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#26

re: Song Transposition?

If your saying Sondheim is bad I suggest you start running now before the other people on this board come and hunt you down.
#27

re: Song Transposition?

Yeah, he's definitely a horrible composer...

W T F ?!?!

Your comments ARE ridiculous. Wow.
"High time we made a stand and shook up the views of the common man" - Tears for Fears
#29

re: Song Transposition?

Allrighty.....someone else can waste their time debating that with you - I don't feel the need...
"High time we made a stand and shook up the views of the common man" - Tears for Fears
#30

re: Song Transposition?

Yeah Sondheim is just fluff. Even though is has the most Tony awards out of any composer.
#31

re: Song Transposition?

His accompanists are so dissonant that they often make singers sound off key, and they're written for the sake of making them difficult. His lyrics are great, though.
#32

re: Song Transposition?

Webber doesn't like his stuff transposed? What? Have you heard his stuff? The movie of "Evita", for one? (Not that it's a great example.) Every Norma Desmond chose their own keys.

The key a song is in in the show is the key that the original performer sounded best in. There are exceptions - Kurt Weill, Leonard Bernstein - but by and large, put it in the key it sounds best for you.

And penciled-in chords above a standard is a totally appropriate way to bring a transposition to a pianist. JRB, Sondheim, anything pianistic, you need to write it out or you're taking a huge gamble. You may find one of the folks who can just do it on sight (there are several) or you may get someone who can't play it, period.

But I heartily, absolutely disagree with saying that you should only choose songs when the published key is good fo you. Transposition happens all the time. Even with Sondheim.
#33

re: Song Transposition?

Just because people (often great people) do it, doesn't make it sound good. Don't worry about the published key, do it in the key of the show.
#34

re: Song Transposition?

Sondheim....fluff??!?

I haven't laughed that hard at someone's ignorance in a LONG time...
"One no longer loves one's insight enough once one communicates it."

The opposite of creation isn't war, it's stagnation.
#35

re: Song Transposition?

I think Sondheim is the polar opposite of fluff. Maybe your idea of fluff is witty and intelligent, moving lyrics set to amazing music, but that is definitly not fluff
#36

re: Song Transposition?

ever heard the saying about "dont try to teach a pig to sing?" - I seriously wouldn't waste your time....
"High time we made a stand and shook up the views of the common man" - Tears for Fears
#38

re: Song Transposition?

What about transposing a song back into its ORIGINAL key? I bought a songbook in which "Somewhere That's Green" is an octave higher.
#39

re: Song Transposition?

What about transposing a song back into its ORIGINAL key? I bought a songbook in which "Somewhere That's Green" is an octave higher that normal.
#40

re: Song Transposition?

Random- but hey MusicMan, you played Meadowlark without the music? That is crazy.

My poor sister, who cant read music, borrowed my sheet music for Meadowlark for an audition. The song was too difficult for the accompanist so then he asked her if she could read music and she said "no" so he said, "Well, I cant play this song for you because the piano isnt written in...its only the vocal lines."
Which was absurd cuz I used that same sheet music for all of my colege auditions.

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