Consequences of a key change

Bob-Dubery

For a while now I've been playing and singing the Fairport Convention song "Crazy Man Michael". I thought I was playing it OK, but the singing.... the way I play it it's pitched a little too high. So I figure I'll play it in a different key.

I was playing it in Em... well what's the difference between Em and G? I call it Em because that seems to be the central chord, the chord it always resolves back to.

Anyhoo.... I know take it a tone down, to Dm (or F). Obviously quite a lot has to change. Now some of it don't make no never mind, however some little parts that seem quite essential (or that I just plain like) raise a bit of a challenge.

EG I used to play this
e-----------
B-------3---
G------0-0--
D-----4---4-
A---2-------
E-----------
To underline a particularly dramatic line, in fact one of the key lines of the song
"Your true love will die by your own right hand."

That's like a Bm chord, but instead of making a barre with the index you just play the 5th string at 2nd fret and let that open G note sound (what is that? A sharp 5th?) .

So now how to replicate that effect. That extra note is going to be an F now, but there's no F string I can conveniently leave open. The easy option - a high F on the 1st string, doesn't work as well because the sharp 5 now comes at a different point in the arpeggio.

So I figured out this
e-----------------
B-----1-----------
G-----------------
D--2h3-3p2--------
A-0---------------
E-----------------

But you gotta be careful with that pull from F to E as it's easy to brush against that 3rd string and there's a little noise when that happens.

Alternatively I can do this
e----------------
B-----1----------
G----------------
D--2h3-32--------
A-0--------------
E----------------
Which means a slightly trickier right hand fingering on that 3rd string. I have to use the thumb and the index finger, and I have to pay a little attention to the order in which those fingers strike. It doesn't make any difference for this chord, but it does make a difference in getting both hands into position for the next chord - Dm.

Bob-Dubery

Then there was a little lick I played at the end of the 2nd verse. It's really moving from a D to an Em.

Original fingering
e--2h3p2p0-0------
B---------3-------
G-----------------
D-----------------
A-----------------
E-----------------
There's a nice legato feel on the first 4 notes, and then I add a little vibrato on the D.

Now however it has to go something like this...
e--0h1p0-------
B-------313----
G--------------
D--------------
A--------------
E--------------

So the flow is not quite the same. The alternative is to do it all on the 2nd string, but then
a) it's hard to get into position from the C chord immediately before the lick
b) there's a lot of temptation to just slide down to the notes (all the way to the C) which doesn't sound quite the same.

Here I think the lick I've tabbed, whilst not quite producing the original effect, is the best solution. I just have to be sure to get the pinky down for that last D note as this sets up the Dm that will start the first verse, and I like to keep the ring finger free when playing that chord so I can grab a C note on the 5th string or even (if I'm in drop D) the F on the 6th. Generally if I start playing fills around that Dm chord it's easier if the pinky is anchoring the D note.

Bob-Dubery

And talking of drop-D. Because this song now revolves around the Dm chord drop-D becomes tempting.

However the first two chords in the verse are Dm and F. Now in standard tuning this is not problem. Drop-D though....

I have to kick against several things that are ingrained and finger the F chord like this
e--------
B--1-----
G--2-----
D--3-----
A--------
E--3-----

Though that does allow a nice little run from D to F on the 6th string.

All good clean fun, and nothing that some practice won't resolve.

What is interesting to me is that although I "know" these things in my head, the hands are used to moving in a certain way for this song (and are most unused to playing that F shape) and so it feels like I'm fighting muscle memory a lot of the time.

I do lose a lot of little fills that are made available by the open G and Em chords, but the open chords available in the other keys open up some other possibilities. However there are some licks that are essential and which I have to reproduce in the key I've chosen. Figuring out what is essential and than transposing it is quite an interesting little process.

singemonkey

Drop your tuning. It's like some people rejecting using open tunings and capos. I'm for 'em because while you can play anything in standard, it doesn't sound quite the same. Just like in the problem you're pointing out. If you've got a particular voicing you use for effect, the only realistic way you're going to have it sound the same is... to use the same voicing.

Drop one of your guitars a tone. This is a nice mystery, but that's the simple answer.

Jack-Flash-Jr

Not familiar with the song but I think one of the consequences of a key change is that a song can lose it's magic (?!?!?). When I've figured out what I mean I'll re-post... but some songs are haunting because of their key, some rollicking because of it. Sometime key changes just don't sound right at all... we've transposed a couple for ease of play or vocals and 9 times out of 10 gone back to the original key, or dropped the song altogether. Every now and then one happens on a better key of course!

But you gotta be careful with that pull from F to E as it's easy to brush against that 3rd string and there's a little noise when that happens.

That sounds like a good thing to me...

Bob-Dubery

singemonkey wrote: Drop your tuning. It's like some people rejecting using open tunings and capos. I'm for 'em because while you can play anything in standard, it doesn't sound quite the same. Just like in the problem you're pointing out. If you've got a particular voicing you use for effect, the only realistic way you're going to have it sound the same is... to use the same voicing.

Drop one of your guitars a tone. This is a nice mystery, but that's the simple answer.

Ja I thought about that. It would make a couple of other things easier too.

Partly I want to do it this way (drop-D) because it's a little challenge that will focus me. However there may be an unacceptable loss of magic. There's something about open (non-barre) chords and the way they ring, and whilst I will still have open chords when playing in Dm they'll be different and will ring differently. I need to figure out how much difference it makes to the overall effect.

Fab song BTW. One of the best "story" songs I know. You can really hook the audience with this one, and, maybe I'm sick or something, but it's a song that the singer can really get into as well.

Thompson still trots this out in concert every now and then. It can get pretty blood curdling.

singemonkey

Yeah. It's a really creepy tune in parts.