Singers at Sing-arounds

Subject: RE: Folklore: Singers at Sing-arounds
From: jacqui.c
Date: 02 Oct 03 - 04:03 AM

Janie - You could almost have been stating my situation there. I've only been singing again for the past three years and don't seem to be able to get the hang of playing the guitar, let alone playing and singing at the same time.

I've learnt all my songs from listening to recordings over and over again and singing along very untunefully because the key is never comfortable for me and then transposing to my own pitch when I sing them. I have been very lucky at the singarounds I go to in that there are some lovely musicians there who will tell me the key that I sing a particular song in. I also have a very good friend who tells me when I'm going out of tune, or when a song I'm trying really doesn't suit my voice. I've now been told that I sing in A-flat or C, but I still couldn't really tell you which one I use for each song.

All I can say is, if someone tells you your key for a particular song write it down and then you can tell the musicians. If you don't know the key you could tell the group and ask them to let you know after you've finished. Mind you, I would agree with Desert Dancer - there's nothing wrong with unaccompanied singing - sometimes it can be better as over-enthusiastic musicians can make it very difficult to hear the singer and, if there are slightly different versions of a tune, which can happen, it can be quite off putting for a singer.

Good luck anyway - just go out there and sing your heart out - we all do it for the enjoyment we get from it and that should be the real criteria for everything we do.

Subject: RE: Folklore: Singers at Sing-arounds
From: Desert Dancer
Date: 02 Oct 03 - 01:38 AM

If you're a singer who doesn't play an instrument, of course you may have no idea what key you're in, or what might be a do-able key for others. No surprise there.

The only way to find out is to sit down (at some other time than the singaround) with a player or a pitch pipe and search around until you identify what key is comfortable for you and/or others. (What's best for you may be something like E-flat -- not so handy for others, but a compromise to D might work.)

If you do this for some of your favorite songs, then you can remember (or carry a note as to) what keys they are and let the instrumentalists know, if you really want them to join you. And, if you do this for several songs, you might be able to guess at a key to try for other songs, if they mostly end up in the same area.

But, don't be shy about singing unaccompanied - it's a fine and under-appreciated thing.

If you want people to sing along, that's great, but if your voice is pitched in a hard place for them, they'll just have to find a harmony. Not much you can do about it.

~ Becky in Tucson

Subject: RE: Folklore: Singers at Sing-arounds
From: GUEST,BOAB
Date: 02 Oct 03 - 01:20 AM

Forgive me, Janie, if I suggest that some of your "problems" are unusual! You write as someone who has been around the singalong scene for quite a while. Unless you have a tendency [not unpraiseworthy---]to introduce new material often in your public appearances, it seems to me that songs with which you are long familiar shouldn't pose problems "key-wise". Most singers know from past experience which key suits their range in whatever song they sing. There are, of course , some factors which are beyond the control of the singer. One is encountered very often when required to sing along, or perform in unison with others. The comfortable range of YOUR voice can quite easily be a "no-no" with many others. Again, you may encounter musicians [not often, mind,] who cannot play in your chosen key, or who boorishly insist on playing in the key in which they themselves are most comfortable. The great majority of singers, however, don't seem to encounter such problems after they realise that it is a great help to musicians if they can be told the favoured key. Maybe you can find some comfort in the fact that this grizzled [truly}songster is compelled to sing down in his boots in order to accomodate the two female singers in our group. We all have a cross to bear!!
Boab

Subject: Folklore: Singers at Sing-arounds
From: Janie
Date: 01 Oct 03 - 11:27 PM

"Folklore" may seem an odd prefix for this, but as I was reading through Sing-around threads, I realized that I was reading what has become MORE of the folklore of culture of folk music.

I did not, however, find answers to my question.

Which is about what I should do as a "non-musician" singer at a sing-around. Do I ask or invite the instrumentalists to play? Do I state my key when I know it? Should I announce the song title and hum a few bars for them to find the key? Or do I just start singing and figure anyone who wants to play, will? Don't respond until you have read the following details, because I want to know what to do in my very specific situation. Hopefully, it will help others in similiar postions.

I believe, and have been told, that I have a good voice. I love to sing, but I am not a practiced musician. I haven't played an instrument in years, and never worked at one hard enough to acheive even average proficiency when my hands and fingers were still capable of playing.

Since we moved to North Carolina, 17 years ago, I have done nearly all of my singing to myself, and have only begun singing with and around other people fairly recently. My voice is not experienced. My ear is not developed. I don't often know in what key I sing a song. Sometimes I have trouble finding or choosing the best key for my voice at the time. I have a decent but low range for a woman (2nd tenor), and my impression from watching the instrumentalists is I tend to sing in keys in which they do not usually play the song.

Sometimes some of them will play along, and sometimes they won't. It is fairly certain that I have been singing alone so long that I have my own (unnoticed to me) variants of many songs that I have been singing, but not listening to, for years.

OK. Now I want to hear what some of you think.

Thanks!

Janie