When talk show bands play an impromptu song, how do instantly play in the same key?

Question

When talk show bands play an impromptu song, how do instantly play in the same key?

In: Other

Answer 1

There are only a handful of popular styles and they all follow pretty basic rules. Even without the ten thousand+ hours of practice musicians of that calibre have, any casual music listener innately feels those rules.

Test it yourself. Listen to a pop song you’ve never heard before and try to guess where it’s going to go next. You’re probably right 90% of the time. Sure, music is art and can be surprising, but not the kind of music that is played on talk shows or in most improv situations.