Singing and song choice

[iarwain]

I wanted to bring this topic up because I'm not sure I've seen it
discussed here before and I'm wondering if other people's experiences
are similar to mine.

I'm not particularly interested in singing (lead vocals I mean), I
don't consider myself the greatest vocalist on the planet. Yet I find
that if you want to be able to pick some songs to do in a cover band,
you have a far better chance of getting to do them if you can sing
them. If not, then you have to convince someone else to sing the
song. How many of you are in bands where most of the musicians in the
band share the singing duties (everyone gets a number of songs to
sing)?

If you're in an original band, or a cover band that does some
originals, and you want to write some songs that will actually be
performed, then you'd better be prepared to sing them. I like to
write songs myself, and I would rather just have someone else sing
them. But it is way more convenient and easier to just sing them
yourself - they are far more likely to get played this way. Otherwise
you're placing a roadblock between writing the song and performing it
- again you have to convince someone else to sing it. Easier to bring
it up in a jam type situation and just grab a mic.

In bands where I've just played bass with no vocals, I've pretty much
just played whatever songs everyone else wanted to do. Otherwise
there's an issue over who's going to sing it, and that can be a pain.
Does any of this match your experiences at all?

[Mike]

On May 2, 9:15 am, iarwain <iarwai...@hotmail.com> wrote:
> I wanted to bring this topic up because I'm not sure I've seen it
> discussed here before and I'm wondering if other people's experiences
> are similar to mine.
>
> In bands where I've just played bass with no vocals, I've pretty much
> just played whatever songs everyone else wanted to do. Otherwise
> there's an issue over who's going to sing it, and that can be a pain.
> Does any of this match your experiences at all?

In my last band (mostly a cover band), if I wanted to play a song I'd
definitely plan to sing it if it was in my range. There were a few
occasions where I'd want to play a song that was out of my range
vocally and I'd print up the lyrics and give them to the drummer (he
has virtually no limit to his vocal range). In every case he learned
the lyrics and we added the song.

[iarwain]

On May 2, 9:45 am, Mike <tetri...@hotmail.com> wrote:
> There were a few
> occasions where I'd want to play a song that was out of my range
> vocally and I'd print up the lyrics and give them to the drummer (he
> has virtually no limit to his vocal range). In every case he learned
> the lyrics and we added the song.

Yeah, that range bugaboo is an issue with me also. I have a fairly
deep voice, not sure how to classify it, bass or baritone.
Unfortunately it seems like a lot of rock and pop songs are sung in a
higher register. Anyway, it's cool that your drummer is so
cooperative about singing those songs for you. Most of the people
I've worked with in the last few years have their own agenda and
that's what they focus on.

When I was younger I was in several bands where the singer just sung
(didn't play an instrument). It seemed like those people were more
open to singing songs that the others suggested. I suppose it's an
easier task to just learn to sing a song than it is to learn to sing
and play as song like the musicians I've been working with more
recently.

[Neil N]

On May 2, 10:00 am, iarwain <iarwai...@hotmail.com> wrote:
> On May 2, 9:45 am, Mike <tetri...@hotmail.com> wrote:
>
> > There were a few
> > occasions where I'd want to play a song that was out of my range
> > vocally and I'd print up the lyrics and give them to the drummer (he
> > has virtually no limit to his vocal range). In every case he learned
> > the lyrics and we added the song.
>
> Yeah, that range bugaboo is an issue with me also. I have a fairly
> deep voice, not sure how to classify it, bass or baritone.
> Unfortunately it seems like a lot of rock and pop songs are sung in a
> higher register. Anyway, it's cool that your drummer is so
> cooperative about singing those songs for you. Most of the people
> I've worked with in the last few years have their own agenda and
> that's what they focus on.
>
> When I was younger I was in several bands where the singer just sung
> (didn't play an instrument). It seemed like those people were more
> open to singing songs that the others suggested. I suppose it's an
> easier task to just learn to sing a song than it is to learn to sing
> and play as song like the musicians I've been working with more
> recently.

