playing at a sing-along?

[andrewjohnsson40]

http://www.peterz.nu/ssgny/219 vem kan segla.pdf
If you wanted to play this at a sing-along which key would be the best you think?
Dm is obviously a bad key for men since only the baritones really enjoy singin A2. I am more of a tenor so I hate this key for singing this tune.

 

[Corsaire]

Henrikhank - I think it depends who will be singing along. Will it be male and female voices ? What sort of age group are your singers ?
I play for tenor and bass singers and most of the songs in a minor key are in Em although there are a few in Am and Dm.

The range of your song is quite big for people who don't sing regularly and in Dm goes from A2 to D making a range of 10 notes. Of course many people manage this without a problem. Our tenors have difficulty with A2 but transposing up a tone can make it much easier. However, with your song, it would mean that they would have to reach the upper E instead of D which may be difficult for deeper voices. Even older women who are not used to singing regularly can have a problem reaching E !

Sorry if I'm not being much help - it's a tricky one.

 

[jozz]

you mean: where to transpose to without destroying the mood of the tune?

 

[george garside]

if playing for an ad hoc song session where you have no idea of what key or how good etc the singers are etc and expect the singers to follow you FC&G will probably be fine. Start a tune at a mid speed and adjust on the hoof to a speed the singers are comfortable with i.e. you follow them!


If the singers are a group of individuals who regularly sing together ask them what key(s) they prefer - they may or may not know!.

For barn dances. ceilidhs etc I play many 'singy' tunes so people can, if they wish, join in and sing - I find C, G, D is ok for most people
george

 

[JEBrown]

Nothing wrong with that in D minor as far as I’m concerned. Hymn tunes are generally written for non-singers, and regularly go up to a D or even E flat. Yes the A might be a bit low for some, but personally I think most people would manage this range

 

[boxplayer4000]

I don't think there's standard answer to this situation.
I played at lots of sing-a-longs where people who could sing (or thought they could) would take the microphone.
(This was, obviously before Karaokes arrived).
Most 'singers' were untrained and only a very few knew which key their song was in. If you asked 'which key?' that was often followed
by them dipping into a pock and showing you their house or car key.
The only thing to do was to let them start and as quickly as possible work out which key they were in. Flying
by the seat of your pants for sure.