To Help You With Your Key Signatures

In our last post we looked at pitching songs.  I thought I would give you a simple tool for learning all the keys by sight for those who might want to use it. 

Major Keys With Flats

Notice the order of the flats B E A D G C F.  If we turn that order around we will have the order of the sharps.

Major Keys With Sharps

You are welcome to memorize these signatures or use the method described in the blog post on pitching the song.  As a Worship Leader you need to do everything you can to be certain that you can start a song in a range that the average singer can reach.  That makes knowing how to read key signatures vital. 

Pitching songs too high or low will hurt the participation in singing.  It can also create other problems.  Pitching songs too low will nearly always lead to dragging in tempo.  Low pitched songs  take on a dark or depressing feel.  Guess what?  Songs that drag also cause singers to drop in pitch.  So a vicious cycle can easily take over your song when pitched too low. 

Songs pitched too high can physically harm vocal anatomy.  When John Que Average church member shows up to sing he will seldom have his vocalizing muscles and apparatus warmed up and ready for a work-out.  Jumping into a song pitched above  his range will cause strain to his voice.  You could be responsible for a lot of collateral damage if you frequently pitch songs too high.  High songs tire singers quickly and will deflate participation for the remainder of the service. 

A good rule of thumb is to stay within a step up or down of the written key signature.  Pitching songs up (within reason) sometimes will brighten a song.  There are a lot of songs that lend themselves to a key modulation up a half step or whole step on the final Chorus or final Stanza. 

Sometimes songs that have notes in the far reaches of the vocal compass need to be lowered a bit to save the voices of the singers.  This is especially true if it is the first song of the day.  Be aware that most church sopranos and tenors will not be able to sing above Fs and Gs before they are warmed up. 

Pitching a song correctly is a big part of your role as leader.  In fact in the short list of most important it ranks in the top 3 things a leader must do right.

Practice; study your songs carefully for notes that are high or low for singers to reach.  Adjust your pitch carefully to aid participation of the whole group.