To G or not to G (chord)
Let’s talk about the joys (and occasional horrors) of creativity and making stuff.
Danny's been pestering me to ghost write this book for him, even going so far as to mock up the cover. It's based on his harrowing musical experience in last month's edition of "Ask Danny."
You may remember the music went a tad awry when Danny found himself singing "L-O-V-E" in a key that almost blew his cool and my larynx. And then the hijinks continued during "Your Love Yodels On."
Before COVID, I probably could have faked through it with a thick coating of falsetto, but Long COVID has left me with a reduced sense of smell and no falsetto to speak (or sing) of. Absolutely none. Not a big problem in most folk's day-to-day, but for a "music and silly noises" guy like myself, it's been...well not exactly devastating, but definitely a bummer.
So how did Danny and I find ourselves in the rarefied heights where only tenors dare to tread?
Well...
I arranged and played the backing music for the two songs. In these giddy MIDI days, I can just start a new piece in the key of C, and then transpose it later to another key if needed. So, as I finished up the backing tracks, I needed to select a pitch I was comfortable singing in, and transpose the music to that. To do that, I needed a musical instrument to give me a specific pitch.
My MIDI keyboard wasn't plugged in, so rather than haul it out, I just pulled my ukulele of the wall, and used that. I figured out the chords I was singing, and set the key from there.
Flawlessly logical. Except...
I have a dirty little ukulele secret: I've never bothered to learn actual ukulele chords. I just play 4-string versions of guitar chords on the uke. Which sounds perfectly fine, but the two instruments are tuned differently. So when I play what I learned as a G chord, those same finger placements play a C on the uke. What I think of as a D is a G on the uke, and so on. So that's how I picked the keys for the Danny's musical accompaniments: wrongly and dumbly.
So is it the ukulele's fault? I'd like to think so. I'd like to, but it's not. It's just another reminder that nothing is as simple as it seems, an extra pair of eyes (or ears) is always helpful, and it doesn't matter how often I've rehearsed, maybe give I should give it another shot before showtime. Oh, and breathing. Breathing is good. I knew all this already, but it's funny how often I need to be reminded to remind myself of my reminders.
FYI, the subsequent live show went swimmingly, with some fresh new keys that fit Danny perfectly, and me remembering to breath and stuff.
For those of you were in the audience of the Zoom-hearsal, thanks for your presence and kindness throughout. And I'm thinking of doing more of the "Ask Danny" segments--let me know if there are any lifestyle issues you need help with, and I'll pass them along to the Danster.
Until we talk again, we remain,
Your pals,
Danny and Jamie