I have to vent this guys! So please bare with me a moment! Thursday night I went to a local club to enjoy a cool refreshing pearly pop with foam on top and listen to some live music. Thursday nights are also a kind of open mic night with the band that's there. I've known one of the guys in the band a number of years and even played a couple of gigs with him. The drummer for the band is some what of a local legend (well known regionally) and the rest of the guys are of a good caliber of musicians. The first Thursday night I went there (a few months ago) I was asked to sit in and play a couple of songs. I was honored to be asked and accepted. We did 2 songs that I was also supposed to sing! When asked "what key?" I responded "Just like it is on the record!" Okay! Here's my first mistake! I don't know what key Rod Stewart's Hot legs is in.... I just sing it! That's fine with my band because they KNOW what key it's in and I NEVER felt the need to ask. So now I'm sitting in with another band, no-one knows the proper key and folks are standing on the dance floor waiting for us to play SOMETHING! I count it off.... and it's not even close to the right key and I have no idea how to sing it in the key we're playing it in! So I just shout it out there. Totally embarrassed, I'm ready to leave the bar at this point. But in an attempt to redeem myself in front of the crowd, they offer to play another for me. I let my friend sing it... I just played. (It took me weeks to get over this first on stage calamity! Sorry, I'm just like that! I don't like being the fool on stage! Playing out is something I take seriously!) So last night, my wife and a friend of ours go again! (First time I went back in the club since the last fiasco!) Again the invitation to play a couple is made and again, (Like an idiot) I say yes. So off we go in to Hot Legs in the key of C this time. Not even close. Again I force my way through. The bassist at this point is beginning to note my frustration and offers a smile and an apology. I ask him what HE wants to play and again (just like before) he says "whatever you want to play!" Okay! How about "Lovin' Touchin' Squeezin' ?" Great! I know that one! I count it off... and it's in a key so that James Earl Jones could sing it! Christ man! I said just like the record! So the drummer at this point is ready to get me out from behind his kit (and I don't blame him a bit) I know it sounded awful! But the bassist tells him that they screwed up my songs and want to do one more to make me feel better! Oh God why didn't I go sit down?! So Here we go with "Shook Me" by AC/DC and don't you know the bastards didn't get that one even close EITHER! How in the heck can you play in a cover band and NOT know SHOOK ME! Geez! Well they didn't. What gets more than anything else is this is one of THE best cover bands in the area! These guys know how to play. Some of the members are touring professionals for larger acts! I rest most of the blame on myself because I couldn't call the key. But gees! What a freakin embarrassment! Anyone else face a similar situation? God Bless You if you have! Thanks for letting me get this off my chest!  

Ouch, I've been there...

Don't fret it dude, being open mic night I'm sure some folks stunk up worse than you.

Maybe some of the patrons thought "this guy can't sing" but it sounds as though all the musicians in the room (who we really perform for at open mic nights) understood what the problem was. They may have viewed you as unprepaired at the moment and I bet the ones on stage were also embarrassed not to know the key of the original recording. I'm sure none of them beat you up as bad as are beating yourself up over it. They won't even remember it in a weeks time as you will.

The best lesson learned is the one learned the hard way.

I do some fill-in spots here and there with bands other than my regular bunch. I have learned to always have my song list of what I sing which DOES have the key and other crucial notes to the pickers about the song.

But still, many times I will assume the group knows the right key, I forget to tell them and I am caught singing out of key anyway. That's when you either get creative or just let it stink. NEVER STOP!

Yep, its like Einstein once said.  "A man learns something holding a cat by the tail that he can learn in no other way".  Education cost a lot, sometimes money, sometimes a little embarassment.  The main thing is not to let it get you down, learn from your mistakes and also from the mistakes of others.  

Another trick is to know what key you can perform in comfortably.  Use this key if you are unsure of the key your band normally uses for the song.  

Timmin, your avatar is awesome LOL!

I never understood why a drummer would want to sing in the first friggin place.

Oh I hate singing and try to avoid it as much as possible...unfortunately I have a pretty decent voice; I just don't tell people.

yeah i think you asked for it jamming drums and vocals at the same time.i know you can play drums but you should have just picked one or the other.any good band will sound bad with a lame drummer or a bad singer.everyone can tell if it's in time or on key.it must have been bad up there.keep practicing with your band so when people see you again they're impressed.i heard your version of panama are you gonna sing it?what's with all this 80's stuff anyway?ac/dc,journey,panama,etc.

yeah, i'd say that was 100% your fault. there's no "right" key for any of these songs, as it has to fit for whatever singer is up there. whether it's "just like the record" or not makes no difference. you simply have no right to complain if you don't know the key and plan to sing....

We should be helping each other better our playing and understanding of music.  I think everyone could learn from Louderdb and the positive way he has handled the negative remarks.  Constructive criticism it always welcome but negative remarks are not what has made the Drummer Cafe a great place.

You did not sound like an idiot at all. Anyone who can't relate doesn't sing and or/ hasn't been to many open mic nights.

I got into the singing much like you did. I had always sang around the house with the flat-top and keys but never thought I had the voice for the stage. After playing in a few bands things changed. It sucked being in a 5-piece band that frequently had to turn down gigs because the "front-man" and only singer had to work every other weekend. It sucked playing in the band that gave a singer who played no instrument an equal cut when 3 other members could sing as good and better.

I have played mostly in contemporary "honky-tonk" house bands. These require an extensive songlist when you play 4-6 hours a night a couple or few nights a week. Vocals are almost a must to get with the better bands in the good jobs.

My current band is playing more new rock and used to be a 5-piece. We finally canned the singer after doing a couple gigs and reviewing the tapes. Then a guitarist and I were splitting the vocals. Then the bass players pi**ed off the guitarist and he quit. Now we are 3-piece with me doing about 80% of the vocals. The bass player is "trying" to sing the other 20%, "bless his heart." We are looking for a fourth person now. We have 2 gigs booked and will do them 3-piece if we have to. It just means more work for more money.  

I'm sorry, I didn't mean to flame you. you've got the right idea, you learned a good lesson and I'm sure you won't be embarrassed like that again. the upside about humiliating experiences like that are that it really forces us to learn a lesson.

I stand by my comment that a singer has to know what key he/she's singing in, just as a drummer should know what time signature he/she's playing in. you're quite liable to get burned on stage without this info, as you saw.

again, I apologize.

I thought my wheaties tasted strange yesterday...