Most of use here are trying to find their own voice on their harp (including myself) but what I would like to ask the people here who SING when they are harping is: How did you find your own voice... or in other words, How did you figure out what key is most suitable for your voice?
For example, today I practiced Slim Harpo's "Rock Me" and when I keep it low and mellow, my voice can kind of handle this song. But when I tried to sing and play along with Little Walter's "Blues With a Feeling" I'd better keep my mouth shut... Now what's the solution if I want to sing "Blues With a Feeling", do I need to find a version (backing track) that matches my voice (whatever key that might be) or do I need to train my voice so it acceptable enough to sing along with the original version?? (or perhaps do a Slim Harpo version?) How do you get the best out of your voice???? How do you get a good voice????
Sleepless in Chicago... ( uh, sorry... make that "in Japan")
It's a cliche but I think that singing needs as much woodshedding as any instrument. It takes a lot of work to get rid of bad habits, improve your breathing and tone, extend range etc. There are a few good youtubes on vocal exercises, but I think it's worthwhile to try at least one lesson so to see what you're potentially doing wrong with posture or breathing.
For song keys - I guess you don't have a guitar, bass, or piano kicking around? That's the obvious way to check the best key for setting a melody and your voice - even if you don't actually play those instruments you can pluck a note to sing against. It's also useful to check your vocal range (if you're untrained, it might be something like A2 up to F4, ie "A" on the bottom string of the guitar, through to fourth-string 10th fret) - and then see if it improves after some training.
Not sure if I've answered your question, really - basically I think that you should look to improve your voice if singing is what you want to do, even if only occasionally. Unfortunately that's going to take time, so in the meantime find the right key that works for your voice right now. Lots of singers change song keys depending on their register anyway.
for me it was just trial and error until i hit on what keys worked well for me. something else that has had a bearing on this is my voice has actually changed some between age 38 or so when i began singing, and now at age 54.
tempo and the kind of intensity of a given song have a bearing on this also.
probably first and foremost, i think it's crucial to get your breath right. voice lessons, yoga, martial arts can give you the depth of breathing required to achieve this. as a harp player you may already have the key to this. resonant harp work comes from the same place as resonant vocals. developing an air column in your torso and directing that air well will give you your true voice. breathing really deep yet relaxed, opening and relaxing the throat, opening the jaws up and relaxing the muscles there, i guess mainly keeping everything as loose as possible, can show you your voice and actually give you some features you didn't have before.
I started piano lessons six months ago with a Jazz Pianist who co-wrote a boot called "Your Voice" with his wife. http://www.sarahamiltonanddavid.com/bio.php
A few weeks ago, I took the plunge and started vocal as well as piano lessons with him. What key to sing was one of my first questions to him.
Basically, he said that most people sing best at the same pitch as which they speak. But he also said that I should use trial and error.
So, as a diligent student, I rushed home, sat at the piano and told my wife:
"Dear, I have a little red rooster too lazy to crow for day"
"WTF?" - she answered.
I repeated my statement a few times, picking keys on the piano until I found the pitch of the "I" in my statement to her. I tried to not think of all the versions of that song that I have heard, but just kept it as a regular conversation phrase. So I was pretty sure that I was just speaking the line. I then played the line as it should sound staring from that note (C) and found that the root note was F. So, I tried playing and singing it in F and it seemed to fit properly.
When I played and sang it for my teacher, he agreed that that key seemed to work for me.
I'm no expert, but I change keys of songs all the time. Trying to keep in mind what is easier for the guitar player as well. If you have a chromatic tuner, just hum along at any tone that is comfortable and check the tuner to see what it is. Is that your "Ooohm" tone? If I do a song that jumps out of my range on the IV and V, I will sometimes jump down the octave on those chords. You can use Audacity to change the pitch of songs to sing along with. I use it to change pitch of backing tracks as well. ---------- If it ain't got harp - it ain't really blues!!!!
for me i think i depends on what kinda style of singing suits you better. an if your a bass, tenor, alto. im a bass. so if i try to sing something from john nemeth or charlie musselwhite it will suit me better. although john has a large vocal range i think he is a bass.
I change the keys as I see fit. As per "what key" depends on what tune. There are A,C,D E and G tunes, so that just about covers everything. Also, what sounds good sitting on the couch at home, frequently turns out too low when you get in front of a crowd with a microphone in your hand.
A long time ago (in a galaxy far, far away) I was in school and the music teacher was trying to find our vocal ranges to divide the group up into singing parts. He played a piano scale (not sure what key or octave) but it went all the way from bass to soprano and it gets easy, quickly, to find out where your range is. From there, singing within it is pretty easy - singing outside of it is where the hard practice or lessons come to improve your 'instrument'. Within that range (bass, tenor, alto, soprano, etc.) you can probably sing any key you want, but choosing the octave will be the important part. Finding that octave isn't as hard when you know where your voice will fit, because the scales and notes of any key are going to be set within one of those ranges. First step: identify your range of what notes come natural, and which ones you can't do, or struggle with.
