When you sing do you sing in your talking voice or do you sing higher or lower?

[Visconti]

You know what I mean by talking voice.

 

Lots of singers sing where it feels comfortable and never sing up or down an octave.

 

Bob Dylan and Jim Morrison come to mind. The way the sing is just like when the talk.

 

Robert Plant on the other hand is well known to sing an octave higher on many Zep tracks.

[Masklin]

Like most people I talk lower than I sing. But then I'm not properly trained in using my higher parts.

[ido1957]

I sing an octave below my speaking voice - kinda like Barry White.

[theminpoes]

I sing higher than my speaking voice

[Thy God]

I don't think there's a terrible amount of difference...my speaking voice jumps all around my singing voice range, and tonally I think it's about the same.

[staticsound]

 

Like most people I talk lower than I sing. But then I'm not properly trained in using my higher parts.

 

 

How deep a voice you have then man?! From the clips of yours I've heard, you already sing pretty low..

[davie]

If you're referring to pitch. I almost always sing higher than my speaking pitch. I rarely sing anything lower than my speaking pitch. I think most male voices speak somewhere between B2 and G3

[Masklin]

How deep a voice you have then man?! From the clips of yours I've heard, you already sing pretty low..

 

You only see the clips I'm not severely ashamed of - and as I said, my higher half is a liability.

 

[grace_slick]

Most of the time, higher. Much higher. lol.

[Jersey Jack]

I sing a little higher than my speaking voice, but I always try to keep a speaky tone. Perhaps you're really talking about tone rather than pitch? Not to say the magic word and hijack the thread, but this is the primary approach of the much-loved, much-hated speech-level singing method.

 

Another more illustrious example is Frank Sinatra, who spoke-sang throughout his career and had a very limited range (for a world-famous vocalist).

[b_f_c_99]

I've been thinking about this speech level thing. Everyone knows someone that is just LOUD, when they talk and hell usually in everything they do. It seems to me that the idea of singing 'no louder than you talk' would still have plenty of power and resonance to it if your that kind of person. Think about it, alot of what makes a good singing voice is the resonance, and that takes a certain amount of volume to create. So I'm thinking that everyone has that sweet spot where the resonance happens and that should be the goal. Did that make any sense at all.

I recently had a break through in the concept of singing from the mask, as well as letting the voice just open up. I can now get pretty dang loud, but I can take it to far really easily.

[WaterMoc]

I've been singing in my speaking voice most my life, and now am trying to sing in my head voice from about F4 up. It sure is hard to get used to, like it's some other person singing.

[partlycloudy]

My speaking voice is around F3, I almost always sing higher than that.

[EightString]

I started my post-pubescent years as a bass in both speaking and singing voice. But after decades of work, my singing range now covers bass through tenor, not counting fry or falsetto.

 

So over time, my natural speaking voice has moved from bass to baritone, sitting right in the middle of my singing range.

[jvardon]

I generally sing higher than I speak, simply because my voice is comfortable down low, staying mostly in the 2nd octave and going up to the 3rd occasionally.

[bebe]

I usually feel like I need to challenge myself and sing higher or lower. It sounds best in my speaking voice though. :/ Actually, I love how rich and buttery a low voice is.

[grace_slick]

Hah! ^

 

What was that thing someone mentioned about singing no louder than you speak? Some people I know speak SOOO quietly ("low talkers", a'la Seinfeld) that if they sang no louder than that, you would literally not be able to hear it!

 

Then you get the loud talkers...they tend to sing equally as loud as they speak, and it's all just too loud. It sucks. There is no dynamic to their voice, no matter how good they may sing.

 

Then you get people like the real Grace Slick, who sings loudly and strongly, but who speaks fairly quietly (not meekly at all, but just not all that loud. Normal to verging on quiet).

 

Yep.

[bebe]

 

Hah! ^ What was that thing someone mentioned about singing no louder than you speak? Some people I know speak SOOO quietly ("low talkers", a'la Seinfeld) that if they sang no louder than that, you would literally not be able to hear it! Then you get the loud talkers...they tend to sing equally as loud as they speak, and it's all just too loud. It sucks. There is no dynamic to their voice, no matter how good they may sing. Then you get people like the real Grace Slick, who sings loudly and strongly, but who speaks fairly quietly (not meekly at all, but just not all that loud. Normal to verging on quiet). Yep.

 

 

That's interesting! I haven't heard of that recommendation. Do you have an article on it? I do remember the days when I didn't understand how to sing louder and kind of forced my voice and it sounded pretty unpleasant.

[grace_slick]

Here's the bit about singing no louder than you speak...

 

 

I've been thinking about this speech level thing. Everyone knows someone that is just LOUD, when they talk and hell usually in everything they do. It seems to me that the idea of singing 'no louder than you talk' would still have plenty of power and resonance to it if your that kind of person. Think about it, alot of what makes a good singing voice is the resonance, and that takes a certain amount of volume to create. So I'm thinking that everyone has that sweet spot where the resonance happens and that should be the goal. Did that make any sense at all.