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Pretty In Pink


lozkerr
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Hi everyone,

After some more less-than-impressive encounters with the world of JMB and wannabe Simon Cowells, a friend and I have decided to form our own band. First rehearsal is on the 16th June, and we have fourteen songs to learn. One of them is Pretty In Pink. And it's doing my heid in.

The phrasing isn't difficult - I've cracked that OK - but I just cannot seem to get the right key. I've found some bass covers on YouTube, but it doesn't help that there appear to be several versions of the song out there and they all sound subtly different. At the moment I'm playing it in E flat major, and it sounds right-ish. The ish is what's irritating. Mr Google suggests it's in D major, which again sounds slightly odd. Or it could be senility setting in.

Does anyone cover this song, and if so, what key do you play it in? I know we might have to alter it to fit our singer's voice, but I would really like to know what key the original is in.

Many thanks,

Laura

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3 hours ago, lozkerr said:

a friend and I have decided to form our own band.

:) Sounds fun. Good luck! 

PS: I just checked 4 versions of P I P on YT and they're all about 2-3 cents sharp of D O.o 

(They probably recorded in D and vari-speeded it up a bit to reduce 'plod'. Or recorded in Eb and slowed it down because they were all speeding off their faces. Who can say?)

Edited by skankdelvar
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I remember having to learn a Rolling Stones song once that hadn’t been recorded in standard A=440, there was a song at university too thinking about it. It’s maybe the same with this? They could have tuned to another instrument in the studio that was slightly out of tune?

Just pick a key that you’re both comfortable with, and learn it in that. If you have to change if when you get a singer, it’ll probably just be a case of moving up or down a fret or two.

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9 hours ago, lozkerr said:

After some more less-than-impressive encounters with the world of JMB and wannabe Simon Cowells, a friend and I have decided to form our own band. First rehearsal is on the 16th June

Nice one! :)👍

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We used to do this in a band waaaay back, and IIRC we just picked a key the singist was happy with (again IIRC, it may have been D) and went from there. I play at home with headphones using an iPad app which can adjust pitch (helpful for things like ACDC, which seem to be in some odd Antipodean key, possibly something to do with the way water goes down their sinks...) so you don't have to tune your bass to the track...

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1 hour ago, ambient said:

Just pick a key that you’re both comfortable with, and learn it in that. If you have to change if when you get a singer, it’ll probably just be a case of moving up or down a fret or two.

I've had a quick confab with my friend, who's the singist, and we're going to run through it and then decide on the key. You might be right about the original being slightly out of tune - both Eb and D sound close but no cigar. The phrasing and rhythm's OK, which is the main thing, so going up or down a fret shouldn't be too much of a problem. Thanks also for the sheet music - I hadn't come across that site before!

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4 hours ago, hiram.k.hackenbacker said:

Decide which version of the song you want to use as a template.

Decide which key you want it to be in.

Send it to me and I’ll pitch correct it for you if you’re not able to.

Thanks - I appreciate the offer! I'll take you up on that if we can't reach a decision between us.

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1 hour ago, Rich said:

Good (and unusual) song choice. Are you going to be doing a lot of 80s stuff or just a smattering?

Richard Butler's voice always made me want to clear my throat :lol: 

Me too 🙂 There's quite a lot of eighties stuff on our list, with a few slightly earlier and later. Our first set is:

  • Don't Get Me Wrong
  • Hanging On The Telephone
  • Union City Blue
  • Pretty In Pink
  • Teenage Kicks
  • You've Got My Number (Why Don't You Use It)
  • Bad Reputation
  • Best Of Friends
  • Psycho Killer
  • I Feel You
  • Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This)
  • Stupid Girl (the Garbage one, not the Stones)
  • Panic
  • Gimme Danger

We had to whittle that down from a list of 60+. We're going to be busy! And we also have to find a drummist and someone who plays one of those screechy things with too many strings.

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11 minutes ago, lozkerr said:

 

  • Don't Get Me Wrong
  • Hanging On The Telephone
  • Union City Blue
  • Pretty In Pink
  • Teenage Kicks
  • You've Got My Number (Why Don't You Use It)
  • Bad Reputation
  • Best Of Friends
  • Psycho Killer
  • I Feel You
  • Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This)
  • Stupid Girl (the Garbage one, not the Stones)
  • Panic
  • Gimme Danger

Fab set list! :)

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6 hours ago, lozkerr said:

Me too 🙂 There's quite a lot of eighties stuff on our list, with a few slightly earlier and later. Our first set is:

  • Don't Get Me Wrong
  • Hanging On The Telephone
  • Union City Blue
  • Pretty In Pink
  • Teenage Kicks
  • You've Got My Number (Why Don't You Use It)
  • Bad Reputation
  • Best Of Friends
  • Psycho Killer
  • I Feel You
  • Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This)
  • Stupid Girl (the Garbage one, not the Stones)
  • Panic
  • Gimme Danger

We had to whittle that down from a list of 60+. We're going to be busy! And we also have to find a drummist and someone who plays one of those screechy things with too many strings.

Some great stuff there. If 'Twisted' was in your original list, maybe think about putting it back in, the bassline is great fun.

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Make sure you are all going off the same version - there's the '81 original and the re-recorded '86 version for the film. Worth listening to all of Talk Talk Talk (and their debut album) while you're at it, I love 'em :)

Edited by Kevsy71
wrong album title!
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17 hours ago, skankdelvar said:

Do it in D. Your guitarist will thank you and so will your left hand.

Good advice, thanks 🙂 I tried both last night, and it's a bit easier in D. I think I'll stick with that until we get into the studio.

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