Beginner Looking for Guidance

Hello, I am a self taught musician and I have been trying to sing for about 10 months

Here is a recording of me 10 months ago:

http://soundcloud.com/vladsmusic/its-all-over-now-baby-blue

This is a recent recording:

I would appreciate it if someone could give me some tips on how to improve. I can't afford a vocal coach and I've no room in my schedule for lessons at my college. Thanks.

lol. I could barely recognize those songs. The thing is.. you aren't really singing in tune. Unless that's what you're going for.

I would practice getting the pitches right first. Approach it slowly, line by line.

ear training...a lot of it

If you have an iphone/iPad/iPod touch, there is an app called eTuner.

Connect a USB mic (using the camera connection kit) and sing into a mic.

It will tell you what note you are singing.

Try to get to the point where you can sustain a note.

Then work with going up and down in half-steps.

Davie has a much better ear than me.

So if he can barely recognize the song because it is way out of tune, then you have issues.

In the beginning you only need maybe 30 minutes a day of serious practice to get noticeable results. There are audio courses like Singing Success.

But nothing is like having voice lessons.

You need someone there to analyze your voice and guide you week after week.

Maybe you can find a grad student in the music department that can give you lessons at an affordable rate.

If you're not willing to put in the time while in college, maybe put off vocal training until after you graduate. You're still young. So you still have lots of time.

It might help to sing along with a MIDI version of this song because there is likely a keyboard playing melody and rhythm might be good too. Just sing along with a MIDI track a few times and notice differences between your version and the MIDI version. You have a nice voice. You might be missing a guitar chord here and there - a short time chord, what I call a passing chord.

There are surely some rough spots here, but I agree with YeahDoIt that the OP has good tone. I wouldn't want Vlad_M to think that he should give up. In fact, I think the problems here can be cleared up in fairly short order. Doing scales and then practicing the song along with a lead tone would make a big difference. The other problem is dynamic inconsistency--and this calls for vocal compression, which is harder to develop on one's own but can be worked on with a vocal instructor.

So, yeah, for the time being. But it's all fixable!

I hear pitch improvement from the 1st to the 2nd. Main thing is to keep at it. Sing along to stuff every day. The car is a great place.

Pick simple 2-3 chord songs to play and sing, the less you worry the guitar and the more solid on the guitar and timing the more you can concentrate on singing.

Record yourself often. Simplify, simplify, simplify.

Pick songs with simple melodies that you can reproduce on the guitar, then sing along with the guitar as you pick the melody.

Most Dylan songs have too many twists and syllables to start with if you have pitch or timing issues IMO.

If you like Dylan, try the ones with fewer words and tongue twisters.

I started late in life seriously attempting to sing, 13-14 yrs ago at age 40 or so, with simple folk/bluegrass/old time tunes.

Since then I've progressed to the point where I can sing lead on aprox 1/2 the songs in my acoustic duo(30 or so songs), a mixture of traditional, 60s folk, and 60s pop.

My harmony singing still sucks. Sometimes I can, sometimes I can't. I really should take some lessons.

Still not a great singer but I dont get laughed off the stage.

Before you start trying to sound like Dylan with all the inflections, you need to actually get the songs in key first, with a clear simple voice. I think you are trying to do to many things at once. Find someone with a "pretty voice" who has done covers of his songs and hear how they sound that way--Pete Seeger, Joan Baez, Judy Collins, Peter, Paul and Mary. Tom Paxton may have done a cover or two of Dylan's and he's always had a much clearer, simpler voice.

Just IMHO.

I agree.

i've only posted up one song on here so far but from the sounds of the two songs you posted up i have the same issues as you if i try and sing normally to a point, i've found for me adding the grit and making my own style has helped me immensly though i realize it is probably a shortcut i shouldn't have taken because it doesn't help me in the long run at all. I'm starting to look into that singing success program to see if it will maybe help me with the foundations, but i'd really like a vocal teacher but i can't find anything here in the middle of no where ... I would suggest for you to find a vocal instructor, i have no first hand knowledge of it but from everyone i've heard it's just about neccessary...

Hey man, it's true you're not singing in key, and to fix that good tips have already been given.

BUT!

I can't help but notice that your guitar is way more in tune than your voice is, meaning that there's not much wrong with your pitch perception. You just need to apply it to your voice, rather than just your guitar.

