How can I improve my voice?

[TJB98]

Hey! So I have been seriously trying to improve my singing for the past year or two. I haven't been able to get any formal instruction, just have been picking up tips and information about it wherever I can find it.

 

I really love singing, it would be great if I could someday make something out of it, even if it is just recording a song or something that might not even get big, haha. I want to at least get good enough to where people honestly enjoy my singing.

 

I have learned a bit practicing and have gone ways. Although I am better than when I started, and people have told me before I had a good voice, I can't help but cringe a little when I hear my voice on a recording even after reviewing it many times. When I sing, it feels good, and it sounds alright when I hear it come out of my mouth, but when I listen to the recording it kind of just sounds to me like a child trying to imitate his favorite artist and slightly failing.XD

 

After all of the tips I've read and videos I've watched, I have learned to to have a sort of consistant voice, and have learned how to not strain when I sing and make it feel natural, but I still don't know how to get rid of that armature sound my voice still carries. Not exactly sure how to work on it because I can't figure out whats wrong. Only some days it will sound like I'm getting rid of it, but it will come back the next morning.:/

 

Any help will be thoroughly appreciated!

 

-TJ

 

[WRGKMC]

I learned most of what I do from working with others and just plain hard work. I did pick up a few tricks along the way that are essential to learn.

One of the oldest is singing in front of s lit candle. Be careful with this, I wouldn't want you to light your eyebrows up.

 

Put a candle on a stand with the flame no more then 6 inches from you. If you can sing an entire song without putting it out you are focusing your energy on making the vocals work right and producing notes and not just puffing like e bellows. You need this technique mastered if you plan on singing into a mic well without a bunch of esses and pops. Believe me you'll go through a whole book of matches in that first song but you'll learn what it takes to control breath.

 

Another technique developed involves proper pronunciation. My sister had a voice of gold and sang/acted in all kinds of theatrical shows. She also earned a major as a speech therapist and leaned allot of this through experience.

 

As you know words have vowels, both short and long and a couple of extra oddballs thrown in there. Words also have syllables. Single double triple etc. I developed a method to exercise that utilizes these much like a weight lifter will do reps to strengthen different parts of the body. They do these reps without thinking much about it, Just work the routing for a number of minutes, take a break, then do it again. Next day, the do a little more. Sleep, heal and do a little more each day. By the end of a months time that are able to do double the work with 1/10th the effort. You get it, its a drill any army drill Sargent would put you through including a singing coach. I've even used it on other young musicians and saw the benefits so I know it works.

 

You begin the process by working first the long vowels beginning with the first consonant (non vowel) in the alphabet which is "B"

 

 

You then have the words, Bay, Bee Bye Bow Bou for the long vowels, and Bah, Beh Bih, Boh, Buh, with the short vowels.

We're not concerned these words make sense, its strictly about using the "B" with the long and short Vowels. These can be recited forward backwards, doesn't matter. Use your imagination.

 

The next step is to apply these to a musical tone. You can start at a C note or even the lowest note your voice can comfortably sustain a pitch at. Use a piano not or pitch pipe if needed. You then run Through these Vowled words sustaining them for a full breath then you can run through all 5 of each in a single breath. Any speed you want but focus on being as articulate as possible. Be overly articulate if needed and really work those muscles.

 

Then run them through at either D or Db, E, F etc up the scale to the highest comfortable note you can reach, then work it back down to the lowest note. That's 5 long vowels then 5 short vowels per pitch. you can run it all the way up and bac k with just the long vowels and start over with the short.

 

That may be allot for the first go round. rest if needed then start the whole process over again. Except you move to the next letter in the alphabet.

Cay, Cee, Cie, So Sue, Cah, Ceh, Cih, Coh, Cuh. Ca can be long or short too, it can hiss like the letter C or work like a K. I usually work the Cee and work about the hard K when I get to that letter.

 

I run through the scales like this working through the entire alphabet. D would be next, F, G etc always working through the long vowels and then the short. Believe me after the third or 4th letter you may be tripping over your tongue worse then any tongue twister. Its takes focus and hard work to get it down well. I knew some really good singers who could so this stuff at machine gun speed and to hear it is hysterical, especially when you get to the G's and X's. Anyone hearing you is going to think you really lost it, but tell them where to get off.

 

This will begin to show immediate improvement within a few days. The trick is staying diligent.

 

First thing you'll notice is your sinuses will open and teeth vibrate as your voice begins to produce stronger tones. Your reading skill of lyrics vastly improves too as you focus in on the vowels of words. Eventually you put hyphens between syllables so you can pronounce each independently. Plus your musical range and sustain is mu8ch more agile because you aren't stumbling over the words and can focus more on modulating the pitch. I have exercise's for that too, but that's another lesson. Get the words first and work out so the body follows the mind effortlessly. Then you know you can sound good without sweating it.

[kickingtone]

After all of the tips I've read and videos I've watched, I have learned to to have a sort of consistant voice, and have learned how to not strain when I sing and make it feel natural, but I still don't know how to get rid of that armature sound my voice still carries. Not exactly sure how to work on it because I can't figure out whats wrong. Only some days it will sound like I'm getting rid of it, but it will come back the next morning.:/

 

I'm also two, three years into singing. I don't have any particular ambition. The whole thing just appeals to my sense of adventure and curiosity.

 

CHANGE -- things going right or going "wrong" is a golden opportunity It is telling you something that you don't know that you know. You can hear the change, but you have to search high and low to understand the whole change. It is not just the sound that changed. You are doing something different. It could be something technical, or it could be more indirect, like what you had to eat or drink that day, or the day before, the equipment you are using, where you are singing, or what time of day, etc. If you pay enough attention, you can unearth a host of factors.

 

When it goes right, don't waste time celebrating or navel-gazing. That is the time to repeat and almost meditate and recall everything you did that day and the day before, and FEEL and REMEMBER how you are able to do it right. You will have to recall those memories, and the sensation of "rightness", for focus and comparison, so you must take the opportunity to make them as vivid as possible.

 

When it goes "wrong", that is an opportunity, too. You can either apply what you have learned from when it went right, or discover what the physical difficulty is. A physical difficulty would be related to preparation, diet, tiredness, etc. Over time, you can recognize the precise associations, and adjust.

 

Knowing how to do something wrong (not just being able to hear it go wrong) is also psychologically useful. If you learn to associate known incorrect technique with inadequate sound, you are less likely to revert,to the technique or accidentally deploy it, especially under pressure. That is very important for confidence, and the opportunity is a blessing in disguise. It is particularly important as there is more than one way to attack a note. If the correct technique is not yet powerful enough (maybe due to lack of muscular development, isolation or control), you must have strong psychological reason to refrain from supplementing it with wrong technique.

 

So, never be despondent. Everything is an opportunity to improve.