Should I Keep Trying, or is it hopeless?

I've tried to work a lot on my vocals, from improving tone, to phrasing, to vibrato, to power. I still think my voice is just not very good. Is there hope for me to improve or do you think it'll always be a "karaoke" voice. It really does make me feel horrible because I LOVE to sing.

It just doesn't sound like a real vocal. It sounds like a robot holding a tune. It sounds like I'm just holding out a dead note... Can someone give me some advice please I've posted a link below to a clip of me singing the chorus of the song "Don't You Worry Child" by Swedish House Mafia:

http://soundcloud.com/nathaniel-bilforth/me-singing-dont-you-worry

First, I'm not going to listen to it... I just want to say that MANY people want to be singers, but few have the ability to hear and vocalize tones properly, and even fewer understand vocal techniques to become a good vocalist. There's nothing wrong with enjoying to sing along with recorded music, but it is hard to realize that you don't have that ability to sing well, because of bone conduction and their own mental interpretation of what they hear coming out of their mouth. Many even cannot interpret poor sounding vocals when recorded and played back. That said, if you research many styles of vocal expression and learn how to sing using different parts of your vocal system, you may find a good unique sound and style for your recordings... good luck.

Never hopeless.

If you exercise, your muscles will get bigger, you'll lose fat,

and you'll be faster, quicker, stronger. In the same way,

if you exercises vocally with good technique something

similar will happen to your voice.

Everyone's voice will sound different due to many factors

(such as the shape of your body, the density of your bones,

the spaces in your body where air can move, the way you

control your breath and posture, etc). So everyone has their

own unique voice.

Whether or not a lot of people like that voice is up to them.

But certainly, you can sound better in the future if you put

in the time and effort.

Odd...you're not going to listen, but you're going to comment anyway?

Well, I DID listen, and I think your voice is fine. Could it be improved? Sure, but you're not starting from a bad place. Your tone was fine, and your pitch was good (not perfect, but pitch is one of the easier things to fix). I did find your delivery a little stiff. Why don't you have a beer then try it again? You need to loosen up a little, but you're nowhere near hopeless.

Never give up. Keep on practicing and trying to learn. If you haven't already, maybe you might want to look into getting voice lessons. A good teacher can most likely help you improve.

Jack was spot on; It's impossible that you can't loosen your voice up, unless you have some sort of physical problem that you should possibly see a specialist for.. Your voice is quite stiff. Not sure how you'd correct it other than trying to sing at different pitches..

There is nothing wrong w/your voice...If you want to sing keep at it...I think I would've been able to better assess your vocal w/some background music though...It's harder to keep pitch on some notes a capella

Never Surrender. You said it yourself that you LOVE it - so there's your answer. It's good to listen to opinions, but yours is all that counts. Continue to improve, do it for the love/art/creativity of it - see where it goes.

Good advice.

It seems these questions arise mostly when it comes to singing and I guess it is due to how we hear ourselves, and it such a personal thing. But it is an instrument like any other. If you picked up the guitar and loved to play then you'd play and practice and keep improving and no matter what anyone said probably keep playing. "Screw you...I like it!!" Why not with singing? Don't ask, just do. And keep doing it and no matter what anyone says "screw you, I like it" is your answer. Practice, learn, practice more and improve. You get out what you put in.

If singing comes as naturally as breathing and brushing your teeth, you'll do it even if you doubt yourself for weeks on end.. And maybe eventually you won't feel the same way, maybe that'll be the icing on the cake of simply enjoying the act of doing it without intention or a desired destination..

Not bad technically. You do have a grasp of what is missing though. it feels robotic. Singing to me is m aking me feel the song. First you need to feel the song. Play with it. Change the melody. Change the timing. Play with it like you enjoy it. If Neil young can sing, you can sing. Thats what keeps me going anyway

Not bad technically. You do have a grasp of what is missing though. it feels robotic. Singing to me is m aking me feel the song. First you need to feel the song. Play with it. Change the melody. Change the timing. Play with it like you enjoy it. If Neil young can sing, you can sing. Thats what keeps me going anyway

Neil Young's not really a bad singer. I don't even think he sounds unpleasant. Most casual listeners I know wouldn't change the channel if "Heart Of Gold" came on the radio.. Who the hell HATES Neil Young? :s

You really aren't as bad as what you saying you are. Anybody who is a singer has room for improvement. Nobody is perfect, and with enough time and dedication you could be a really good singer. I think your voice has potiential just as much as everybody else does in this thread.

You are just singing in a very monotone manner.

Sing an E vowel along with these scales. Then do an A,I,O and U (I always start with E because it uses the least amount of air.)

Go as high as you can go without straining. Do it three times a day, 5 days a week. I would just do each vowel three times before going o the next one.

I listened and I hear a good foundation. Your "instrument" is not bad and certainly not hopeless. What strikes me as well as others, is that the lack of feeling or monotone as they called it, is really just the way you move air across the roof of your mouth and out of your body. Changing the way you displace air can give you color, resonance and even shift tones within your instrument. A vocal coach can absolutely explain how to properly "color" your voice. Study harder and open your heart. It's there.

You sound OK. Keep working at it. It might help to go to some open mic jam sessions, get out in front of a live audience, use a PA, study the other singers.

Are you using effects on that recording? Some effects reduce the dynamics in my recordings.