my vocal range stinks

[bass555]

ok, so my vocal range probably consists of 5 notes (including semi-tones)...

how do I determine the best key for me to sing (or write)?
C or Amin?

With my limited vocal range, how do I write songs with a good hook? On Bass?

[the ombudsman]

Five notes?!? I doubt that. You should have at least one octave!

[Mark Wilson]

5 Notes? You're not Janis. I'm 17 and i have a 3 octave range :P

With a piano, or keyboard. Find a note thats comfortable for you. if you have a deeper voice, try an A, an octive lower than middle C. But, find it, and if it's not a white key, try the black keys.

Say you find you're comfort note (where you can hit with no effort) is a low G. Sing the G with AH. Hold for 4 beats, then G#, then A then A# and so on and so fourth.

Another possibility is your breathing. Stand up straight, and look foreward. When you breath in, breathe so your stomach fills out, NOT your chest. Also, don't rise your shoulders. You should feel your lower back push out also. Open your mouth like a yawn, and just open your throat. then from Your diaphram(sp?) or "the bottom of your stomach" Let out the comfort note as an AH.

if you breathe properly, there is a very high chance you will get a better range.

[lemur821]

Also, your range will be worse before you're warmed up. Some mornings, when I first start singing, I can barely manage a C (the one at the 17th fret of the G string, right above a bass clef staff).

[Da LadY In Red]

Start on say C Major (3rd fret of A string), and go through the whole scale. If you can't hit the highest note (octave C), lower your the scale by a half step, so it'd be B Major. Keep on going until you can hit the highest note of the scale and that'll basically be where you should write some songs, never exceeding that key until you don't use the higher note in the scale.