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Strange Singer - WTH ?

buzzbass

buzzbass

Apr 23, 2003
5,503
1,536
64
Tenn. & NJ
#1
Ok, so I'm trying out for this 80s-today cover band this week. 5 piece including bassist, I'd be the only guy in the band. Anyway I get the song list and it has the usual cover band fare on it, along with notes of the keys they actually play the songs in. Uh oh, this looks like trouble already. So "my own worst enemy", I notice, is raised a whole step. From E to F#. Um, ok. I asked why and I was told that the lady singer fealt that the song was "too low" for her ranges. Whatever. Then I look @ "don't stop believin' ". It's lowered a whole step from E to D. WTH !?!?! If one "E" song is too low, how can another "E" song be too high. I'm guessing this is either diva behavior on the lady singer's part, or a person who really doesn't have control of their "instrument". I'm going to go in and do my best, because it looks like an interesting/fun project. But I tried playing the songs in those keys, and they just don't sound right. To the point that I'm cringing while playing them.

Then there are other songs where you'd almost expect someone to ask for a key change, yet they play them as recorded. I just don't get it :eyebrow::rollno::confused:
 
#2
buzzbass said:
So "my own worst enemy", I notice, is raised a whole step. From E to F#. Um, ok. I asked why and I was told that the lady singer fealt that the song was "too low" for her ranges. Whatever. Then I look @ "don't stop believin' ". It's lowered a whole step from E to D. WTH !?!?! If one "E" song is too low, how can another "E" song be too high.
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It's more about the notes they are singing, not necessarily the key. Steve Perry sings in a very high range that's hard for most vocalists to reach. Also, keys that suit a male vocal may not suit a female vocal.

Vocalists have different "wheelhouses" or "belting ranges" where their notes are more resonant and fuller. Even though someone may be able to hit notes in one key, they may find that in a different key, the notes are in their wheelhouse and they can really nail it.

I'm guessing this is either diva behavior on the lady singer's part, or a person who really doesn't have control of their "instrument". I'm going to go in and do my best, because it looks like an interesting/fun project. But I tried playing the songs in those keys, and they just don't sound right. To the point that I'm cringing while playing them.
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Like any instrumentalist, vocalists have their limitations and it's not diva-like to know your limitations and alter the key. Trust me, if the vocalist is off pitch, you'll cringe more. Sometimes if you're used to hearing or playing a song in a certain key, it will take you a while to get used to it. Easier to transpose an instrument than a voice.

Then there are other songs where you'd almost expect someone to ask for a key change, yet they play them as recorded. I just don't get it :eyebrow::rollno::confused:
Click to expand...
Sometimes you haven't had the time to relearn a song in a different key, or time to play around to find what key is best. Give them some input, and they may find it helpful.
 
#3
The reason is the range of the notes of the song and the vocal range of the singer. He (or She) will have a range of notes they can comfortably sing and so they pick the keys of the songs so they sit comfortably in their vocal range. To give you an example, I was in a band that was forming and we agreed with the singer(s) what songs we'd be doing and we all agreed to come to the rehearsal prepared. One song was "Just the way you are" by Billy Joel. At the rehearsal we had a problem 'cos the keyboard player could only get a copy of Barry White's version to learn from and he did it in Bb and the original was in D!!.

Compare the versions of "Kiss" by Prince and Tom Jones (although some smart alec will pobably tell me that they're in the same key but an octave apart!)

In one (jazz) Band I was in we'd change the key of a song to alleviate the boredom - take the "A" train in C or Ab??

In one Band I was looking to join I was expected to be able transpose a written chart on sight to suit the singer who was too cheap to get their charts re-written in the key they sang them in ...
 
#4
I used to play bass for a female country singer. She did all sorts of weird things with key changes to suit her voice. Some of them were okay, but some made things sound really weird. Transposing Johnny Cash's "Folsom Prison Blues" all the way up to C either sounded too low on a 5-string, or too high on a 4-string, not to mention the guitar intro sounding like something from Alvin and The Chipmunks.

It's something you have to deal with when playing other people's music with a singer that has a different range than the original artist. I'd hardly call it diva behavior.
 
#5
Pretty normal, especially if your vocalist is of a different sex than the one on the original recording. Good vocalists don't need to change keys very often, which makes life more convenient. It's rare to do everything in the original key unless I guess you're a tribute band, though.

And, yeah, sometimes I'll be lazy and put something in a different key to make it easier for me to play (usually when the original recording was tuned a half-step lower), but I never admit to it, haha.
 
#10
PJSShearer said:
The reason is the range of the notes of the song and the vocal range of the singer. He (or She) will have a range of notes they can comfortably sing and so they pick the keys of the songs so they sit comfortably in their vocal range. To give you an example, I was in a band that was forming and we agreed with the singer(s) what songs we'd be doing and we all agreed to come to the rehearsal prepared. One song was "Just the way you are" by Billy Joel. At the rehearsal we had a problem 'cos the keyboard player could only get a copy of Barry White's version to learn from and he did it in Bb and the original was in D!!.

Compare the versions of "Kiss" by Prince and Tom Jones (although some smart alec will pobably tell me that they're in the same key but an octave apart!)

In one (jazz) Band I was in we'd change the key of a song to alleviate the boredom - take the "A" train in C or Ab??

In one Band I was looking to join I was expected to be able transpose a written chart on sight to suit the singer who was too cheap to get their charts re-written in the key they sang them in ...
Click to expand...

Unless you're playing it for a female singer, Ab is a terribe key for "A" Train.

If you have a female singer, Ab is just right.
 
#14
Actually, it makes way more sense than when people lower EVERYTHING by a half step or whole step using the bogus claim that it's because the singer has a hard time singing them in their normal keys. Umm, that statement might be true if every single song in the world was written in the same key and had the same exact range. But in reality, if keys are going to be changed because the vocalist has a limited range compared with the range of notes that the chosen songs encompass, then whether they are lowered or raised, and by how much, will be determined on a song-by-song basis.
 
#19
My main band has a female lead singer and we cover a lot of songs done by guys originally. This comes up all the time. A lot of changes I don't care; some I do. If I do, it's because the timbre of the bass will change so much in the new key. But regardless - it's normal if you have a female lead singer in a cover band.
 

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