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Playing and singing

redlipsofdeceit

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  • Oct 21, 2020
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    Hi, guys!
    I'm trying to learn how to play Hurt, by Johnny Cash, and I wanted to sing too. But I'm having some trouble because Johnny had this deep, low voice, and I can't sing some of those low parts. And, since the song was arranged based on his voice, I figured I needed to change the tones of my guitar strings, so it would be more comfortable for me to sing. That's what's been making my mind go crazy for the past days. I was studying a bit of music theory, but I still can't fully understand some definitions, like key, pitch etc... And I don't know how to conciliate both instrument intonation with vocal intonation.
    Does anyone have tips about it, or any recommendations of videos or texts I can use to study it?
    I am not trying to be a professional singer, I just wanna be able to know how to adjust a song to my vocal range (and identify my vocal range in the first place - from what I've read, I'm a mezzo-soprano, but I'm not sure how to apply this to my playing).
     
    Last edited:
    Solution
    J
    Look into getting a capo. A capo will "squeeze" the frets for you, and you continue to play the same chord shapes. A capo is used to raise the key signature of what you're playing. So if you play a C Major chord on the first fret and what you sing is too low, place the capo on a fret that makes it comfortable to sing in your register.
    J

    Jak Angelescu

    Guest
    Look into getting a capo. A capo will "squeeze" the frets for you, and you continue to play the same chord shapes. A capo is used to raise the key signature of what you're playing. So if you play a C Major chord on the first fret and what you sing is too low, place the capo on a fret that makes it comfortable to sing in your register.
     
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    Solution

    Andrew Milner

    Campfire Attention Holder
  • Nov 11, 2019
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    The first thing, as Jak mentioned, is to get a capo. Second of all, after some bit of practice, your voice will naturally transpose itself to whatever key you are playing in.

    I do that all the time in my live sessions, for there are some songs which are too high for me.
     
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    Chris Johnston

    Music Theory Bragger
  • Nov 11, 2019
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    #Whateveryonesaid - Use your capo to your advantage if a song feels too low. One other thing worth mentioning is that if you're raising the chord shapes you've learned so far up the fretboard and it still isn't feeling right, or if you feel like you're going way up the fretboard to find your range/comfort point, you might want to play the same progression with alternate chord shapes, but lower on the fretboard, to keep the low end sound of the Guitar part.

    For example: You can get the same chords as the song by putting your Capo on 5th fret but playing Em, G, A (for the intro) - Chorus would be D, Em, C, G, I'm sure. If moving the original Am shape around starts to feel too high because you're transposing the A string up the neck, the Em starting point could be worth a shot.

    Watching a few videos of what the Mezzo Soprano range is, I reckon if you moved the Em shape down to Capo on 2nd fret, it could work? (Just guessing though!)
     
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    Calvin Phillips

    Music Theory Bragger
    Nov 11, 2019
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    The first thing, as Jak mentioned, is to get a capo. Second of all, after some bit of practice, your voice will naturally transpose itself to whatever key you are playing in.

    I do that all the time in my live sessions, for there are some songs which are too high for me.
    I've already noticed this with my songs in write. I dont plan any vocal melody but they seem to match the key the song is in when I listen back. Practice makes perfect!
     
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    redlipsofdeceit

    Local Dive Bar Favorite
    Contest Winner!
  • Oct 21, 2020
    510
    1,742
    Brazil
    www.instagram.com
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    #Whateveryonesaid - Use your capo to your advantage if a song feels too low. One other thing worth mentioning is that if you're raising the chord shapes you've learned so far up the fretboard and it still isn't feeling right, or if you feel like you're going way up the fretboard to find your range/comfort point, you might want to play the same progression with alternate chord shapes, but lower on the fretboard, to keep the low end sound of the Guitar part.

    For example: You can get the same chords as the song by putting your Capo on 5th fret but playing Em, G, A (for the intro) - Chorus would be D, Em, C, G, I'm sure. If moving the original Am shape around starts to feel too high because you're transposing the A string up the neck, the Em starting point could be worth a shot.

    Watching a few videos of what the Mezzo Soprano range is, I reckon if you moved the Em shape down to Capo on 2nd fret, it could work? (Just guessing though!)
    I put the capo on the 2nd fret and played the same chord shapes of the original song and it worked! Sounds way more comfortable for me and I can sing the entire song.
     
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