To transpose or not to transpose is the age old question.
Should you leave the song in its original key?
Or should you change a key so it sits more comfortably
within your range?
I've got a few ideas, coming right up,
I think, that will help you make the right choice
for your voice.
(VOICEOVER): Check one.
Check two.
[MICROPHONE SCREECHING]
Hi, my name's Dr. Dan.
Welcome to Voice Essentials, where we develop your voice
and improve your sound.
And I think this long standing question--
should you change the key?
Shouldn't you change the key?
--has stuck around because, I think, many of us
are scared that people will find out that we've altered the key.
Well, here's a thing-- very few people on the planet,
this place we call Earth, can actually
hear the difference in the moment
that you've changed the key.
So I think, to start with, we need to understand that.
There's only people with what's referred to as perfect pitch,
or absolute pitch-- people that can actually
pick a key of a song away from a keyboard-- they're
the only ones that can identify whether you've change
a song or not, and the key.
Here's another thing-- and this, I think, will put a lot of you
at rest.
A lot of touring artists have what's
referred to as the recorded key and the performance key.
Because the reality is, for most artists
who are touring, if they tried to sing all of their songs
in that original recorded key, it simply
would wear and tear at their voice while on tour.
So what they do, a lot of them, is
they shift the key down about-- generally
it's about a tone, a tone and a half--
just to allow the voice to not have to work as hard.
And I dare say you haven't picked up
on that when you last attended your favorite performance
concert.
(VOICEOVER): Sound check.
[MICROPHONE SCREECHING]
When I'm with a student in class, however,
what I tend to do is actually leave
the key in the recorded version, the recorded key.
And here's why-- is because ultimately, in the studio,
we are wanting to develop the skills that
require us to sing up.
To be able to sing at the upper end of our register.
And when we sing a song that sits a little bit higher
than what we would normally comfortably sing it in,
it requires the voice to develop those muscular coordinations
and the muscular build to develop in such a way
that the voice can handle that.
It's a little bit like attitude training.
We often hear of those athletes that head off to high places
to do a lot of their training prior to then heading down
the mountain into whether it be the Olympics or the World
Championships.
Because that altitude training requires their body
to work harder, and the body develops the ability
to work on less oxygen. Well we're
not wanting to work on less oxygen,
but I think the illustration works.
When we work on the song that little bit
higher, in this case in the original key,
it requires us to develop the skills necessary to sing
and sustain a higher what's referred
to as tessitura-- a main average of the notes,
which sits that little bit higher to what
we might feel comfortable in.
So there you go.
You don't always have to sing a song in its original key
when it comes to performance.
But it can be a really helpful tool
when you're working and developing
the voice a little bit like attitude training.
I hope today's video has been helpful to you.
And make sure you leave a comment
and hit like and share with your friends
so that we can help to dispel this myth around always needing
to sing in the right key, because you simply
don't need to.
And if this is your first time here at Voice Essentials,
we would love for you to subscribe and join
our ever-increasing family-- our global family-- of singers
who are learning to develop their voice
and improve their sound.
But for now, mine name's Dr. Dan.
Sing well.
[MICROPHONE SCREECHING]
[APPLAUDING AND CHEERING]