Whenever I've tabbed songs, I usually put down the key of the harmonica I am playing them in (which, at this stage in my illustrious harmonica career, is always C), but it occurred to me (as I looked up "Wildwood Flower" that some people put down the key that the song is in (case in point with "Wildwood Flower"--the song is in the key of G; thus, it's played on a C harp--it is posted with a "G" as the key). So was the original intention to list the harp key or the song key? From what I've looked at, I think most people list the harp key or nothing at all.

I don't think this affects the functioning/appeal of the site much at all--I'm just curious.

The intent was for the harmonica key. When I set everything up I wanted to make it so people could look at the top of the tab and know if they could play the song without trying. At the time I was new to harmonica and I kept finding cool tabs but I couldn't play them because they had bends and were meant for other keys.

OK--that's how I was reading it the whole time--which was very helpful to me because there were a couple of songs that I was butchering and then I realized they were being played in a different keyed harmonica. Now, whenever, I sound bad I just assume the song must be in a different key! lol...

LOL what else could it possible be.

Songs I have tabed show the key of the harp that they are tabed for.

You can try them on another harp, but they will not sound right unless you play them on the correct harp.

When I tab a song, I'm usually using my C harp. Since just about everyone has a C harp, it's just easier. The tabs are for the notes. Playing a tab on a C harp or a G harp will use the same holes and the music will sound the same but when using a G harp, everything will sound lower. Some songs just sound better in a different key but can be played in any key. If I tab a song that uses a lot of the high end holes just to make it easier to tab, I'll suggest a low key such as a G harp.

Technically, providing the tab doesn't have a huge octive range, you can tab a song in all three positions on a harp if you're willing to do bends and overblows to hit the correct notes.

About the only time you need to know the key of a song is if you're playing with other instruments. If you want to play the tab of the song (singing parts) while someone plays accompaniment on a guitar, you'll need to be in the same key.

When playing with other instruments and playing in the proper key, you can't hit a wrong note. IE: if the song is in the key of C and you're playing a C harp, you're not going to hit any sharps or flats (without doing bends or overblows) since there are none in the key of C. Hitting a note not in the proper key is very noticable compared to just hitting a wrong note that is in the key. That's why if you're jamming with someone, you can play whatever melody you like providing it's in the proper key and it will still sound good.

I posted a tab for "Wildwood Flower", once. I posted as using a C harp
while playing in G.
You must have been referring to mine.
One question; when you post the tab, and it asks the harp type: I
would usually put the type of harp I'm using.
Then if I am using a C harp, and playing G; it would note at the top of
my tab.
Once I noticed that it might get confusing, I would just select
"Any" for harp type.