Think you can do that?

i've only posted up one song on here so far but from the sounds of the two songs you posted up i have the same issues as you if i try and sing normally to a point, i've found for me adding the grit and making my own style has helped me immensly though i realize it is probably a shortcut i shouldn't have taken because it doesn't help me in the long run at all. I'm starting to look into that singing success program to see if it will maybe help me with the foundations, but i'd really like a vocal teacher but i can't find anything here in the middle of no where ... I would suggest for you to find a vocal instructor, i have no first hand knowledge of it but from everyone i've heard it's just about neccessary...

Damn, you really are in the middle of nowhere.

All the big cities are 1.5 to 3 hours away.

I checked Google Maps.

Kansas City is a 90 minute drive.

St. Louis is 2.5 hours.

I searched online and there are lots of vocal coaches in Kansas City.

Although, I can understand if a 90 minute drive is too much.

Here is a page I found with music teachers in Missouri.

I don't know if any of the cities are close to you.

http://www.learningmusician.com/browse/Missouri

Also, I did some searching on Kansas City's Craigslist.

Closest place I could find was in Warrensburg.

http://kansascity.craigslist.org/lss/2783507808.html

Lee's Summit (an hour away):

http://kansascity.craigslist.org/lss/2781307115.html

Private Teacher goes to your place:

http://kansascity.craigslist.org/lss/2781307115.html

Kansas City Vocal Institute

http://www.kcvocalinstitute.com/

Dynamic Voice Studio (Kansas City)

http://www.dynamicvoicestudio.com/

And there's always Skype lessons. I've been taking guitar lessons via Skype and it's been great--just as good as being in the room with the teacher, really. I've never done a Skype vocal lesson, but I think it would be fine.

yeah definitely the middle of no-where lol.... i noticed you found one in warrensburg, thats about 15-20 min. from me and where my wife works.. i might have to check that out.. thanks so much for finding those links.. and also i've never thought about skype, i think it would definitely be a little awkward at first but probably work out pretty well.. i might have to look into that also... thanks so much guys

All I can suggest for now is just sing along with your favourite songs.

And yes, as yanktar above said, try to find songs with more "clean" singers with not such obvious unique vocal stylings (Bob Dylan is ALL about his singing style. And this is HIGHLY important but at your early stage, getting in tune and other basics is much more important) to sing along with. It'll make it easier to hear where you're matching the notes and where you're missing them.

So sing along with songs...record yourself doing so. This is a "soft" approach, as you will sound ok, blending in with the singer even if you're not actually singing that well or matching them very much.

Try to find karaoke versions (youtube is a goldmine for these, believe me. I have been a karaoke whore on here in the past!) of songs you love and record yourself singing them. When you play them back, you will gain INVALUABLE insights about your own voice - your shortcomings, where you sound good (tone perhaps?). You will hear everything, in harsh clarity, which you will NEED if you really want to improve.

Embrace the reality check. It will only move you forward into the wonderful realm of actually being able to sing well!!!

Also, don't place 100% importance and hope on formal singing lessons. They will help speed up your improvement, sure, but you CAN do it alone just fine. Don't sort of...wait or hold back on trying seriously to improve "until" you can get singing lessons. You can do it. GO FOR IT, MAN! WOO!

Thank you for the feedback, everyone. I just started practicing scales I'm not on the right pitch yet but at least I'm hearing them in my head.

I recorded this short sample, maybe its better than what I posted in the OP.

http://soundcloud.com/ethereal-soundscapes/short-sample

Def improvement pitch wise.

Another tip is to find well known songs with certain intervals to practice.

I've seen lots of examples of this, but one classic example is the first 2 notes of Somewhere Over the Rainbow is a full octave jump.

Play the 2 notes on guitar and practice matching you voice to it.

Also, this is just me and a matter of taste, but I liked the tone of you voice on the 1st clip best. Not nec the Dylan inflections, altho you are on the right track with those. But it was all for naught cause of the bad pitch and timing.

But it seemed to me you were singing with more of a gut voice vs a head voice. More powerful.

Keep it simple to start, but try bringing it more from the gut. Find a key you can do that in without strain. D is a good place for most beginning male singers I've been told. And it proved true for me. Its an easy key for me in the lower register. C is too low, and G gets a little high. Start in D, then work up to E and F.

I like the energy/spirit, but I agree with the others. Keep practicing. Maybe find a vocal coach to help you with pitch.