Lazy singers...learn your craft already!!!

It happens every night I sing out, never fails, every time!!!

At every venue, no matter if it's a private club or the corner dive bar, I always get some person that "sings" in a band come up to me and proceed to tell me jealous they are of my range...how great they could be if they only had some more range in their voices...

Every time, night after night I give them the same answer...I had to work on my range, it didn't just happen! I didn't wake up one day and could magically sing Sebastian Bach and Geddie Lee and follow that up with Elvis! I had to work my ass out for it!

I had to battle cancer in my vocal chords, and a lot of crappy bands and horrible PA systems, and an endless amount of time going through boring, repetitive exercices in order to get my voice were i want it to be!

When they answer it can't be done, ot it takes money for lessons, or whatever! I always ask them the same question....would you accept a drummer or a guitar player in your band that wasn't good enough to play the songs you wanted to sing? Would you accept less than dedication from your bandmates? NO YOU WOULD NOT! So why is it that us...singers, get the free pass???? Why is it that singers get away with sucking ass and making little effort to improve or crafts?

I lost count how many times I see a good band and the singer sucks! Oh but he is a great front man! Screw that! Being a front man involves singing! Fronting the band! Not being a jack ass jumping up and down the stage! Sing a little, if you can do more than that great! But that should be first!

Now I don't expect everyone to have five or six octaves of range, but man...3 should be the least a singer that gets paid should carry to the stage! I am talking about cover bands here...if you are a song writer and want to do all your material one way...good for you...if you are a cover artist...good dam! Work on your craft you lazy POS!

Rant over!

Rod

Nice rant :soapbox:

Um, but they are complimenting you, right...? :poke:

No...they are creating excuse for themselves!

I had this guy come up with his drummer...the drummer complimented me on my range and song selection, the singer dude proceeds to say "...I could do that if I had that kind of range!" When I told him that he could work on his range to get better, he looked at me weird and his drummer sais "...I told you! You gotta get a teacher!" The singers reply...whatever!

I used to be that singers that would work their ass off in order to get better and when someoe asked how I sang so well I would answer...never had a lesson in my life! Now that I am honest and tell people that I worked my ass off in a particular song or something...they don't believe me! Crazy world!

Rod

If someone is only singing for the money or the "limelight", they won't necessarily be interested in putting in an effort to improve their voice, range or whatever.

People who truly LOVE singing, their "effort" is enjoyable (even if it is still hard work) and they tend to keep at it for longer and achieve a greater sense of satisfaction and accomplishment from it, and from the results they get.

3 octaves isn't necessarily a requirement though...you obviously need SOME range, but if you've got an amazing voice and a unique voice, you can get away with less than that. Grace Slick (the original, not me, the clone, lol) said she had a 1 octave range, which though not actually TRUE, does show that you don't need a huge range to be successful and a good singer / performer.

But yes...lazy singers suck. That's a good name for a band actually...The Lazy Singers. lol

I agree Grace, that's why I said that for cover bands range is a must, not for original acts. Michael Jackson seems to have a 2 octave range and did pretty good!

Lazy is just lazy, if you wanna get paid you gotta put in the work!

Rod

man, you had cancer in your vocal chords?...hats off for you my friend!

I'm with ya work is the key, I spent what I thought was quite a bit of time working on scales, didn't improve. I'm improving now because I cut it down to humming/singing one note D A C whatever. And really trying to listen to that note, how does it sound, how does it feel singing it. I then applied that to ONE simple song in my range and just worked and worked and worked as in 2-3 hours a day for a month on just that one song. I still suck, but I am improving WORK is the key. Hell when I learned to play guitar I would work at it for hours a day, why should singing be any different? I think what happens is since we can all talk or at least make some sort of grunting noise we think we should be able to sing easily. And then of course you run into the people that are just natural at it and you get the mindset of "well you either got it or you don't, I don't" so you just quit. I blew 20 years of my life not being able to sing at all from that mindset. But after spending some time on HC and reading alot I realized DO THE DAMN WORK! I will never be in the finals of American Idol but I'll damn sure be able to warble out my personal stuff well enough.

Well, yes they are. But no they aren't. They're just people trying to rub elbows with someone they respect. And chatting with you about singing is way more fun then shuffling their feet and saying, "Boy, it's cold outside." or "Hey! How about those Mets!". Really. That's all.

