Hb

frybaby
Posts: 0
Joined: Mon Jun 01, 2009 9:03 am
Status: Offline

Thu Jun 10, 2010 11:59 am

Is it possible to sing in such manner that you can not find the key on the guitar even if you use a capo?

No matter what key the song is in I can not find the right key to play.

It the song in C.. I cant sing it; so on goes the capo on fret 1, worse.

Capo on fret 2 worse still.

Capo 3, call of the wild.

Makes no know difference.

Is there a key of Hb, that I don’t know about, and how do I get there?.


dennisg
Posts: 0
Joined: Mon Oct 12, 2009 10:34 am
Status: Offline

Thu Jun 10, 2010 12:09 pm

Fry,

There are two ways to answer your question: 1. From a literal standpoint, no, it's impossible that there would be a song in a key that can't be sung to. 2. From a personal standpoint, yes, it's very possible that there are many songs whose range (from low notes to high notes) is such that it's impossible to find a comfortable key for you, no matter what you do with the capo.

I have that very issue with one of my all-time favorite songs: "Love of my life" by Queen. I always wanted to learn to play it because it features beautiful and challenging guitar. I finally learned it a few months ago, but absolutely cannot sing it, no matter what key I set it in. Yeah, I can falsetto my way through much of the song, but who the heck wants to hear that? The closest I've come to any sort of comfort with it is when I went to my local guitar store and played it on a Taylor Baritone guitar. But then the guitar didn't sound good in such a low key. Sigh.

So, to answer your question fully, I guess there will always be songs whose vocal demands are such that those of us with limited vocal ranges will find impossible to sing. Sad but true.


ffsooo3
Posts: 0
Joined: Sat Mar 21, 2009 6:35 am
Status: Offline

Thu Jun 10, 2010 2:20 pm

frybaby wrote:
Is it possible to sing in such manner that you can not find the key on the guitar even if you use a capo?

No matter what key the song is in I can not find the right key to play.

It the song in C.. I cant sing it; so on goes the capo on fret 1, worse.

Capo on fret 2 worse still.

Capo 3, call of the wild.

Makes no know difference.

Is there a key of Hb, that I don’t know about, and how do I get there?.
Have you tried putting the capo on "fret -1" or "fret -2"? Actually, what I mean is have you tried tuning your guitar down a half step or a whole step? It's kinda like putting the capo on the 11th or 10th fret (only an octave lower).


BigBear
Posts: 0
Joined: Sat Mar 21, 2009 11:02 am
Status: Offline

Thu Jun 10, 2010 2:40 pm

I agree with Dennis but rather than focus on the guitar you might focus on your voice. There are very few people who can't sing one full octave. If you can sing one full octave you can sing any song (notice I didn't say "sing well"! lol!) I'd put money on the fact that you can easily do that.

You just need to train your ear and voice to be able to hit each note in whatever key you choose to sing in. Start with middle C (on the piano) and work both directions from there!

Good luck buddy! :cheer:


frybaby
Posts: 0
Joined: Mon Jun 01, 2009 9:03 am
Status: Offline

Fri Jun 11, 2010 6:47 am

Thank for the input gentlemen.
Tounge in cheek about the Hb, but no joke about having trouble finding the right key to sing in even with a capo. Voice training would definately help and I have considered it. I know I am not singing from my diaphram but more likely from my throat. I have no power or volumn. My speeking quality is about the same.
Its realy dissapointing becasue all of the song I have learned are song that I would love to sing.
Perhaps it a good thing, if I could sing I may take all this more seriously and be playing in some smoke filled bar every night.

If I could afford voice lessons, I thing I would jump on the TARGET program instead.
Anyway thank again for chiming in.


willem
Posts: 5
Joined: Fri Mar 20, 2009 7:53 am
Status: Offline

Fri Jun 11, 2010 7:54 am

Maybe some cheaper idea,,,join a choir,,you can hide and sing,, in technick you learn much and you can come behind your range and wich voice you have Bas, tenor, alt,,soprano.

Anyone can sing a octave(c-d-e-f-g-a-b-c),,but difficult is to sing all kind off intervals,,sometimes they are a octave.


dennisg
Posts: 0
Joined: Mon Oct 12, 2009 10:34 am
Status: Offline

Fri Jun 11, 2010 9:55 am

Rick,

I completely agree with you, but I wasn't talking about songs that can be sung all within one octave. Those songs can easily be capo'd to make it comfortable for the vocalist to sing. I was talking about songs that require more than a one-octave range. If you have a limited range, as I do, there's not a thing you can do with a capo to make the song easily singable. You can capo the song so that the lowest notes it requires will be in your lowest register, but the high notes will still require falsetto. If you choose to not sing in falsetto, and play in a lower key, then you'll likely lose the lower notes.

Admittedly, this isn't a common problem. Most songs are written to be sung by mortals. But every now and then you come across a song that hacks like me just can't sing well, no matter what I do with the capo.

A second problem is that the guitar-playing requirements of a song may require the player to travel all the way up the fretboard to where it joins the guitar body. What do you do if you decide to capo up the key? Again, this isn't a hugely common problem, but I've run into it a couple of times recently. To address this problem, I tried tuning my guitar down to C, a key in which I could sort of sing the song, but that resulted in too-slack strings that would constantly be out of tune.

Anyway, you're absolutely right that most key issues can be solved with a capo. But every now and then I try to choose an "adventurous" song that I just can't seem to make work.


Post Reply Previous topicNext topic