Hi all,
I find myself transposing half the songs I play in the Daily Ukulele book to a different key that suits my voice better (tends to be lower). When i go to ukulele jams, most of the time, I find myself not able to sing the whole song in the key the group play in. I also seem to have a very narrow vocal range (approx.B2-F4)
I have been wanting to jam more with friends in a small group setting. But how do you do that if you don't sing in the most commonly played keys in ukulele?
thanks
annod
p.s. I also just got a baritone. The first time I played a Baritone, I had a revelation. It really does suit my voice better.
I have some clarifying questions that I would like to ask:
1) Are you playing the correct chords and transposing out of the Daily 365 in the original key (Yellow Book), or playing the chord shapes of the Yellow Book on a Baritone, or playing out of the Baritone version of the Daily 365?
2) What do you mean “Baritone fits your voice better?” Do you mean that the deeper and lower pitched tone of the baritone matches your voice, or are you playing the chords you see out of the Yellow Daily 365, resulting in all of the chords actually being a 4th lower than printed?
Your range is pretty typical for a trained Baritone...many baritones struggle to hit E4 and F4 without straining. Maybe you’d like a lower A or G below that B...but most of the notes will be right in your range as a Baritone.
I find many of the Daily 365 songs to be too low for my voice (there are exceptions), and I am a tenor. I would think that many of the Daily 365 songs would fit right into your power range.
There is nothing wrong with singing a song in a different key—at least in my opinion. There are people who believe that the key changes the meaning of a song on a foundational level. On ukulele, if you are used to how a song sounds as written, changing the key can make the song sound different as chords come in different inversions on the ukulele (and guitar) depending on where you play them. If you like how a song sounds as printed, you could always use a capo and transpose up, keeping the same chord shapes for all of the chords.
Also...it is tough to expect a group of people—paritcularly if it is a community jam open to all—to transpose on the fly. I know people like Jim D’ville and others teach transposition, the circle of fifths, and the Nashville numbering system. That said, you can have absolute beginners who just need to read the chords of a song and couldn’t think about transposing. If you find that there is a song that you would like to use in a different key, re-write it (or find it online) in that new key and bring copies to your group. They’ll appreciate it.