-- don't always trust them. Playback speed might be altered and they are often "cleaned up" (which makes them sound like they are under water).

[Austin]

I don't think this one was tampered with, but you could be right. The banshee I believe starts off in e-flat major.

Joel Hooks said:

I believe the Banshee is in C minor. 

Regarding recordings-- don't always trust them. Playback speed might be altered and they are often "cleaned up" (which makes them sound like they are under water).

[Jody Stecher]

The intro to the Banshee is indeed composed and written in E flat major and the fast part starts off in C minor. 3 flats in the key signature in both cases. The Bradbury playback on youtube I listened to is indeed at  E maj/ C# minor. (assuming A 440).

Turntables do not all play at the same speed and neither do cassette machines. There can be any number of other reasons for the playback being high and fast. Even the recording equipment may be responsible.

 Bradbury is playing in E flat/ C minor fingering. This is obvious from the distinct sound of the open 4th and 3rd strings. 

[Jody Stecher]

Actually a bit sharper than that. 

Jody Stecher said:

The Bradbury playback on youtube I listened to is indeed at  E maj/ C# minor. (assuming A 440).

[Austin]

Interesting. You're positive he's playing in C Minor E flat major fingering?

Jody Stecher said:

Actually a bit sharper than that. 

Jody Stecher said:

The Bradbury playback on youtube I listened to is indeed at  E maj/ C# minor. (assuming A 440).

[Jody Stecher]

Listen to the sound of the closed and open strings and you will also be positive. The mood of the piece is difficult or even impossible to convey in E major fingering.  C minor/ E flat is a sort of "sound family". The absolute pitch is not as significant as the way the overtones produced by open strings color each pitch that is played.  In addition, playing this kind of melody in E flat and C minor fingering makes sense and is calming to the mind and body,  4 of the open strings of gCGBD tuning are part of the Eb major scale. The one that is not, B, which is open.string 2,  is the only open string in the key of E major.  Playing this sort of melody in E fingering hurts the mind and annoys the fingers. All for something that sounds worse than when played in the composed key. The composer was a 5-string banjo player. He knew what he was doing. And he knew that C minor on the banjo can sound eerie.

 Playing blues melodies and blues chords in E is another matter. There are so many advantages. For instance one can move between the open third string and the first fret which moves us between  minor third (G) and major third (G#) by means of a slur or "hammer".  creating an illusion of the oscillating blues third which is between minor and major.  Andi D, the open 1st string is the indispensable flat 7 of blues.  And the open 5th string (and 3rd string) provides the flat 7 of the A chord, the "subdominant ".  This makes the chords  sound rich   and the fingered pitches sound lovely. So I'm not saying E is a bad banjo key. I'm saying it is an inconvenient key for the Banshee.

But all this is almost beside the point. Just listen to the recording and visualize the fingering. It will be obvious that Bradbury is playing this banjo solo in the key in which it was composed. 

Austin said:

Interesting. You're positive he's playing in C Minor E flat major fingering?

Jody Stecher said:

Actually a bit sharper than that. 

Jody Stecher said:

The Bradbury playback on youtube I listened to is indeed at  E maj/ C# minor. (assuming A 440).