Octave Jump Songs...do you do them?

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Permalink Reply by Greg Moore on August 19, 2011 at 7:31pm

The high keys were for the benefit of the altos.  With most contemporary music being monophonic in nature, very few people even know how to sing alto or tenor; thus hymns can be moved down even a fourth without bothering too many folk.  Of course, we've lost the beauty and joy of part-singing, but there are other joys.

Permalink Reply by Benjamin Luce on August 19, 2011 at 8:36pm

Rarely, but one's that come to mind are: I Am Free and From the Inside Out.

Permalink Reply by Stevo on August 20, 2011 at 3:40am

A whole octave? Really? We don't do one of these.

Permalink Reply by Benjamin Luce on August 20, 2011 at 4:38pm

From the Inside Out is an awesome song!  I must say, I like the way we do it better than anyone.  Am/C

Permalink Reply by Daniel Read on August 20, 2011 at 8:06am

We do some (such as Blessed be your name, Oh no you never let go....) but I am very wary of them.  We do have a (practically written) rule of not going above the D above middle C (I will make exceptions and go as high as an E if the note is part of a good tune, so that there is a good lead up to the note and the note is not sustained). Part of the trouble with many "octave jump" songs is that the chorus will have a sustained run of lots of high notes..... and if this is the case then I will consider bringing the song down so that it doesn't often go above a top C.

My reasoning for all of this: I want people to be able to join in the singing. Of course, much depends on your own church context, how large the church is, and what sort of response you are after, but I want people to be able to join in and not get distracted by having to reach for high notes.

Even in a setting where you have a large congregation, very keen to sing, big sound system - essentially everything in your favour - it is possible to push the notes too high. I witnessed this recently at a big summer conference in the UK, where the worship leader (I'm afraid to say he was American) was choosing some very unusual (I might suggest insane) keys for the songs. Happy Day was done in the key of D (so the top note must be an F# I think). In Christ Alone was done in the key of G, two whole tones up from the key written. It was painful to hear 4000 plus voices straining - and failing - to hit top G. As you can tell, I was sufficiently distracted that I had stopped worshiping and started watching the close-ups on the monitor screen to figure out what key he was going to be in next.

Permalink Reply by Benjamin Luce on August 20, 2011 at 4:36pm

Yeah, those two as well.  Tomlin's songs are super-high, man.  I always drop them down.

Permalink Reply by Greg Moore on August 20, 2011 at 8:54pm

I can see doing octave-jump in "One Way" and those fun Jon Egan songs; but on something like In Christ Alone, which is built for marriage of melody and text... just don't get the high key.  Is it that nice to hear the leader wail like a soloist to sacrifice the singing of the multitude?

Permalink Reply by Daniel Read on August 21, 2011 at 6:53am

No, I didn't get it either. I spent the whole time thinking, "why is he doing this?"

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