what is the ending note in "so much better" from legally blonde?

[singingshowgirl]

Posted: 6/10/08 at 11:39am

so i noticed so many of the girls seem to have a problem belting that last note in "So much better." does anyone know what the actual note is? THANKSSSS

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 6/10/08 at 11:43am

Depends on who is on that performance.

[SueleenGay]

Posted: 6/10/08 at 11:44am

Technically it is a scream flat.

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 6/10/08 at 12:00pm

I don't believe the key is the issue but the length they have to sustain that last note, especially after all the physical movement in the song prior to having to manage that note in one breath.

I'm a male with a somewhat baritone voice and I can sing in that last key, so I personally know that the key isn't the issue for that song.

[TooDarnHot]

Posted: 6/10/08 at 12:05pm

none of the girls on the reality show went through the normal physical movement, prior to the song, and yet still could NOT hit it. They suck.

I forget what the note is but it's clearly too high for Laura to sing. Or at least too high for her to sound decent on.

[Songsstresss]

Posted: 6/10/08 at 1:07pm

I believe the notes are: Than (E) Be (D) Foooooore (C#)

I just played my piano along with the recording. I'm 99% sure that's correct.

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 6/10/08 at 1:10pm

It has been lowered slightly for Laura, when Becky goes on it is played in the original key.

[dramagirl487]

Posted: 6/10/08 at 2:00pm

if i'm wrong sorry, but i heard about the issue with the note somewhere, and i remember reading:

the note falls into something nicknamed a "devil's interval". i don't know too much about it, but when you get down to complex theory, the note is only attainable with voice and instruments where any note can be played (violin) but does not exist on piano, flute, etc. because they can only play proper notes. its something like a harmony in between C and F which doesn't exactly exist.

type devil's interval into google and search around.

[TooDarnHot]

Posted: 6/10/08 at 2:14pm

ohh please. give me a break.

[steviegabor]

Posted: 6/10/08 at 2:24pm

Using scientific pitch notation, where middle C= C4, the last note is a C5 sharp. It is held for 14 beats.

Hope this helps! I have the show's score if you'd like me to send it to you.

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 6/10/08 at 2:32pm

Again... hitting the note isn't really the issue, but sustaining that note for 14 beats in one breath AFTER the physical movements prior to that part of the song is the killer. Your pitch can do so many things depending on how you're voice is that day. This explains Laura Bell's heavily discussed interruption of the not-held note on the MTV version of the show.

[SirNotAppearing]

Posted: 6/10/08 at 3:22pm

Excuse me, but WHAT physical movements? She just runs back and forth. It's not "Music and the Mirror" or anything, where the actress actually has to DANCE.

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 6/10/08 at 3:26pm

How about the fact that she's on stage for an hour and 20 minutes of the hour and a half-long first act, and sings all but, like, 4 of the songs?

[maya5892]

Posted: 6/10/08 at 3:30pm

Sir, the physical movement that is being discussed is her carrying the show for the full first act.

[millie_dillmount]

Posted: 6/10/08 at 5:40pm

"She just runs back and forth."

Dancing or not, she still carries the weight of the show on her during the first act, and it is strenuous.

[SporkGoddess]

Posted: 6/10/08 at 5:44pm

"What You Want" has pretty hardcore dancing.

[blaxx]

Posted: 6/10/08 at 5:50pm

Honey, Swan Lake has pretty hardcore dancing.

[SporkGoddess]

Posted: 6/10/08 at 5:53pm

Yeah, but they don't have to sing during it.

I just mean that it takes a lot of energy, and it's pretty early into the show. That alone would wind a performer, I think.

Updated On: 6/10/08 at 05:53 PM

[into_the_woods2]

Posted: 6/10/08 at 6:27pm

i think that so much emphasis is being put on this note that does not need to be there. LBB has to carry the show, singing and dancing the whole way through, 8 times a week. i think she does a superb job.

i don't know why the note is such a big deal. it's not like she is singing an F6 (high F) or something up there!!

[SirNotAppearing]

Posted: 6/10/08 at 6:29pm

No, I agree, she does basically carry the show and I feel for her, but there's no dancing during the actual number (and for some time before it, I might add) so that's what I was talking about.

[CyCoSpAz2]

Posted: 6/10/08 at 6:59pm

Hey, if I did all those spins between "look at my name up on that list" and "kind of a cool ironic twist" I would probably barf.

[dramagirl487]

Posted: 6/10/08 at 11:33pm

thanks, tobiasragg

does that mean the interval thing i recalled was partially right?

[allofmylife]

Posted: 6/11/08 at 1:39am

As I have mentioned before, friends of mine who are musical directors have suggested to me that the final few notes in that song are an almost perfect storm of complexity and apparently, it is difficult to hit the final note with any certainty that you are staying in pitch (does that make sense, it sounded so much better, pardon the pun when I was having it explained to me).

Even from a layman's perspective, it's a weird sounding ending.

[TooDarnHot]

Posted: 6/11/08 at 2:09am

not really.

[zoran912]

Posted: 6/11/08 at 4:03am

allofmylife - I completely understand where you are coming from. The accompaniment keeps modulating while the note is held, making it difficult to find a tonal center to latch onto.