#sing lower

Has there ever been a moment when you've heard your favorite song on the radio, but you can’t seem to sing along? It’s either sung too high or too low, but there is a solution. A female can sing a song that has been recorded in a male voice, and he can sing one recorded by a female, as well, with a simple key change. The same change can be done for songs originally recorded by someone of the same gender to more comfortably complement one’s vocal range.

The videos below demonstrate how to transpose a song into a lower or higher octave. This is especially helpful when wanting to create YouTube covers of your favorite radio songs that are difficult to sing along with.  For this demonstration, I will be singing one verse and the chorus of up-and-coming male artist Sam Smith’s song titled “Latch.”  The recordings below demonstrate the song, sang in both a female alto and female soprano voice. For reference, the original recording of the song is also included.

Because Sam Smith sings in a higher male voice, it is easy to mimic his voice in a female range at a lower, alto octave. The best way to do this is to first find his original starting note, and find your level of comfort in the same key. To assist me in finding the note, I am using the “Piano…” app by Obie Leff, available in the App Store for free here for Apple devices.

This video is for those singers who prefer to sing in a higher voice. To find the appropriate key, simply increase two half steps from the note in the first video. I will demonstrate how with the piano app in the video below.

Happy Singing!