# accompaniment in one Key...singing in another Key?



## Gijoefan1976 (Nov 25, 2017)

Hello, I am very very uneducated in the terms of music so please forgive me if this is to simple or to general of a question 


I believe my teacher said the piece of music I have been listening to is in the key of Db but if this is the case could an accompaniment be in this Key but the tenor could be singing in the key of G major?

I hear the voice in me say "well of course anything is possible" I just wonder if anyone here has ever heard this happening before?

Thanks to anyone willing to share and talk to me about this


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

What is the piece of music? D-flat and G are a "tritone" apart, which is as far apart as you can get in our tonal system. In the old days the interval was viewed with horror, and they called it _diabolus in musica_.


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## Gijoefan1976 (Nov 25, 2017)

hello!! The piece of music it is based on is Goin' Home COMPOSED BY ANTONÍN DVORÁK but it's a more pop version i would say....ah okay thanks for the info and the new words for me  very much appreciated!


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

"Goin' Home" is a song in the style of a Negro spiritual, written in the 1920s (I think) by a former American student of Dvorak. It is based on the main theme of the Largo from Dvorak's 9th Symphony, "From the New World."

It's about as tonal as you can get, and certainly in the original there's no such situation as you describe.






PS: The song is so convincing that a lot of people believe Dvorak used it in his symphony rather than vice-versa!


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## Larkenfield (Jun 5, 2017)

_"I believe my teacher said the piece of music I have been listening to is in the key of Db but if this is the case could an accompaniment be in this Key but the tenor could be singing in the key of G major?_

Actually, no. If the tenor sings in the key of G Major to be in a more comfortable vocal range, then the accompaniment also needs to be in G, and in some instances, an accompanist might be able to do this transposition from one key to another by ear. I doubt if this would be a major problem to find it in G, that is, if your instructor agrees. But if you can sing in D-flat, perhaps a more soulful key, that's the original and the one that's more traditional. A piano accompaniment in G Major can be found here:

https://www.musicnotes.com/sheetmusic/mtd.asp?ppn=MN0071566


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## Gijoefan1976 (Nov 25, 2017)

Ahhh okay thanks Again! oh yes thank you....okay well thank you for the link....Paul Robeson is singing pretty low? and then changes his voice at the 3:44 mark? Again sorry for my "wrong words" the one my teacher and I are looking at is one by David Phelps...
but maybe it starts out in one key and then he is switching between key changes? or maybe even though it's wrong of me to say maybe my teacher is trying yet again to get me to sing "low" again as I am a baritone   ... again thanks so much for the chat, your time and the info you shared...


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## Gijoefan1976 (Nov 25, 2017)

Larkenfield 

wrote:



"Actually, no. If the tenor sings in the key of G Major to be in a more comfortable vocal range, then the accompaniment also needs to be in G, and in some instances an accompanist might be able to do this transposition from one key to another by ear. I doubt if this would be a major problem to find it in G, that is if your instructor agrees. But if you can sing in the key of D-flat, that is the original key and the key that the audience is most familiar with. A piano accompaniment in G Major can be found here (if your teacher approves):

https://www.musicnotes.com/sheetmusi...?ppn=MN0071566"




oh, okay thanks I am just seeing this, your post must have came in when I was trying to work on mine  

oh yes thank you and Yep I went trough all the key versions on that wonderful site, that's the only way I was able to think that the key David is singing in is the key of G major as it has the b in it that it sounds like he is singing...

Thank you to you as well, I appreciate the help and info!!!! Although I am uneducated in music, I really do enjoy try to do my best to learn and try to figure things out on my own as well....


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## Larkenfield (Jun 5, 2017)

Gijoefan1976 said:


> Ahhh okay thanks Again! oh yes thank you....okay well thank you for the link....Paul Robeson is singing pretty low? and then changes his voice at the 3:44 mark? Again sorry for my "wrong words" the one my teacher and I are looking at is one by David Phelps...
> but maybe it starts out in one key and then he is switching between key changes? or maybe even though it's wrong of me to say maybe my teacher is trying yet again to get me to sing "low" again as I am a baritone   ... again thanks so much for the chat, your time and the info you shared...


Oh, the great Paul Robeson! You've noticed something in that the song does go into change of mood. Those who can approach singing in their lower registers effectively like Robeson really have something going for them. It might be worth a try to develop that part of your range. His Ol' Man River was also fantastic in the lower range. But I think his voice would be described as being a bass baritone. In order for a tenor to sing comfortably in their lower range, some kind of transportation of key might be necessary. Perhaps that's why you'd like to sing it in G major. Robeson... his electrifying voice!


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## Gijoefan1976 (Nov 25, 2017)

Larkenfield said:


> Oh, the great Paul Robeson! You've noticed something in that the song does go into change of mood. There is indeed a change. Those who can approach singing in their lower register effectively like Robeson really has something going for them. It might be worth a try to develop that part of one's range. His Ol' Man River was also fantastic in the lower range. But I think his voice would be described as being a bass baritone, in order for a tenor to sing comfortably in one's lower vocal range, some kind of transportation of key might be necessary. Perhaps that's why you'd like to sing it in G major. Robeson... his electrifying voice!


Yep thanks to KenOC and now you, yep I have again found Paul Robeson and of course appreciate how talented of a singer and voice he is....True I hear that and I love how some people like my lower register when my teacher makes me sing it. I just am 
not really a fan of it or when other people do it (I am so sorry to say that, and I do feel bad saying it as well _

okay I will listen to his old man river as well

I always think of the cartoon with the mouse and the shaver (again sorry if I should not say that)

Yes thank you, I agree that some transportation should be done (and I am waiting on pins and needles this past year since my teacher said she would help me, I almost faint every time I say it ) as I know although I can hit the B that David Phelps sings both in head voice and then in full voice it is probably is best that I don't do it  I just am SUCH a huge fan of his version ever since I stared listening to all the versions available on youtube but sadly they don't sell it anywhere as sheet music 

I understand how important working on my lower pitch and register is and I want to do it and I always let my teacher choose 2 out of my 3 songs and I perform one that she chooses and then perform one I get to choose so we both get what we want 

I am just a fan of what I like....my joke is when I sing My Heart Will go on in chest voice and the lower mix it freaks people out and takes on a whole different feeling as it just seems to lose the feeling that most people feel when they here it the "correct way" I can do it and the even better way CELINE DION can do it....hopefully I am making some sense....


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