Listen to lots of them doing it live later on in life, and they’ve dropped the key, haha.
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Really? Change the key again?
- Thread starter Samophlange
- Start date
Listen to lots of them doing it live later on in life, and they’ve dropped the key, haha.
+1 to these comments. Sometimes changing the key of a cover song doesn't notice to much, but there's certain riffs on many songs that use open strings that just don't sound right if transposed. Sure vocals are the main element in a song, but the rest of the instruments and tones are important too.
The only time my band generally changes key if if the original was drop tuned to Eb - we bring it back up to concert to save faffing around swapping instruments. Sure it sometimes loses a little heavyness or swagger, but it can also sound tighter and sweeter.
If a song is too difficult to sing in the original key and will sound wrong if transposed - don't play it! And that goes for awkward tunings too, not just singers. For example - sometimes our singer has suggested songs that are technically awkward because of tunings ('no one knows' by QOSA, for example). As such, we've explained as such, so won't play it - I for one don't particularly want to take an extra bass to a gig for just one song!
This! Their instrument is biological, ours isn't. I love to bust on singers as much as the next guy, but they will fatigue faster and need the comfort - and lets face it, people care more about their performance then anything else so it's imperative it's as good as it can be. Right or wrong, just a fact in most cases . . .
Granted that some songs sound better in their original key, due to patterns or open chords, etc. But the PRO that sings the original is better than the AMATEUR that's in the band with us, so we need to make things fit. Just be careful that you don't end up with all songs in one key - that gets tedious over four hours!
Jazzdogg
Less barking, more wagging!
Has anyone else found a way to suggest to their singer that they need to at least try to sing in a different key. Or push their range a bit?
I'm noticing that every song that we learn lately gets transposed to a different key than the original to suit the vocalist.
Just try singing it in that range! Head voice! Head voice!
Its not really a big issue...I'm just a whiner because I have the song stuck in my head in the orginal key and have a hard time switching. Stupid stubborn brain.
No big deal to me; when I back vocalists, I see my job as making them sound good, irrespective of the key they choose to sing in. Competent instrumentalists should be able to play in any key.
Trust me it still is. Essential skill for working folks gobbling up as many types of gigs as possible. Can't survive without it.
I'm happy to change the key to accommodate the vocalist, I just wish he'd figure out the desired key early in the process. We all learned "Something" (Beatles) in the original key -- like most Beatles' songs, what sounds simple to learn is often quite tricky. Then the vocalist said (quite apologetically, actually) "can we drop that a semitone?" Back to the woodshed!
I think he realized on that one that sometimes it's not instant and easy to change keys.
I think he realized on that one that sometimes it's not instant and easy to change keys.
Part of being a competent musician is being able to play (or at least learn) a song in any key and not whine about it.
Isn't it the bass players job to take whatever the rest of the band can manage to bring to the table and make it sound good?
Hey you give me a singer with a good attitude, no emotional baggage, who has a nice and/or interesting voice to listen to with a good sense of pitch and timing, and can project themselves well on stage, not only will I change keys to accommodate their limited range, I'll taxi them to and from band practice.
Hey you give me a singer with a good attitude, no emotional baggage, who has a nice and/or interesting voice to listen to with a good sense of pitch and timing, and can project themselves well on stage, not only will I change keys to accommodate their limited range, I'll taxi them to and from band practice.
I am in the situation where a guitar driven band has become a piano driven band with different singers on any given week. So all of the charts where in guitar friendly keys. As a default setting it is what we start with and now the pianist normally wants to shift flat so it is easier for him to do his thing.
Is the half step shift really a vocalist thing or the sax fingering, the position of an open string or the availabilty of the black key thing?
Is the half step shift really a vocalist thing or the sax fingering, the position of an open string or the availabilty of the black key thing?
Try that song, a 1/2 step down, on a 4 string and you'll see what I mean!! Changes the whole dynamics of the sound. Good thing I did have my 5 string and by mid song, I got comfortable but I didn't like it at all!
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This is a huge problem in modern metal, since it is ultra dependent on open strings and low chugging notes :|
To be fair, and I'm going to make some enemies saying this, changing key on an a stringed instrument like bass is hardly an accomplishment for 99% of tunes. Especially on a 5 string, it's usually nothing more than a change in your hand positioning. It's the exact same patterns just on a different place on your neck. Being able to change keys on an instrument such as sax, however, is something notable.
I play bass and lead sing at this point, and we have to change keys all the time, to be able to fit my vocal range better. Even if I wasn't singing, I'd consider it a no brainer that we had to have the singer sound good. Unless, of course, as some others pointed out here, it just makes the song "not sound right". In that case, I either try and sing it in the original key, even if it's difficult for me, or we just don't do the song.
As well, if you are playing covers, unless you're playing songs from just 2 or 3 bands, the keys will be all over the place usually, due to the range of the different lead singers in all the bands you are covering. Unless your singer is David Coverdale, you'll most likely have to change keys for lots of songs
As others mentioned, too, it's GOOD to be able to change keys. It's an invaluable tool for you as a musician. Enjoy it!
As well, if you are playing covers, unless you're playing songs from just 2 or 3 bands, the keys will be all over the place usually, due to the range of the different lead singers in all the bands you are covering. Unless your singer is David Coverdale, you'll most likely have to change keys for lots of songs
As others mentioned, too, it's GOOD to be able to change keys. It's an invaluable tool for you as a musician. Enjoy it!
Try that song, a 1/2 step down, on a 4 string and you'll see what I mean!! Changes the whole dynamics of the sound. Good thing I did have my 5 string and by mid song, I got comfortable but I didn't like it at all!
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Love that I play a fiver; learn the song in whatever key, no open strings, then move the pattern where necessary, haha.
Not September by EW&F (played like the original). Try it. Not the same positions. Trust me. Been playing it since the song came out.