I find different songs have different ranges within a particular key..... some work and some don't... I just keep changing harps or changing the key in a midi song till I find which key (Highest note to Lowsest note) works for me...... Some Just don't R, Sundog
Thanks, Jon - just as I finished typing my previous reply up there, I realized you had summarized it in your response. I do agree that it's really the way to find out where you can and can't sing, though. There's a lot of great suggestions about discovering range or comfortable notes by ear, but once you can definitively 'name' it, you can communicate with others about where to steer or limit instrument playing or keys within that named range. An experienced musician may be able to hear your most comfortalby sung "Ahhhhh" note and apply it to their keyboard, fretboard, or wind valves, but short of that, saying "I'm a tenor!" gives the theoried musician a clear idea of where to go - or not to go - to ensure everybody's doing the same thing.
Last Edited by on Sep 27, 2009 1:00 PM
Lotta good answers here already--I'm just chiming in because you're an old friend.
To get the right key you just keep changing harps until you get one that is comfortable to sing with (Different songs, of course, will require different keys). You will need a harp in every key to get this right--as I have said before, the vocalist has to decide the key. The human voice is the best instrument of all--but also pretty much the most limited, when it comes to changing keys.
Of course, I just use a capo to change the back-track, but you might want to get the software "The Amazing Slow Downer." This software can change the key as well as the speed--and you can then cut a CD or make a new file of the new key to play with.
To get the best out of your voice, and to get a good voice, the answer is the same: get a good teacher.
I know there are thousands of people out there who sing well without ever having lessons, but they are people so gifted they never needed to ask the question "How to you get a good voice?" You have asked the question, so you need the teacher.
I got over 200,000 hits on You-Tube for vocal lessons, so you might find somebody you like there.
You might Check out Eric Arceneoux there--my wife likes his lessons a lot--it ain't blues, but it is the basics of singing. The lessons I took years ago were from a dude who sang with the Metropolitan Opera!
Wow!! Thanks for all the input, you guys are great!! I'm going to print this out and take my time with it. Lots of useful ideas, suggestions and a terrific link (thanks old wailer) I took a quick peek at Eric Arceneoux youtube channel, and I can understand why old wailer's wife fancies this guy... besides being a very soulful singer, he's also good looking, articulate and a real down to earth no nonsense teacher... I haven't checked all his videos yet (obviously) but it looks like he also has" warming up" and "breathing technics" videos that might be helpful for harp players...
Thanks again guys, it's very, very much appreciated... ---------- DutchBones Tube
Last Edited by on Sep 28, 2009 1:34 AM
Ok Gents now that you've happily discussed this topic let me bring up octaves. Depending if I sing an octave above or below I most Frequently sing and play in the Keys of E-F-G-A-B- and C In "Spoonful" I sing the last line of the Chorus an Octave higher, yet still in E. Certain songs belong in a certain key for no more reason then we are used to hearing them played in that key and while lowering or raising the key a half or whole step usually will go unnoticed changing songs all to the same key, especially in Blues will get an audience bored quickly. It will tend to start sounding all the same (The Major Complaint against Blues)
@Bluzdude46 yep to my ears even a talented blues band can get dull if the singer is limited or (worse still) uninspired. Vocal range and using similar keys is part of it, but I think that dynamics and phrasing are at least as important. For any singer looking to add some variety I'd suggest messing around with the phrasing and approach to see what works. maybe some melisma, ad-lib, scat, use more or less vibrato, move ahead or behind the beat, drop or jump an octave as you say, cover the mic and use a more nasal funky tone, bring it down and talk - there's thousands of techniques to throw in if you're feeling confident enough. Someone like Ian Siegal uses at least three different singing "voices" that he mixes up, sometimes in the same song. Also, though not at all a blues singer, Elvis Costello uses a lot of tricks to make up for a fairly limited voice.
If you are starting out with a crappy voice, getting basic singing skills without practicing very much is pretty easy when you know what's going on.
Just understand the basics like 3 voices (lower, middle, upper) and smoothing out the voice breaks between the two. Easy to practice basic 5-note piano scales running up and down, each time a bit higher...such files can be found on the net for free.
One nice one is just type singing success in youtube and you get this amazing voice coach. Some basics in there, and just watching him with his students is a real eye opener as to what's involved.
I had a super flat voice, but playing harp and some of basic practice, i can get almost any tune near enough after practicing with it a while. Not necessary to think your voice only matches certain singers, but some songs really are pretty easy for anyone.
