

The departure from the tonic pitch and back creates tension and stability. Oftentimes the chord progressions and the melody of a song begin with the tonic pitch, move away from it for a while and then resolve back to the tonic pitch. Both information together, the tonic note and the scale, describe the key of a song. Different scales can all be based on the same tonic note, and the same scale can be based on a different foundation, which means that all the notes in the scale are transposed in reference to the desired starting pitch. The tonic note is a reference on which a scale is founded, which means that the scale begins and ends with the tonic note. A scale, also called tonic harmony, is a system of notes that is defined by counting the halftone steps between each note of the scale. The key of a song tells us which pipes we can sound safely to stay in harmony.Ī musical key is the combination of a tonic note and a scale. The pipes of this church organ located in Norwich, England produce different pitch and tone. The choice of key in recording sessions.Sometimes singers may record a song intentionally in a higher key than what they are comfortable to perform live. Even if a singer is able to hit all the notes of a song, a key change may still be an effective tool to transpose the song into a range where the singer's voice sounds strongest.Ī singer might also change the key of a song for a performance on stage, per example to protect the voice during days of sickness. It enables the singer to sound good while feeling comfortable performing the song. Whereas song choice is one of the most important considerations in this matter, changing the key might give access to songs a singer wants to have in his or her repertoire. If the singer hasn't mastered this challenge just yet, a key change may help avoiding the problematic note.Īs a performer you want to put off your best presentation. Being on the learning path, some singers might experience a loss of tone with notes that lie in between vocal registers, per example between chest and head voice. The most common reason is when the vocalist is unable to hit the highest or lowest note, or when a specific note in the song strains the voice of the vocalist or simply doesn't sound good. There are multiple reasons why a singer would want to change the key of a song.
