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Guitar chord forum - chordie → Acoustic → Finding the right key.
This may be a totally stupid question, but, can you use an electronic tuner to see what key your are singing in? I am a very bad singer but i have trouble in actually deciding what key to play tunes in. Any one got any tips?
If you figure it out, you're doing better than me. Good luck with it.
Hi Chris,
No question is stupid and this is a fascinating question! Although it cannot tell you what key you are singing in it can tell you what note you are singing. I have have never thought of this before so I just collected my Boss TU-80 out of the car and if you sing a note it will tell you what it is (and show you if you are sharp or flat 
).
Because the vocal range of songs do vary I find that although I sing the majority of songs in G, I have some songs that I have to sing in A, Bb, C, D, E, or F to comfortably suit my voice.
So there is not an easy answer to finding the right key, but I suggest that you record yourself singing a song and then, using a capo, try it in different keys and listen to the results as to which sound best and which you find comfortable with.
Roger
I once had a fella tell me to sing a simple song like Home On the Range and just sing it without the guitar and when ending the song just strum a chord that is in the same key as you ended the song. So I just tried it and strummed a G chord , nope and a C nope D and A and the A sounded pretty good so I started doing a lot of songs in A .
Now I move my capo around or try transposing to different keys till I find what's best for me.
Awesome advice above! I was playing yesterday and my Mom commented that the songs that I had written myself, or "made my own" by changing them a bit sounded best with my voice. I had to sit down and see what I was actually playing (love my capo and the capo conversion chart stickied at the top of this section) to find out what keys those songs are actually in. Have fun!
Thankyou for your replies. I have a capo which has not had much use up until now so i think i'll definitely experiment with it more.
This may be a totally stupid question, but, can you use an electronic tuner to see what key your are singing in? I am a very bad singer but i have trouble in actually deciding what key to play tunes in. Any one got any tips?
Hi, hopeful. I'm pretty sure I know what key I sing in, the WRONG ONE!!!!!
LOL jc .. I sound like a cat scratching a black board in every key!! At least I'm consistant!!
My wife tells me I sing great in any key thats out of earshot! lol
Gotta love her.
If you are like me and have a problem finding the right key to sing certain songs then play and sing without your capo and then just move it on up the fretboard one fret at a time until you feel comfortable singing the song. If I still can't find a reasonable key l I just break in!!
don't be affraid of your capo, use it! I figure most people start singing in g because thats the easiest key to play in. Through experimenting with a capo i soon realised c is more suited to me so i now lean toward that but there are loads of songs in c i have go capo on the second.
Thank you for your replies, i have been using the capo a lot more recently and beginning to feel more comfortable with using it.Noticed a real difference with some of the songs.
get a cheap recorder and record yourself singing. hearing yourself helps. Just like guitar your voice is an insterment also so learn parts then the song, slowing the song down and singing the notes help... there are some voice practice electronic help like voice trainers ( slow songs down) or perfect pitch (type in the note and makes the note) anyway i'm droling on. Just remember to warm your voice up b4 trying to break out any Steve Tyler songs and somtimes bad is good , Joplin? Henderix? still love there voices
I sometimes hum a song before playing it to try to find the right key.
Unfortunately this often results in me trying to play in the key of M ................................................ 
DE
Guitar chord forum - chordie → Acoustic → Finding the right key.
