Question:
What's a leader with a naturally high vocal range to do? I am most comfortable, sound best and I believe most effective when I'm singing in my natural range. For example, on my own I prefer to sing Tomlin songs in their original key. What's the average effective range of a congregation? Is their a general rule of thumb (like nothing above an F)?
Answer:
Well, David Crowder plays in G but capos it to like Bb and stuff because he says that the higher range the song is, the louder they sing. It's true, I think. I have a high range too, so I just play what I feel comfortable singing in.
Answer:
My observation is that altos seem to start struggling with anything higher than an octave above middle C, and tenors bottom out around an A below middle C. I prefer to avoid going higher than a D for any length of time, and avoid going higher than F at all.
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i like the idea of making the keys a little higher (except with indescribable, cause that song is crazy) because it kinda makes you have to sing a little louder and i liek that
but generally i try to sing the songs as close to the original key. for instance, i sing One Way in the key of B, but i would sing the song Indescribable in the key of A.
Answer:
I'm not a trained vocalist and I don't have a very high range so I'll always pick something I can sing. From the feedback I've received, people tend to find anything above an E at the top of the treble clef a bit high. I adjust the key so that the melody line of the song doesn't go much higher than that.
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I've heard that a general rule is to keep songs between C and C.
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I tend to try and avoid going above a D and below a Bb.
sometimes I will go a bit higher depending on the song and the situation.
God bless, Rich
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I try to avoid going above the E above middle C. I try to avoid going too low as well, but I don't have a well-defined "set point" for what that means.
I always get a kick out of visiting the church where my wife's parents lead worship. I always find that they do songs in keys at least a step-and-a-half lower than I do the same songs. I think part of it may have to do with congregation size. I've learned (I think it was pointed out to me on these boards, IIRC) that it's best to choose a lower key for small groups of people because not very many are going to "hang it all out there" to hit a higher note when there's only a few people singing. As the congregation size increases, it becomes more and more "doable" to sing higher keys, simply because of the "hiding in the crowd" vocal effect. I've seen this principle born out in practice with my congregation. We're prepared to play the songs that we play in more than one key, and sometimes we'll "flex down" if attendance is spotty. We rarely "flex up" when its packed, but that's because the "default" key is usually the higher one for us.
Nate
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I have to work with an ensemble (10-12 singers). I will usually try a new song in the original key to see how it fits them. If they are not comfortable, I will simply play the same chord progression capo'd at various points on the guitar neck until I get the most people saying they like it. I figure that is a good representation of the congregation. Once we settle on the key, I will write a new chart for the whole band. My vocal range tends to be between the high bass side and the low tenor side so sometimes the key they choose is a little high for me. I'd rather be the one stretching though than having all of them trying to hit notes too low for them. Like Spock says, the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the one...
Answer:
Originally Posted by Elizabeth I've heard that a general rule is to keep songs between C and C.
Yes.
Answer:
I generally stick to the C-to-C rule.
But I also allow a good number of high D's or E's, as long as they're in passing, not consecutive high notes or especially long notes.
But I never go above the E.
On the low end, I only go lower than C if the song has a huge range (Jesus You Alone, Shout To The Lord, Majesty, Give Us Clean Hands, etc.). But some songs get pretty low, maybe as low as a G or F#.
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99% of the time, I leave it in the key it is recorded. There is a great quote in this month's Worship Leader mag from David Crowder. He was talking about what key to write stuff in and said he attended a rock and roll show many years back and the audience was singing right along with the lead vocalist...note for note, word for word. He said it dawned on him that the band never once thought about whether or not the audience could sing in this key or if it was too syncopated....they just wrote a great song and put it out there. The audience sang along. He said he has taken the same approach with his writing ever since. Pretty cool in my book.
Answer:
The audience at a rock and roll show is likely to be in their mid-twenties, at most. That's a time when your voice is in its prime and you still have some of the upper range of your childhood. In a church where the average age is 40+, it's unlikely (and unkind, even) to expect everyone to sing along above middle C for extended periods of time.
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It's unkind when the worship leader (me) is 40+ too!
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Well, that's where you count on your sopranos of the congregation to really belt it out there. At least, all of the women in my church can mostly belt out a good high note. That's what I've found in the past. More girls are sopranos than altos anyways.