Recently I have been playing with the Vocal Harmoniser on the 9000Pro. With the microphone I'm using I am getting some nice clean sound....unfortunately my voice is not so clean...Ha!!!
(As a boy I had a reasonable voice in the local church choir).

QUESTION. How does one decide and find the best key to play in to suit ones singing voice.

Graham UK

I often struggle with this too. I would be able to sing it ok privately but when it comes time to sing with lots of people around me, the key would turn out to be too high some of the times.

I usually use the rule that people normal range is from C note to the next C octave and adjust songs so that the lowest range and highest range falls in that range. It usually works. But not all the time. I also try to sing the song mentally going through the whole range of notes instead of using the voice and that seems to work a lot too and getting that "sweet" key better. Then trying it with the voice afterward.

anyone else ?

Graham,

I'm not the expert that some of the others are on the forum but I try to pick a key where the highest note in the song will be about two notes lower than the top note of my range. If the song goes high and stays high for a long time I might drop it a little more.

Tom

I'm close to agreement with Tom, except that I try to keep the highest note about 1 full step below the top of my range (which is about 'F') .... therefore any song not going above Eb is ok .... However, also like Tom, if the song stays in that upper range, I would probably go lower, and there are times when I might stretch to F# or G on a one shot deal ....
t.

Graham,

The rule of thumb, at least according to my community college vocal instructor, is to pick the highest note that you are comfortable with in a particular song, then work from that level down.

There are no rules etched in stone as to which chord you select to sing a particular song. You just work in the confort zone. Works for me!

Cheers,

Gary

Thank you all for your reply's. It all sounds like common sense answers, its just that I wanted to confirm to myself I was thinking on the same lines.
I have not previously played about with the Vocal Harmoniser, but find its an enjoyable experience....just wish I was a choir boy again !!!!.

Graham UK

Some sylables will sound easier than others, so even if the pitch is the same - the 2 notes may not be equally easy/hard to hit. A lot has to do with breath, placement, support, diction ..... it's a science, and it has limitations, that's for sure.
I can sing a "G" above the staff, but only in Piano Man ...... and only at a pretty good volume. In softer songs, with different words.... I stay away from anything higher than an Eb mostly.
Billy Joel and I both hate singing in "E".

I have always heard that the "D" key is pretty universal for everyone. Has anyone else heard that?

pat

Kind of along the same topic, I once worked in a group where the lead guitarist/vocalist performed everything one half step down from the originals (supposedly to ease strain for singing) and accomplished this by tuning everything half step down rather than playing it half step down.

Tell you what, I was never so thankful for my keyboards transpose button.

The idea of his tuning never really did make sense to me even though I had heard of others doing this same thing on occasion.

Your thoughts on this?



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The old Newb

There is only ONE rule for deciding keys. SOUND.
If it's a vocal - the voice has to sound best.
If it's an instrumental - the melody instrument has to sound best.
That's it. Period. End of story.
Make it the best for the instrument that carries the tune.

As a singer, I make sure my keys suit my range and comfort zone before anything else. Boo (or any sax player) would have an awful time accompaning me because I often play in B, E, or F#. Can't be helped - sometimes, that where my voice NEEDS to be.
I hate it when people tell me to play something in "the original" key. I have no idea what that is most times ! I know it in the key I LEARNED it in, because that's why I learned it in the first place. I learned it to perform it myself, not accompany others in someone else's key.
That's the biggest reason I discourage amature guest singers. Most don't know the key, the words or the way to sell the tune. They're just having fun. They can do that at home. When I'm working ..... I'm too busy to babysit Karaoke pipe dreams.

On a brighter point: I'm almost moved into my new birthday house ! Yipeeeeeeee !

Thre is no RULES for KEYS to sing in, every song is different depending on its Low/High Range. Just take the HIGHEST singing note of a song and see if you can hit it Comfortably, all else will fall underneath. Thst will be your KEY for That Song only.
Do the same for all songs. There are no standard keys to sing songs... Every song on my website demos are in Different keys..

