Pitch - how do you do it?

[LordBTY]

Lets be honest with ourselves - a lot of our pitch isn't always bang on. Yes, in the studio, even the most honored singers could benefit from at least a little bit of autotune; especially now that people are used to exceptionally polished tracks. Though, certain artists get away with a more 'loose' feel.

 

I've only recently started bothering with targeting exercises, I bought a decent guitar tuner and put some headphones over one ear and try to hit notes dead on via the piano.

 

What do you guys do to help you with pitch?

[chamcham]

I use eTuner for iPhone/ipad.

Plug in a USB microphone, and sing.

ETuner tells you what note you are singing.

 

When both notes are the same, they combine and there is a sudden spike in volume. When one note is off, you will hear 2 separate notes and they don't combine.

[triq]

Sing into a paper cup or a half full soda bottle. Hold the bottle lightly to your bottom lip while you sing. There is a vibration specific to each note - make note of them. Think about the vibrations in your chest, head, etc. while you sing the notes and get familiar with them. Instead of looking for pitch, try to find/remember the note's "frequency" when you're trying to sing on key. That's what I do. I can't tell a C from a B flat when I'm singing. Haven't read music since I was a child.

[Masklin]

Staying on pitch becomes a thousand times more intuitive and simple when you manage to resonate without blockage in your various cavities. Other than that, I doubt there is any magic trick to it - do your worst for years and years, and you'll get closer and closer to perfect-enough-ion.

[grace_slick]

I don't do anything except if I notice I'm getting a bit lazy with singing and am not BANG ON pitch, I will just concentrate more on what I'm doing.

 

In terms of general singing, unless I want a particular kind of singing-effect or vocal styling, I don't NEED to always be bang on pitch for every note. Most pop singers use sliding techniques cause it's easier and sounds good stylistically. So I tend to do that a lot.

[YeahDoIt]

I work out the melody of a song on a keyboard, then I sing along with the notes.

[ido1957]

I sing 100 times better AFTER I warm up. No guarantees before that....

[chamcham]

As your voice strengthens, staying on pitch gets easier.

It's really more about doing exercises/scales/songs everyday.

With time, your pitch perception will improve.

 

If you can, get a vocal workout CD and practice to it 5 or 6 days a week.

Just 15 to 30 minutes a day is more than enough.

 

Something else, I might recommend is ear training.

 

I like "Ear Training for the Contemporary Musician" by Keith Wyatt.

 

You can get a preview here:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/0793581931/ref=sib_dp_pt#reader-link

 

It's a fairly extensive preview and you get to read quite a few pages.

It'll give you an idea of what it teaches.

 

The exercises are very good and definitely build a sense of pitch.

[gail ferris]

Yeah..I guess as the 'ear' and brain is continually and regularly exposed to lots of music in their environment our inclination for good pitch will naturally get better. As the area in our brain devoted to music gets more developed......I've noticed that generally those that come from families where music was a daily part of their lives and they themselves were involved w/it on a regular basis have better pitch than those who start out later in life... I guess we just need to expose our ear to lots of music...

[Bajazz]

The best pitch workout I've found is the video game "Singstar". Here you can learn a few songs, melody and lyrics are often very accurate. If you nail over 90% in difficulty "Hard" your pitch, phrasing and timing is VERY good, even for a pro singer!