How do you approach songs that originally have a female vocal...

[BATCAT]

...if you're a guy, that is? (Female forumites, please feel free to invert my question!)

 

I'm somewhat new to singing and this is a bit of a stumbling block for me. Approaches I've tried:

 

1. Try to actually sing the same notes as the actual song. (In my case, not pretty... unless it's a very low-voiced singer)

2. Sing an octave lower than the original. (Usually has me hitting the bottom of my range)

3. Same as #2, but capo UP so that I'm not singing a whole octave lower.

4. Keep the key the same, but sing a harmony to the original vocal.

 

What have YOU had luck with?

[SpaceNorman]

If it's one of those "there's one note that's out of reach" ... we'll play with the phrasing to avoid it provided the results are acceptable (we're not hung up with the idea that it's gotta be "note for note").

 

We transpose as necessary....and if we can't find a tranposed key that the singer can handle AND sounds OK in general....we move on to another tune. There's a million fish in the sea....song-ilistically speaking.

 

In the 20+ years I've worked with our guitarist - I've can't remember ever seeing him use a capo. For a couple of tunes that I play in different bands - and in different keys, I'll use the "keyboard capo" (aka transpose button) to avoid "what day is it? which band is this?" confusion.

[BATCAT]

 

If it's one of those "there's one note that's out of reach" ... we'll play with the phrasing to avoid it provided the results are acceptable (we're not hung up with the idea that it's gotta be "note for note"). We transpose as necessary....and if we can't find a tranposed key that the singer can handle AND sounds OK in general....we move on to another tune. There's a million fish in the sea....song-ilistically speaking. In the 20+ years I've worked with our guitarist - I've can't remember ever seeing him use a capo. For a couple of tunes that I play in different bands - and in different keys, I'll use the "keyboard capo" (aka transpose button) to avoid "what day is it? which band is this?" confusion.

 

 

I use a capo for probably half of the stuff I write... And frequently with covers too, like in the example above.

 

Anyhow, yeah, good point, I could just transpose the whole thing too. I've tried that, but honestly, sometimes I'm too lazy to want to figure it out, if it's a song with a lot of chords. And, as you mentioned, some songs don't transpose well to certain keys...

[Lee Flier]

Transpose it.... use a capo if it's a tune that has a signature part with a lot of open strings...

[ChordGirl]

 

...if you're a guy, that is? (Female forumites, please feel free to invert my question!) I'm somewhat new to singing and this is a bit of a stumbling block for me. Approaches I've tried: 1. Try to actually sing the same notes as the actual song. (In my case, not pretty... unless it's a very low-voiced singer) 2. Sing an octave lower than the original. (Usually has me hitting the bottom of my range) 3. Same as #2, but capo UP so that I'm not singing a whole octave lower. 4. Keep the key the same, but sing a harmony to the original vocal. What have YOU had luck with?

 

 

All of the above, plus transposing. Of course, I'd go an octave up. I'd have to say that half of my setlist consists of songs originally sung by men.

 

For example, in wicked game, I sing verse one using a harmony over the part that is too low for me, verse two I sing as is, and verse three I sing an octave up from where the original was sung, even though the melody line and lyrics are identical in Chris Isaak's version on the first and third verse. I go with whatever works for the song and can be comfortably sung. I sing it in it's original key if it's only a small stretch for my comfortable range, otherwise, I find my comfortable range and then figure out the key behind it/ using the capo for unfamiliar keys, or finding a comfortable playing key for my bandmates, also. Some of us wouldn't be able to do it in F# without a capo, so I'd go to G or F. My range is maybe two octaves in my comfortable zone, so I do this with female-led covers also.

[bloolight]

Right now, we only do one song (Walking After Midnight) that would be considered a female-singer standard. We just chucked the original arrangement and turned it into a shuffle-blues number. This way we could sing it in any key we wanted to.

[B Money]

we try transposing the key if the I can't sing the correct melody. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't, if a song doesn't sound right after changing the key we just drop it. Not worth the effort the struggle altering a single song.

[FNBand]

Scrunch your nuts up real tight and pinch your nipples....... but try to limit how many of those songs you do

 

Slowing the song down and bringing it down a few keys always works for me. Makes for a funkier version of most songs that people will really be impressed with.

 

And don't forget to change all of the 'his's & 'him's when singing about loving someone, unless your into that of course. I once had to do "Me & Bonnie McGee" one night as a request.

[corbind]

We sing it, if possible, in the original key. If that's not possible we toss it out.

[ChordGirl]

Scrunch your nuts up real tight and pinch your nipples....... but try to limit how many of those songs you do Slowing the song down and bringing it down a few keys always works for me. Makes for a funkier version of most songs that people will really be impressed with. And don't forget to change all of the 'his's & 'him's when singing about loving someone, unless your into that of course. I once had to do "Me & Bonnie McGee" one night as a request.

 

Bobby McGee was written and originally sung by Kris Kristofferson. 'Bobby' was a girl until Janis sang the song.

[FNBand]

You know that, & I know that, but most the crowd didn't. I just covered my bases.

[SpaceNorman]

 

We sing it, if possible, in the original key. If that's not possible we toss it out.

 

 

You don't transpose....ever? I'm curious....why?

[Terry Allan Hall]

Bobby McGee was written and originally sung by Kris Kristofferson. 'Bobby' was a girl until Janis sang the song.

 

True...other examples of "guy" tunes becoming percieved as "chick" tunes would be "I Fall To Pieces" (Jim Reeves) and "Crazy" (Willie Nelson).

[BATCAT]

You don't transpose....ever? I'm curious....why?

 

Yeah, that seems weird to me too...

[ChordGirl]

True...other examples of "guy" tunes becoming percieved as "chick" tunes would be "I Fall To Pieces" (Jim Reeves) and "Crazy" (Willie Nelson).

 

 

I've heard the old country guys around here do all of these songs. They proudly announce, "I'm going to do a Willie Nelson song" and then roll into 'Crazy.'

[Gary in NJ]

We have a female singer that sings many a male song. Change the key, flip a few words - PRESTO! Female song.

 

It ain't rocket science.

[Li Shenron]

We try transposing half a tone up/down at a time until we reach a comfortable range.

 

But it doesn't always work. Open chords cannot be shifted, and using a different shape of the chord changes the sound of it. The new sound is not necessarily good enough.

 

If the result isn't convincing, we may just ditch the song, there are so many which can be played...

 

In any case, I don't use a capo nor change the tuning of the guitar between songs (I use a Charvel with Floyd Rose, which takes longer to tune than a guitar with a fixed bridge), although I have been thinking about bringing my second guitar - with alternate tuning - with me.

[Bajazz]

If it's a Cher song I transpose it up an octave...

 

Mostly I try to do it originally, but sometimes I transpose down an octave or a few notes. The most fun is going down an octave for the first part and up to the original for the rest of the song.

[BATCAT]

We try transposing half a tone up/down at a time until we reach a comfortable range. But it doesn't always work. Open chords cannot be shifted, and using a different shape of the chord changes the sound of it. The new sound is not necessarily good enough. If the result isn't convincing, we may just ditch the song, there are so many which can be played... In any case, I don't use a capo nor change the tuning of the guitar between songs (I use a Charvel with Floyd Rose, which takes longer to tune than a guitar with a fixed bridge), although I have been thinking about bringing my second guitar - with alternate tuning - with me.

 

Just curious- you say you sometimes transpose up half a tone, yet you prefer not to use a capo... why is that?