Members remarkable1967 Posted September 8, 2013 Members Share Posted September 8, 2013 I know I'm probably gonna get crucified for saying this but I feel that as a very accomplished vocalist I can only be honest. I have read numerous threads on here about people asking about "how to sing", "do you think I can sing" etc......... And it also appears that second only to therapists, everyone seems to either have, know or be recommending a vocal coach. The brutal truth is that you can either sing or you can't. I do accept that perhaps some coaching might help with breathing and projection but if someone can't hit pitch correctly, there ain't any amount of many gonna help. I have been on the UK circuit for nearly 20 years as a singer and honestly, hand on heart, I have never known anyone else on the circuit that has had any formal vocal coaching. I don't even know anyone who knows a vocal coach. Now I am my own worst critic and if I am not pitch perfect on every note of every song regardless of genre, then something is drastically wrong. I have never been to a venue where they havn't said I am probably the best singer they have had in there. Yes, I know other acts that play these venues who maybe more "entertaining"..... but I am not a comedian and I'm not about to run in to the crowd and jump on tables. I'm a vocalist through and through and every year I run out of available dates long before I run out of venues that want to book me. My advice would be to stop thinking so hard about it and be honest about your own ability. If singing ain't your thing then so be it. Sorry to sound so brutal but I see no point in lining someone elses pocket when it probably isnt gonna happen for you. I will have the cross and nails ready for all the peole who are gonna disagree with me.Peace out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members blankfile Posted September 21, 2013 Members Share Posted September 21, 2013 first of all, i agree with the fact that some people are born with more innate talent than others. Good for you. I was born with intermediate amounts of talent: i can sing on key, i remember lyrics easily, i recall melodies automatically, and i have better than average vocal tone. but it took me a while to master my range, and the vowels and other nitty gritty stuff. so yes, some people will get more results from the same amount of work put in compared to other people who are less talented, but most people don't want to sing professionally. they want to do it as a hobby, for fun. and if they get paid once in a while, that's okay too. i agree with you that too much money is spent on coaching and expensive products that don't even teach the basics properly, but i don't see why people with average talent can't get their skills to where they can enjoy singing as a serious hobby. i did buy some programs along the way, but i learned all the basics for free. i gave my recommendations for free singing basics in a previous answer here: Voice-not-improving I think all newbies should grasp those basics first before moving on to tougher things such as vowels, mixed voice, etc. good luck and keep singing! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members thewthrman Posted September 27, 2013 Members Share Posted September 27, 2013 remarkable1967 wrote: .. And it also appears that second only to therapists, everyone seems to either have, know or be recommending a vocal coach. The brutal truth is that you can either sing or you can't. I do accept that perhaps some coaching might help with breathing and projection but if someone can't hit pitch correctly, there ain't any amount of many gonna help. I have been on the UK circuit for nearly 20 years as a singer and honestly, hand on heart, I have never known anyone else on the circuit that has had any formal vocal coaching. I don't even know anyone who knows a vocal coach.. I value the dissenting opinion. lolI am not a natural singer. I am a guitar slinger guy who just wanted to sing enough so that I could do a 2 chorus guitar solo. I have been fronting bands and doing the principle singer in duos for 15+ years. Maybe closer to 20 by now. And I still consider myself a mediocre singer. I have considered a vocal coach in the past, but having met with a couple, it seems like they are ex-choir people who see the end goal as turning my natural voice into something optimized for opera. lolBut I have to say that over the years, I have improved a great deal by doing deliberating things that people have offered here. As a pretty crummy singer I can endorse these things:1) Record your lousy voice and listen to every second of it. When i first decided I wanted to sing, I was laid off from a job. Every day I stood in my kitchen with a tape recorder and sang all the songs I knew, adding new ones and deleting really bad ones. At first, I had ten songs. After the first time I listened, I had 4 songs lol. But over time, I had about 40 songs that I could do. take note of what songs you can sing. What is their key? Is it major or minor? What style works for you? You may not be able the songs you actually like, but you might identify your style.2) Pitch: I have a helluva time with pitches. I think it is because too much of my brain is grooving on the guitar and just leaving my voice on auto pilot. I had to break that habit. Guitar is easy for me. Put that on autopilot. I found that when I paid attention, I could identify which notes I was out of tune on consistently. syllables that start with certain consonants like P's make me off pitch for some reason. I have to anticipate there are certain flaws I have to work around. I couldn't will my vocal chords to be in pitch, but I found that if I stuck my jaw out, or widened my mouth or flared my nostrils, it would finely adjust my pitch into tune. I might look like a stooge, but at least my pitch is better.3) Accept the fact that you may not be able to sing what you want to. I wanted to be one of those high tenor rock and roll singers. I am just not. I can hit some high pitches, but the timbre of my voice is not pleasing when I do. Over time, I have found plenty of other songs that I can sing that are in a more pleasant range. A huge part of being a singer is to identify your style. Your range. Your persona. If you can figure that out, then you'll do alot better than if you are doing a half-a$$ed job at imitating someone else.Breathing and warmups and all that are I'm sure important. If you notice the breathing stuff comes from a sax player. I played trumpet myself and apparently I have pretty good breathing by default. I still try to sing low notes in the car on the way to the gig to get the blood flowing, but if I overdo the warmup, I pay for it. I don't do a ton of warmup because my gigs are long. I ease into the set with some lower, calmer music, so that