If I don't, I just switch the octave I'm singing in."įolk musician Pete Seeger might agree. "High f-it's traditionally sung in Bb major because going higher than that makes it hard for the altos and basses singing to get to the high note, and going lower makes it hard for the tenors and sopranos to manage," he said.Įducator Dan Holm, a tenor who frequently sings the Star-Spangled Banner for, and much better than, me during the Flag Folding Ceremony, agrees, "I'm always practicing the first part of the song to make sure I'm low enough, but still starting in a comfortable place so I can hit both the high and very lowest note. Basically, the notes are very high." Okay, fair enough, but how high are we talking? "It has a lot to do with the range," he said. I interviewed Kenneth Slowik, the Director of the Smithsonian Chamber Music Society. Turns out, there is an answer to that question and we have just the experts here on staff who can help us out. No matter how low I start it, I know I'm switching keys and cheating that high note, and so is everyone else around me. Then why is it so unbelievably hard to sing? I frequently lead the Flag Folding Ceremony here at the museum (see the video below or on YouTube), which includes leading visitors in the singing of the National Anthem after we unfurl a replica of the original Star-Spangled Banner. All said, it's an incredibly important song in American History. The song describes those pivotal and terrifying moments-and gave our nation its most important symbol, the flag. He saw "the bombs bursting in air" and then the "Star-Spangled Banner" waving over Fort McHenry. Would we become British again? The city of Baltimore, Maryland, was next on the British force's list and everything seemed hinged on its survival.įrancis Scott Key wrote the song in relief that the United States did prevail. Washington, D.C., had been burned, and Americans were wondering if we were going to survive as a country or not. The Children's Chorus of Washington sings at the museum (NMAH) When it was written, the young United States was once again at war with Britain: the War of 1812-also known as the Second War for Independence-and we were losing. It perfectly captures a precarious moment in our history. It's a song that, in this writer's opinion, says much of what you need to know about the United States of America. Museum visitors participate in a flag folding while singing (or humming) the anthem (NMAH)