Getting Started

[animalwithin]

Hi everyone:

 

This is animal from the electric guitar forum of HC. As you can tell I do play the guitar and do sing along with the songs I'm learning, but I have a horrible voice. Someone once told me that you can go from a bad singing voice to a good singing voice if you just practice. So here I am asking all of you, what things can I do to improve my singing voice, to get rid of the raspiness, to be able to match notes correctly etc.? Any and all tips and what not are welcome. Thanks!

[LC0728]

I started by watching a youtuber named EricArcaneaux, He's got like 4-6 good Tutorials and I've also done voice coaching with him, He's a capable vocal trainer, I can give you the link to the playlist if you want. :u

[YeahDoIt]

 

Someone once told me that you can go from a bad singing voice to a good singing voice if you just practice.

 

 

Speaking for myself I wish it was that easy. Maybe it just takes a lot of practice. I sing scales along with a keyboard to learn pitch. I think hearing my voice is important. I often practice with a microphone plugged into my guitar amp. I can't really hear how I sound if I do not use a microphone.

 

You might search for singing exercise videos on You Tube. Anne Peckham has a book and CD that I find helpful annepeckham.com. Your local library may have instruction books and CD's also.

[Jersey Jack]

I think you'd be wise to invest in a few lessons to get yourself started. While it is certainly true that most people (and I believe any musician) can learn to sing, there are some fundamentals of breathing, posture, and relaxation that are difficult to get from books or video materials. If you can manage a month or two of lessons you'll get a good foundation for productive practicing on your own.

 

After that? Dedicated practice of scales and melodies. You may believe that you know a song's melody, but singing along with a recording is not the same as singing a song on your own. You learn a melody by building muscle memory (just like on guitar), and this mean plunking out the melody on guitar or piano and then working on it--eventually feeling comfortable enough with it to start shaping it to express your own emotional resonance.

[animalwithin]

 

I think you'd be wise to invest in a few lessons to get yourself started. While it is certainly true that most people (and I believe any musician) can learn to sing, there are some fundamentals of breathing, posture, and relaxation that are difficult to get from books or video materials. If you can manage a month or two of lessons you'll get a good foundation for productive practicing on your own. After that? Dedicated practice of scales and melodies. You may believe that you know a song's melody, but singing along with a recording is not the same as singing a song on your own. You learn a melody by building muscle memory (just like on guitar), and this mean plunking out the melody on guitar or piano and then working on it--eventually feeling comfortable enough with it to start shaping it to express your own emotional resonance.

 

 

I badly want vocal lessons and I'm saving up for some, problem is I keep spending my money on guitars lol. But I really want lessons because as you say it helps develope a good foundation.

 

 

I started by watching a youtuber named EricArcaneaux, He's got like 4-6 good Tutorials and I've also done voice coaching with him, He's a capable vocal trainer, I can give you the link to the playlist if you want. :u

 

 

Thanks for the tip, Ill definetely look him up!

[rodclement]

Most def get some lessons! It will save you time and agrevation...and you vocal chords as well! Good luck and post some clips!

 

Rod

[the_big_e]

I have decided that teaching yourself to sing (in fact, teaching yourself to do anything) is a bit like teaching yourself dentistry. You can do it but it's probably not good idea LOL

 

I think (but I don't really know at this point) that there are a few things you can do though, plug a mic in and try to learn to sing to the notes you play. Listening to yourself through a speaker is lot different than just hearing your own voice as you normally do. The other thing is setup a video camera or web cam and record yourself singing, then play it back. At this point you find out how bad (or good) really are because you hear exactly what anyone else would hear (not pretty in my case).

 

As soon as I get the million and one things I have to do (mostly involving putting cars back together) done I am going to try to find a voice coach and see if they can do 'anything' with me (I am prepared for hearing that I am a lost cause, I am middle aged after all!). As has been said, there are some things that the general type of web based tutorials just cannot address. Let's face it, if you are ill would you look on youtube for an answer?

[chamcham]

For correcting pitch, there is an app called eTuner for iPhone/ipad/Mac.

You plug in a USB mic and it will tell you the pitch you're singing.

[chamcham]

You can find some vocal methods by the following authors.

 

Anne Peckham

Brett Manning

Dena Murray

Roger Kain

Mike Campbell

 

You really should get voice lessons, though.

 

If you can't afford one, maybe your local church

has a choir group and weekly lessons.

 

Once you get the hang of it, you can buy some books

and practice some exercises in your spare time.

 

Drills and exercises are easy to get from books.

 

But personal feedback on your voice is something

that you can't get from reading.

 

That's where a voice teacher comes in handy.

[beach1]

Get lessons. It will save you a lot of time and frustration in learning how to sing properly. Look for a good teacher who's been trained classically, even if that's not the style you want to sing.