In all the bar bands I've played in, it comes down to doing whatever
the person singing already wants to do. It's a fair bit of work to
learn to sing and play a new song, so the motivation has to be there.
I can't picture asking someone to do a tune just because I want to do
it. So with songs, my philosophy is "If you can't be with the one you
love..."

Of course, for motivation you can try to convince them that they'll
kill on that tune, and that American Idle will be on the phone after
the set...

I also have a baritone voice, so I know it's difficult to find
commercial rock/pop tunes to sing. It can be done.

[Frederic Gelinas]

My main band has a dedicated chick singer. She sings almost anything.
When it is needed, the drummer will do the lead and she will do the
backs only. But she sings 90% of the songs.

In another band, I plan to sing 2-3 songs a night. Songs that I know I
can sing decently. I don't want to scare people...

--
Frederic Gelinas

[Tim]

In my current band we have a dedicated singer. He's good in that we tell
him what we want to play and he learns it. It works out well. However to
qualify that, the four of us in the band are all on a similar wavelength as
to what sort of music we want to play so there are usually very few
arguments. Both the guitarist and I do all the harmonies/backings so it
works out well

Tim

[iarwain]

It does seem from the sound of things that singers who are "just"
singers are more open to trying songs for you than singers who also
play an instrument. Makes sense.

I've played bass in bands where I've pretty much just gone along with
whatever everyone else wanted to play. This can be a plus in some
ways. You get to learn more songs, and appreciate some you might not
have played or thought about otherwise.

[Misifus]

Neil N wrote:
> On May 2, 10:00 am, iarwain <iarwai...@hotmail.com> wrote:
>> On May 2, 9:45 am, Mike <tetri...@hotmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>> There were a few
>>> occasions where I'd want to play a song that was out of my range
>>> vocally and I'd print up the lyrics and give them to the drummer (he
>>> has virtually no limit to his vocal range). In every case he learned
>>> the lyrics and we added the song.
>> Yeah, that range bugaboo is an issue with me also. I have a fairly
>> deep voice, not sure how to classify it, bass or baritone.
>> Unfortunately it seems like a lot of rock and pop songs are sung in a
>> higher register. Anyway, it's cool that your drummer is so
>> cooperative about singing those songs for you. Most of the people
>> I've worked with in the last few years have their own agenda and
>> that's what they focus on.
>>
>> When I was younger I was in several bands where the singer just sung
>> (didn't play an instrument). It seemed like those people were more
>> open to singing songs that the others suggested. I suppose it's an
>> easier task to just learn to sing a song than it is to learn to sing
>> and play as song like the musicians I've been working with more
>> recently.
>
> In all the bar bands I've played in, it comes down to doing whatever
> the person singing already wants to do. It's a fair bit of work to
> learn to sing and play a new song, so the motivation has to be there.
> I can't picture asking someone to do a tune just because I want to do
> it. So with songs, my philosophy is "If you can't be with the one you
> love..."
>
> Of course, for motivation you can try to convince them that they'll
> kill on that tune, and that American Idle will be on the phone after
> the set...
>
> I also have a baritone voice, so I know it's difficult to find
> commercial rock/pop tunes to sing. It can be done.
>
>
>


Even in a cover band you can change to key to fit your voice.

-Raf

--
Misifus-
Rafael Seibert
mailto:rafseibert@suddenlink.net
blog: http://rafsrincon.blogspot.com/
Photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/rafiii
home: http://www.rafandsioux.com

[Neil N]

On May 5, 11:28 am, Misifus <rafseib...@suddenlink.net> wrote:
>
> Even in a cover band you can change to key to fit your voice.
>

That's true, but generally I prefer not to do that to ... I can't sing
like Steve Perry, so any attempt to squeeze a Journey tune into my
range would pretty much be an abomination.

I prefer to find tunes that are in my range, makes more sense for the
listener, IMHO. I just added Low Rider to my limited repertoire,
that's a tricky one to sing n play at first...