is my warmup.So, this is pretty lame because I am not that great of a singer and I just typed way too much information than anyone would read. But I'm not going to delete it now. Good luck and stick to it. It was easily ten years before I considered myself a passable singer. I quit smoking and don't drink much anymore and that helped. Caffeine is also something I avoid. Hard to say what helped. But maybe when you're old like me you can be mediocre too instead of crummy :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members RockAndSoulLover Posted September 28, 2013 Members Share Posted September 28, 2013 I honestly just listened to artists with good technique and tried to emulate them at first. I mean REALLY listen--listen to their consonants, where they breathe, etc. Make sure these people are in your vocal range. For example, one of my favorites is Mariah Carey--who has (had) excellent technique, but I as a baritone will not sing fast colouratura lines. Also, I just sing and **** up until it doesn't hurt and sounds like what I want/is in pitch. Find a place where your voice can crack, fall flat, and alll without being heard or embarassed. Learn your tessitura; this was important for me. I had to learn that, despite my range, I couldn't sing tenor tessitura because it required my voice to go into overdrive far too much. Have fun. Pick songs you love, but don't start out with songs like "Children of the Damned" that require a technique and voice that would destroy most novice voices. And remember: if it hurts STOP. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Eric Von Kimble Posted October 3, 2013 Members Share Posted October 3, 2013 Is anyone using Singing Success by Brett Manning? I started using it a few months ago and really started to see some growth. I have't used it in a couple weeks, I gotta get back to it.Thanks for the thread. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members PeteMoody Posted October 4, 2013 Members Share Posted October 4, 2013 I definatley agree with previous posts regarding breathing - If you are unsteady on a note this is usually the root of the issue. Get as much info as you can on breathing - there's plenty of great free info online (inc. my tutorials on youtube - type pete moody).This problem is quite easy and quick to improve initially but you must keep working it throughout your total development. I would suggest you concentrate solely on breath work to start with and see what improvements happen for you. After that you can layer on other technique.Good Luck and I think you are going to have a great time singing for your tracks when after you've tightened you technique! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Aceituna Posted February 5, 2014 Members Share Posted February 5, 2014 I am guitar player (blues and jazz) and I want to start singing some standards and songs.I would like to find my own voice.Which book do you think is the best for that?This: http://www.amazon.es/gp/product/0876391072/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=AB1X0MCLWBCG6Or this: http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/063401319X/sr=1-3/qid=1391592789/ref=olp_product_details?ie=UTF8&me=&qid=1391592789&seller=&sr=1-3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Aceituna Posted February 5, 2014 Members Share Posted February 5, 2014 I am guitar player (blues and jazz) and I want to start singing some standards and songs.I would like to find my own voice.Which book do you think is the best for that?This: http://www.amazon.es/gp/product/0876391072/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=AB1X0MCLWBCG6Or this: http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/063401319X/sr=1-3/qid=1391592789/ref=olp_product_details?ie=UTF8&me=&qid=1391592789&seller=&sr=1-3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members TanishaLoveXO Posted February 9, 2014 Members Share Posted February 9, 2014 Maybe get some singing lessons Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members TanishaLoveXO Posted February 9, 2014 Members Share Posted February 9, 2014 I agree totally with our post Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members PhilMoufarrege Posted July 16, 2015 Members Share Posted July 16, 2015 What you need is specialized knowledge, not generic "tips". It isn't so much about WHAT exercises you do but HOW you do them. So just getting some vocal exercises won't really do anything unless you know HOW to do them properly. For example, check out this post I made on the EE and OO vowel. Notice there is nothing special about the exercise I do but HOW I do it:http://www.grow-the-voice.com/how-to-sing-ee/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Rachael Kane Posted August 6, 2015 Members Share Posted August 6, 2015 Hi Everyone, Our vocal chords are in bodies, so the best way to look after our voices is to look after ourselves. When I first started singing I saw my voice as a separate thing and thought I could just look after it, but it really doesn't work that way.We are very sensitive and how we are feeling about ourselves affects the sound and the vibration of the voice. For example if we are judging our voice while we are singing this will have a big impact on the performance and what it ultimately sounds and feels like.Confidence with the voice comes from learning to be present and connected with your body while you are singing and all the time for that mater. There are some exercises you can do to help with this. Let me know if you would like some support. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members melleigha Posted February 23, 2016 Members Share Posted February 23, 2016 warm up exercises are always great. As are strengthening exercises. You can get a free book to help you on my website at http://www.begin2sing.com/s/freebook Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Delmont Posted February 25, 2016 Members Share Posted February 25, 2016 Put a finger in your ear, put your hand over your ear, or put an earplug in one ear. That way, you can hear yourself better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ericpro.us Posted August 7, 2017 Members Share Posted August 7, 2017 Practice makes perfect... so practice practice practice!!! If your a smoker trying to learn how to sing it would be a good idea to stop. I will provide you with a website that helped me become a much better singer. http://tinyurl.com/y9zxrrlp Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members singerdemy Posted October 8, 2018 Members Share Posted October 8, 2018 It's good to start learning to sing check this articles : [h=1]6 singing tips for all beginners[/h] maybe it can help you ,Good Luck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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