[animalwithin]

Yea, lessons will be my best investment, I just have to stop spending on guitars lol. In the meantime, I'll do the things you guys said to do, recording myself, etc before I get professional help. Thanks for the tips!

[grace_slick]

 

I have decided that teaching yourself to sing (in fact, teaching yourself to do anything) is a bit like teaching yourself dentistry. You can do it but it's probably not good idea LOL As has been said, there are some things that the general type of web based tutorials just cannot address. Let's face it, if you are ill would you look on youtube for an answer?

 

 

The first point I disagree with to an extent. I think as opposed to adopting the attitude that you're TEACHING yourself anything, it's best to just...sing. As often as possible and try and improve some aspect of it each time you do it. People who have never had lessons in their lives can be amazing singers, but generally they have been "teaching themselves" for many years, just because they sing all the time cause they love it, have a good ear, and it doesn't feel like an effort or like they're purposefully teaching themselves anything.

 

I do definitely agree with the second point though. If you have got as far as you can and have hit a wall in your vocal improvement alone, definitely seek more educated / experienced assistance.

[animalwithin]

 

The first point I disagree with to an extent. I think as opposed to adopting the attitude that you're TEACHING yourself anything, it's best to just...sing. As often as possible and try and improve some aspect of it each time you do it. People who have never had lessons in their lives can be amazing singers, but generally they have been "teaching themselves" for many years, just because they sing all the time cause they love it, have a good ear, and it doesn't feel like an effort or like they're purposefully teaching themselves anything. I do definitely agree with the second point though. If you have got as far as you can and have hit a wall in your vocal improvement alone, definitely seek more educated / experienced assistance.

 

 

I agree, I'm always singing, trying to match my vocal notes with my playing notes or when Im driving, I sing with the music, but my voice is still bad, and I have trouble hitting a lot of notes, and many times its physically exerting, why I dont know. I'm in great shape haha.

[grace_slick]

It IS physically exerting to sing...it is. But at the same time, it shouldn't be TOO hard physically, if you're doing it mostly right.

 

I "taught" myself best by imitating my favourite singers and trying to do exactly what they did.

[LC0728]

I've chosen somewhat of the same approach as Grace here, I listen to singers that have a speaking voice kind of like mine, which thankfully was my favorite band, and I'll listen to their song that has the highest range and practice with it.

 

If I want to sound different I'll do one line over and over and slowly change my voice to where I can flip into it easy, It takes forever though. Aside from that I do the normal scales, legato, fry, all that good jazz.

[davie]

I agree, I'm always singing, trying to match my vocal notes with my playing notes or when Im driving, I sing with the music, but my voice is still bad, and I have trouble hitting a lot of notes, and many times its physically exerting, why I dont know. I'm in great shape haha.

 

Are there any particular notes that you're having trouble with?

 

You have to prepare yourself to sing higher parts, you can't just throw out high notes without preparing or else you'll end up belting them. There's a lot of songs out there with insanely high notes. There's two main things you should do. One is to transpose the key down first to where you're more comfortable, then once you get the hang of it you can slowly transpose it up again. Secondly, you need to train and condition your voice to be able to sing high notes. Which is similar to a long distance runner gradually upping their mileage during training. That sorta thing.

 

I would definitely recommend getting a teacher. But make sure the teacher is knowledgeable about breath support and proper registration balance. Its true you can just find exercises on your own and practice them, but you need a teacher to listen to make sure its sounding right. And also a good teacher will choose specific exercises that work for YOU, because not all exercises work for every singer.

[animalwithin]

I no doubt need a teacher as when it comes to singing if find that my breathing gets messed up, I'm out of breath on many parts, many times I can't hit high notes or really deep notes (if that makes sense) without running out of breath. But I agree, I need a teacher badly.

 

 

I've chosen somewhat of the same approach as Grace here, I listen to singers that have a speaking voice kind of like mine, which thankfully was my favorite band, and I'll listen to their song that has the highest range and practice with it.

 

 

 

I've never listened to people or singers for that matter who had similar speaking voices to me haha. Got to try that. I know who I would want to sound like when I do get better at singing but I dont know if thats possible, so get a certain type of singing voice.

[grace_slick]

 

I've chosen somewhat of the same approach as Grace here, I listen to singers that have a speaking voice kind of like mine, which thankfully was my favorite band, and I'll listen to their song that has the highest range and practice with it.

 

 

Well, I never did THAT specifically. I don't think anyone of the singers I like has a speaking voice like mine. I would just try and sing like them, regardless of their speaking voice.

 

One person that does come to mind as someone who would really NOT work in terms of choosing them based on their singing voice is Florence Welch from Florence & the Machine. Her speaking voice is fairly meek, normal, quite light, feminine...and then her singing voice...so radically DIFFERENT. I sound way more like her speaking voice, and I cannot sing like her at all. So...for me, that doesn't work.