George,

>Obviously a keyboard player (as if I didn't know). Guitarist's, however, do better in sharps rather than flats (even though many do "flat" pick< bg >).

Right -- keyboard and trombone, which both work much better in flats. :-)

For strumming and picking, lots of sharps are ok, I guess, but if you're trying to read notes, ala classical, it might turn your brain inside out to be in 7 sharps!

I actually had to sight-read in 6 sharps once for a performance, after just one brief rehearsal -- great story:

I got home from Sunday lunch at about 3 pm, and found the phone frantically ringing (sounds dramatic, doesn't it?). It was a friend from my hometown in Alabama, saying that their pianist had broken her kneecap that morning, and their Christmas program was at 7pm that night. Pretty please, could I rush down there and cover?

I met with the choir for a run-through at 5pm, and then huddled in a classroom for another 30 minutes to cram what I could. The performance went off amazingly well, even the one piece that started in 5 flats, wandered all over the place, and ended up in 6 sharps. Boy, was I glad to get through that one!

That was 4 years ago, and they're still talking about it down there -- I'm like a local celebrity among those Baptists!