[Worship] putting songs in singable keys

[Stu Heiss <stu@stuheiss.com>]

My wife and I were discussing this again and I'd like to hear from the list,
expecially female leaders...  My wife is a good singer but doesn't play.
I play but don't sing.  She says that many contemporary songs that are
written and led by men, especially high tenors, are too high and the
women will not sing the melody and guys will have trouble too.  She
prefers to put the key down typically a minor 3rd to a 4th which makes
it comfortable for women to sing the melody (they are really singing
about a 6th up from where the men normally lead rather than trying
to sing a full octave).  I agree that this makes it comfortable for
everyone, especially women, but wonder if it sounds/feels odd to
people to be singing songs lower than they are used to hearing them.

Another way to aproach the question is what is a good range to shoot for?
The old adage 'from c to shining c' is too high in my wife's opinion.
She feels that a to a is more reasonable.

Comments?

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