Comfortable Keys

[duggyk]

I've been working on singing and playing guitar for some time now....still a way to go !

I used to find hitting the right notes really tricky - the melody always seemed too darn high or low for my voice.

Recently I had a realisation - I was nearly always trying to sing in the key of G - as soon as I capo'd or transposed up by a tone or two I found hitting the notes a lot easier (should have realised this earlier, seems obvious now!).

I've found my comfortable singing keys between A and C, easiest being B.

Of course this mean Roj has to get the capo out and use his rail-road spikes when we play together (and he's on the banjo)

So my advice is - if you find yourself straining to hit the highs and lows, try another key !

Laa!


ps. signing and playing is like rubbing your tummy and patting your head.

[Danny]

I recently discovered that I have a much higher voice than I thought, I can sing along with the high pitch harmony parts on Beach Boys songs, I quite scared myself to be honest. I thought I had a nice deep baritone

[dick]

Looser trousers Danny, If that doesn't work try singing Geordie songs - (they are all for men with high voices.)

[Danny]

Jan 13, 2009 17:42:48 GMT dick said:

Looser trousers Danny, If that doesn't work try singing Geordie songs - (they are all for men with high voices.)

I'm gonna have to get Colin to teach me some geordie methinks

[Clangabell]

Anytime you want singing lessons Danny just come up to the Howay the Lads Jam First Monday of the month (if anybody else is interested). Your welcome as well Dick, its Newcastles about 10 miles south of the wall we built to keep out the ruffians.

[Danny]

Wanna give us a ride Colin?

[dick]

Sorry, I'd better explain to the American readers what Geordies are.

Geordies are the remnants of an ancient tribe who still live in the north of England. They are speak a fairly basic form of English which is reasonably easy to understand. They are often quoted by creationists as proof that evolution does not happen. Male Geordies make poor pets whilst female Geordies make exceptionally good pets.

Their singing is often quite pleasant and can usually be recognised by the addition of the word 'hinnie' or 'pet' at the end of each phrase. They often play a bagpipe which is very inferior to the Great Highland Bagpipe but fails to actually be in any recognised key, usually being fairly close to F#, but not quite.

Males are often argumentative.

[Danny]

Jan 13, 2009 23:15:26 GMT dick said:

Sorry, I'd better explain to the American readers what Geordies are.

Geordies are the remnants of an ancient tribe who still live in the north of England. They are speak a fairly basic form of English which is reasonably easy to understand. They are often quoted by creationists as proof that evolution does not happen. Male Geordies make poor pets whilst female Geordies make exceptionally good pets.

Their singing is often quite pleasant and can usually be recognised by the addition of the word 'hinnie' or 'pet' at the end of each phrase. They often play a bagpipe which is very inferior to the Great Highland Bagpipe but fails to actually be in any recognised key, usually being fairly close to F#, but not quite.

Males are often argumentative.

ROFLOL

[jonfreeman]

Jan 13, 2009 15:20:04 GMT duggyk said:

I've found my comfortable singing keys between A and C, easiest being B..

I don't think it works like that and need 2 keys a 5th (or some other mid ish) point apart. C and G is probably the most natural choice using open chords on a guitar but D and G has an advantage - its where the session players with their melodeons, flutes, pipes even the mandolin, etc. usually are in terms of the most natural (and perhaps in some cases possible) keys.

I can't get everything in that way though and sometimes have to use other means. As an example, with "Freeborn man", which I'd attempt unaccompanied, I wouldn't think in terms of key but would try to sing "lum-bered". If the pitch is such that I can sing those notes at the lowest end of my range, I get by with that song. Of course the key could be somewhere between E and Eb but it seems to work for me.

[duggyk]

i'm just saying what works for me...

i agree G and D are often the natural key choices when playing with other instruments....

[jonfreeman]

Jan 14, 2009 12:26:31 GMT duggyk said:

i'm just saying what works for me...

Of course, I can't argue with what works for you or say you have to be wrong, etc. - nothing wrong in how things in practice work out for you - if it works , do it!

I'd have a sort of (not that I'm good at those sort of things) musical debate on this with you though.

I don't know what you sing or play but I'm a fair amount from (though I was 27 before I started to really get into this - 48 now) a (tune) session type background. If I was to look at this from the tune point of view the usual common (not to say things can't go further) "vocal range" is from (I'll use a mandolin) 3rd string open D to 1st string B on the 7th fret. Within that range the "voice" reaches easily, tunes may be in different keys (In that case usually D/G or the minors or modes).

[duggyk]

i've had a think, and i believe what i'm getting at is my ability (or inability!) to reach particular ROOT notes...

i.e. (if i've got the right freqs?!)....... in the Key of G if i wanted to sing the root note that's either 98hz (which I struggle to get down to) or 196hz (which I struggle to get up to - or, well, carry a tune on from...)

in the Key of B I find the root note 123.47hz easier to get down to, and carry a tune on from.....

or something like that ! never really analysed it before!

[jonfreeman]

I get that but depending on where the root note lies in a tune I'd have guessed that (like me), you would probably want a second key too. For you, maybe an F or and E would suit some songs and where you pitch them?

Whatever, I do know the, opps, I can get any lower and not being able to make a noise at all or alternatively making some form of (worse that my regular singing) screech to reach a note that's too high. I guess that's quite common, especially for those of us with very limited ranges.

I also do having re-read agree with with I think might be one of your main points. Just moving a tone, eg. C to D can make a difference.

[jonfreeman]

btw, a bit OT but I found a tiny clip of me in singing mode. napoleon.mp3 It seems I'm in Eb there.

[Marilyn]

Whether or not a song is comfortable for you to sing in one key rather than another depends on several things but perhaps the most important is the range of that particular song.

I find that for *most* songs I like to be in B or C or D - these keys *usually* mean that a song will fit inside my comfort zone. However, some songs are impossible for me to sing in D - they go way too high and I find I might prefer B or even A so that I'm not squeaking at the top of my range!

I usually find with each song that I have to experiment a bit to find the key that suits both the song and my voice - and I really mean that about the key suiting the song. Some songs just sound awful in certain keys no matter who is singing them (they do to me anyway!).

For example, 'Fair Margaret and Sweet William' is my favourite at the moment and I accompany myself of classical (nylon string) guitar. I prefer to PLAY it in A minor but it's just a tad too low for me in that key even though I'm an alto. I'm much more comfortable in B minor so I capo the guitar on the 2nd fret and play Am. Not ideal - I don't like using a capo as I think it affects the sound of the guitar in a negative way but it seems a fair trade-off for me rather than singing just a bit too low.

What I'm trying to say is that there is no ONE key that suits your voice - it depends so much on the song itself.