Tim Minchin sang this song:
It is called "when you only sing in F#". Apparently the song is really funny. If you know music. I do not know music, hence I am asking here: what is the joke?
He sings "I am playing in F major but I am singing in F#". First of all: is that true, does he really sing the entire song in F# while playing in F major?
And is that some hard thing to do? Or why is this funny?
I hope a kind soul will help me understand the fun.
The joke is that he sings in F#, even though it sounds bad, just because he prefers singing in F#.
He does not sing the whole song in F# while playing in F*. That would be very difficult to do, but he does not do it. He plays in F while singing in F, so it sounds good. Until that F#... that's the punchline. It sounds bad, and the audience laughs.
*Most of the song is actually in D minor, which shares all the same notes as F, but that's a technicality that doesn't really matter as far as the joke is concerned.
Ironically, he's not singing in F initially, nor F♯ when he sings that he is.
The song's far more in Dm, and the F♯ note he sings is actually the major 3rd of D - yes, it's an F♯,, but he's certainly not 'singing in F♯. Which limits the funniness of the piece, unfortunately.
EDIT: trying to find why musos may find this funny. There have been many occasions when I've encountered singers who've said 'I only sing in F♯ (or whatever key)'. Most musos will understand that it's actually a statement which doesn't hold water. For a couple of reasons.
Songs' range can vary depending far more on their highest and lowest notes, which are in fact independent to the key they're in.
Most folk have a range of more than an octave, whilst a lot of songs span only one. So changing key, up or down, will be possible for most singers - albeit a tone or two, so 'only in F♯' doesn't ring true.
Les Dawson (British comedian) was an accomplished pianist, but he usually incorporated in his act renditions of popular songs, which he expected the audience to join in with, but spectacularly made horrible mistakes with some notes - very cleverly worked out - while retaining his inimitable smile, as if there was nothing wrong. Now that was funny!
Tim has (probably) taken this and the first reason to write (?) and sing the song. But from maybe a slightly different viewpoint. He sings those F♯ notes against the F♮ played in the D minor chord, which is discordant. Had it been the other way round, it'd just sound Bluesy. Hence the reference to F♯. Musos would appreciate this, and lots would think it was actually difficult to do - it's not, but it's effective. But I still say it's a misnomer!
EXTRA EDIT: it'll probably resonate with some musos my experiences when a singer says 'I sing in x key'. You play a chord for that key, and they then proceed singing in a completely different one. Yes, sometimes F♯...
