Some songs for some singers are pitched in the exact range that's preferred for their voice. The range of the song may be extreme & just a half step up or down does make a difference to the voice when sung at it's lowest or highest range. The singer should sing it where they are best able, it's up to others to adjust for accompaniment & to know wither or not accompaniment is productive or not. Sometimes a slight nod of the head & a look in a musician's direction will give a hint.

Most sessions have their own personal dynamics & I've usually found that most are temperamental & have their own personalities & there own unwritten rules & guidelines & those sometimes changes depending who's there attending & whose leading it. But all should have respect for each other. We've been through session etiquette before. IMHO the best sessions have a mix of dancing, singing playing & maybe even a recitation here & there. If some musicians want to use a song as a break & go off to have a chat or a smoke so be it as long as they as discreet about it & the same for the singers respecting the musicians, seldom do I see any dancing or hear a recitation anymore I I hear less singing at sessions than I did 20-25 years ago, much less. Which I believe's the reason for the recent (past 20 yrs) singer's only sessions. The session I attend in Portsmouth (US) at the Press Room there always seems to be a internal twisting to find a balance between song & tune & depending on whose there it's never the same but form some reason it always finds it's level balance, sometimes being 40/60% or 60/40% but most times it's pretty close to 50/50% & most enjoy it that way without getting bored or impatient.

Barry