I find I use it in two different situations. The most common use is when I'm playing along with a CD. We're not shy about rekeying tunes to fit the vocals - so if I'm playing along with the CD of the original - I use the "keyboard capo" to match the key we play it in.

When I get there, I find out that this knucklehead plays every tune in C#. I used the button.

This seems like a use of the transpose button that few could find a flaw in.

Other than that - transposing on the fly is a gas if you ask me, and forcing yourself to play in your weaker keys when the pressure's on is as good as an hour of practicing it. Your fingers learn a lot quicker...

I do now....the new band tunes down 1/2 step to accommodate vocals, and since I learned the songs in their "correct" key, and really can't afford to the time to retrain myself to play them 1/2 step flat (nor feel like it), I'm hitting the transpose button at the beginning of the show.

I'm assuming the majority of people who pride themselves on not using the transpose button are playing tunes they know. And I'll bet they start them off in the usual key -unless they're playing alone wandering around the keyboard a bit lost as to where to go next. I mean really, do you do the cheezy "up a semitone" bit on every chorus??

Big deal.

I'll not only use the transpose button, but I'll insist on a digital piano. Depends on the circumstance, like everything else. Some art song that sounds wrong in any key, that's open territory.

Use it or lose it. (I'm, of course, referring to your brain and not the transpose button. )

It was hard enough playing someone else's rig and finding out where all the patches are before the set starts.

Why should I then be forced to play blues in Db, Eb, Gb, & Ab all night?

Trust me, if you really work on it, and commit to playing in the keys that are actually being used, your playing in all the other keys will improve *without having played in them* simply because your hands are getting a better grasp of the keyboard.