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www.donnypesce.com

I'm with you UD, and when we had the band in NY, very seldom did any of us sing in the same key as the original ... However, I find that many 'cover' bands or 'tribute' bands will only do the tune in the original key (whether their vocal range allows them to or not) because "that's what the 'crowd' is used to hearing" ... There have been times when I'll be trying a tune in different keys, and if my kids are around they will tell me which sounds more like the original ... Also most jazz musicians will do tunes (instrumentals, at least) in the 'original' key, which is generally the key found in a fake book or 'The Real Book' ...
t.

Dave's right on the money. While singing hymns along with a CD at religious services, I notice that I strain on some tunes to hit an E and on another hymn I can hit it rather well. The word and the syllable make a big difference.

Many times it may be easy in a passage on a particular song to sing starting on C, then the D, and working up to the E. Then another tune may call for one to sing an A and then got straight to the E which may be impossible for that vocalist.

There are many factors involved when you get to the top of your range, wherever that may be. I think Eb for the top of one’s range might work for most vocalists. The Eb is about the limit for me 99% of the time. I think Dave said this in his post

I find that if I figure the tune to reach the top note at D or Eb it will work out for me. However occasionally I can do an E.

I think I mentioned this before. I’ve read or I've seen a documentary on TV that stated that Billie Holiday was not blessed with a great range.

Frank Sinatra could get up and down in the range he sang in. He was a baritone. Some of his stuff is hard to sing exactly as he did the tune also. Try the intro to “I get a kick out of you.“

Look at it this way; some of us can lay brick and Dave will never be able to lay brick because he’s to dang old to learn how! Besides, he couldn't carry all of those buckets of mortar around all day. He's not very good with buckets on any "GIG" I mean "JOB."

OH! I forgot! This is no joke I'm dead serious. Dave slipped the other day on the phone with me and said "GIG." I promised I wouldn't tell! Sorry Dave, "the devil made me do it."

[This message has been edited by brickboo (edited 03-01-2004).]

[This message has been edited by brickboo (edited 03-02-2004).]

Boo,

He really didn't use the "G" word did he?

Tom

Tom this is serious stuff man! You don't see Dave responding do you?

Dave I humbly ask your forgiveness man? I should never have broken my promise.

Can someone act as a go-be-tween. Dave is supposed to send me a floppy drive for my laptop he's waiting on.

Hope I didn't screw up again.
Everyone please send Dave an email interceding on my behalf would you?

Gary, did I spell everything right here? Let me know and I'll edit it. I didn't have time to run it through my word-processor.

Dave, again I'm sorry friend. I promise I'll never tell on you again. K?

I'm getting nervous, I never heard from him in a while. I hope it's just cause he's busy trying out the new pool with a "redhead" of some kind.

I keep putting my foot in my mouth. I'm gonna shut up now.
Dave's best buddy,
Boo

When in Rome ........
Use Romex!

I was talking with Boo on the pnone, and I thought I'd use his lingo so he would have to get the dictionary out during our conversation. It's tough when you have to spell out everything and explain each word with over 3 letters ......

(Just kidding Boo Baby !)

Oke here ya go ...... just for Y'All !

gigGIGgigGIGgigGIGgigGIGgigGIGgig
GIGgigGIGgigGIGgigGIGgigGIGgigGIG
gigGIGgigGIGgigGIGgigGIGgigGIGgig
GIGgigGIGgigGIGgigGIGgigGIGgigGIG
gigGIGgigGIGgigGIGgigGIGgigGIGgig
GIGgigGIGgigGIGgigGIGgigGIGgigGIG
gigGIGgigGIGgigGIGgigGIGgigGIGgig
GIGgigGIGgigGIGgigGIGgigGIGgigGIG
gigGIGgigGIGgigGIGgigGIGgigGIGgig
GIGgigGIGgigGIGgigGIGgigGIGgigGIG
gigGIGgigGIGgigGIGgigGIGgigGIGgig
GIGgigGIGgigGIGgigGIGgigGIGgigGIG

....kinda looks like GiGi, doesn't it?

[This message has been edited by Uncle Dave (edited 03-03-2004).]