So someday when one of them decide to take it seriously, they will think about what you told them. It's good advice and you should keep giving it. But lighten up.

I'm with you Rod

it's really more of a style over substance issue,

frontmen getting by on charm

and sometimes just getting by from the numbers of alcoholics they are buddies w/ that come to their shows.

It's only gonna get worse though....nowdays reality TV shows are rewarding minimal talents and we have generations growing up that feel entitled to that paradigm.

I don't understand how it got lost in translation. People know and expect instrumentalists to work on their scales, tones, pocket, phrasing.... but somehow don't equate the same discipline to vocalists.

PTKBASS - That's why I called it a rant... I never go off on people at a gig, they paid to see me, I will shoot the {censored} with them all day! And I love to chat with musicians but it always seems to be that the singers are the ones that always make excuses for their poor efforts! Same goes for gear! A guitar player, drummer, keys...they all spend thousands on $$$ in gear, still most singers complain that they can't hear themselves on stage but won;t buy decent monitors or in ears! The band is lucky if they own a microphone that has a cable with an XLR connector in it and not something they stole from the home Karaoke machine they bought at Best Buy!

A couple of weeks ago, we played at a nice Irish bar, my full PA for the duo, lights, monitors...the owner tought it was overkill until he heard us and said we were the best sounding duo he has ever had, volume was appropriate and you could hear every detail in the music. A couple of guys that are original musicians in the area asked if they could play a couple of songs during our break, we know them and they are good but always use the bare minimum of gear to play at bars...low pay, low gear in their mind...

They play 3 songs and then come up to me and can't stop talking about how good they felt and sounded! They could hear themselves over the drunks at the bar! What a miracle of engineering!

Invest time and money in your craft as you would for anything else you do, especially for those of us that don't do this for a living! If it's your side gig, or your hobby, shouldn't you want to do it better???? If you do this professionaly, then you really are well past this phase in your musical life anyway.

Semi-rant 2 over!

Rod

I like the ones who talk a lot of arrogant smack, but are just FULL of excuses when they get in front of a mic.

Oh yeah!!! That's a whole nother level of ass wipe!!! Dude you sound good but you didn't nail the scream at the end...I nail that every time...awesome! Wanna sing a couple of tunes? I could use the break and the inspiration!? No man...not feeling 100% tonight but if you come next month to my brother's 16th birthday party...I'll show you!

This applies to any instrument by the way!!!

I had a girl that didn't want to sing a couple of tunes on a Saturday night because she had a gig next Thursday and didn't want to stress her voice...! I guess she will never be a working musician!

Rod

This is what I never really understood about a LOT of so-called working singers...they seem so precious about their supposedly amazing voice. How does singing a few tunes almost a week before a gig stress your voice for that gig? Clearly she doesn't know how to sing properly to preserve her voice, or she just can't sing at all and HAS no gigs and is weaving a web of lies. lol

Yeah, the thing is, a lot of singers these days aren't really singing properly. Nor do they take the effort to learn/practice. So many of them end up forcing their voices, belting chest, etc.. Most people should have at least 2 octaves in their voice (which is enough), but the main issue is connecting between their head voice and chest voice. And its probably true, they're making excuses for their lack of ability, I guess singers are very 'emotional creatures' and feel like their personal-worth is at stake and on the line. Just my take on it.

This is my point exactly! It's easier to make excuses than to actually put in the work necessary to learn! I worked (and work) my ass off to get things right!

Rod

People seem to personalise singing, which they don't do with playing or learning an instrument. Singing comes directly from the body...the voice is all tied in with talking and it makes up a huge part of who we are and how we express ourselves...so it IS more personal than playing an instrument that isn't a part of yourself. It's external and more objective and distant...so it's easier.

I am fine with playing instruments in front of people (maybe cause I suck at it! lol) but singing in front of people is a totally different thing. SO difficult for me! Cause it's so personal.

But see...if I was going to sing in public and especially if I was paid to do so, I would just sing to the best of my ability. And I would not even BE in such a situation if I didn't feel I COULD sing well. Really well. So those people who make excuses for not being "their best" or whatever...why are they singing in public then? Improve yourself first. Don't make excuses.

Amen!

occugsMus, if it was able to speak in proper words and coherent sentences, would be one of those who make excuses. lol