Finding the Right Key

[Lifestion]

Thank you for the tips everyone!

 

[PeteyHoudini]

Petey, I'm shocked! That 1104 version of C#m never occurred to me before. I checked, it's not in my 'go to ' chord dictionary. How odd, to learn something new, that's so simple, after so long a time playing. Thank you for that!

Hi VG,

You're welcome! It's nice to get musical surprises. You might like my second favorite chord F#m then... 2124 !!! The 1104 and 2124 work well together. I've been using them for years because I wrote songs in both C#m and F#m in my guitar playing days in a band. So, I wanted to recreate those songs on the uke and looked for all the versions I could of those two more obscure chords. My secret is I've been buying uke chord dictionaries for years and also method books with chord reference listings. I find different chord variants in them and use them. For example, here are the ones I've mined for chords when working out my arrangements:

1. Hal Leonard's Ukulele Chord Finder (book available in pocket size, book size, Kindle)
2. Hal Leonard's Ukulele Method Book 1 Plus Chord Finder (method contains the book above!)
3. Ukulele Chord Dictionary by Alfred (pocketbook size)
4. Gig Bag Series for Ukulele: Picture Chords 1000+ chords (long tall beer can size)
5. Treasury of Ukulele Chords by Roy Sakuma (book size)
6. Hints and Tips for Advanced Ukulele Players by Mel Bay (book size and has an excellent chord reference section of unsual variants)
7. Mastering Chord Inversions for Ukulele by Mel Bay (book size)
8. Online websites as well

One day, I will so short reviews of each on my YT channel.

Cheers, Petey

 

[Canada Jim]

I only play in three or four keys generally but when I'm doing a gig somewhere I like to mix them up in my play list. It is a bit redundant for the audience I think to sit through a half dozen songs in C major. I try not to play more than three songs in the same key back to back. Just another key centric consideration.

I recall subbing for a bluegrass mandolin player who had another gig. After we'd been playing for a while, the Dobro player said, " Hey, let's play the one that's not in G."

 

[MyLU21TE]

Finding the best key to sing is still a very awkward process for me. Yesterday I worked on 'Hooked on a Feeling', which is originally in the key of A. That was much too high for me, so I tried E, which sounded better, but was lacking vitality. So I tried C, D and G, and finally settled on F as the best-sounding key for me. It seemed like a long, drawn out process, and I wish I had a simpler, more reliable way of finding a good key to sing in.

 

[UkingViking]

If I am not doing a pure instrumental, which I rarely do, I focus primarily on which key goes with my vocal range.

If more keys works for vocals, I look into which makes riffs or instrumental chord melody breaks more playable. For a lot of songs it is desirable to be able to do an instrumental verse at some point then repeat part of the song from the bridge.
But vocals first.

I dont use fancy nashville diagrams, I like to write in the key that suits me so I dont forget. And I never learned to count out the chords quickly...

My favorite chord ressource is an Android app called "Uchord".
You pick the root, then you pick from a wider variety of chords types than any table I have ever seen. And then it shows 4 different inversions of the chord, while a table will show you just one. It also works better than googling chords by far. I must recommend that one.

 

[PeteyHoudini]

Better still to learn to derive the chord shapes for yourself. It's faster and more flexible. For instance, for a typical 9th chord, I know 12 different ways to voice the chord, and I've used them all at one time or another. I've yet to find an app that provides so many alternatives. By deriving the shapes yourself, you also learn to identify which string plays which component in your chord (information which has helped me out countless times). The process can work in reverse as well, helping you to identify chords/shapes you arrive at on your own through noodling (though there's some inherent ambiguity in determining the proper name for a chord, since you also have to consider the context in which it appears, and the root might not be one of the notes you're playing).

While I agree with that in concept (having many years of classical piano training and theory), it requires a knowledge of the keys and not everyone has that knowledge off the top of their head. I.e. the key of Ab... ok... contruct me an Amaj9. First of all, one has to know that the key of Ab has 4 flats (which ones!) B, E, A, D, and then count up from the root and construct the chord. That is not that easy. Still, I get your point.

On that very front, the book I mentioned "Mastering Chord Inversions for Ukulele" (Mel Bay: Mark Kailana Nelson) has a fretboard showing intervals to construct all chords up the neck which is basically what you are doing with the aid of a fretboard showing intervals. His method is rather quite ingenious. At first, I didn't get it and then it clicked. It makes what you recommend easier. Also, the start of Hal Leonard Chord Finder book shows how to construction chords.

Cheers,

Petey

 

[Yukio]

Yes! I follow quite well what ubulele is explaining to us in the post above.
Still, since you offered to show us, I would love it if you would elaborate further.

 

[RustyFingers]

Finding the best key to sing is still a very awkward process for me. The other I worked on 'Hooked on a Feeling', which is originally in the key of A. That was much too high for me, so I tried E, which sounded better, but was lacking vitality. So I tried C, D and G, and finally settled on F as the best-sounding key for me. It seemed like a long, drawn-out process, and I wish I had a simpler, more reliable way of finding a good key to sing in.

 

[VegasGeorge]

Case in point. I was just sitting here playing and singing "Make You Feel My Love." The version I had stored was in F. I was struggling with the high notes in the melody, "I know you haven't made your mind up yet ......" And, I wasn't very happy with the bass line either. I went to Ultimate Guitar and started checking out other keys. I discovered that it is perfect for me in the key of B, and the bass line when changing chords sounds a lot better. So, I captured it in B, and printed to PDF, which I now have as my stored version in forScore.