Greetings, vocal coaching question, & Radiohead cover

Hi all, my name is Chris, and I play guitar, sing, & write for a Chicago band called The Gorilla Press (gorillapressmusic.com - sorry for shameless plug). Within the last year I started trying to take singing more seriously and treat it as its own discipline rather than second-hat to guitar- not the first time that story has been told, I know. I suppose I just realized I really loved singing, particularly the breadth of expression it grants you, and subsequently realized I was just not any good at it.

Not knowing where to start, I began taking singing lessons from basically a random dude advertising on Craigslist. Not having done any kind of voice training before, I felt like he gave me a couple of tools and helped me on the path, but I eventually realized he was not so much an expert at the art as just someone who had picked up some techniques and exercises and decided he could make some money selling them to others. I appreciate his role in getting me started, but honestly don't feel too bad about talking negatively about the experience, as he kept taking my money and wasting my time at "lessons" long after he stopped teaching me anything.

Phwew, anyway... I was wondering how to go about finding a real teacher locally... where are the best places to look? Does anyone have any suggestions or references in Chicago? I take this very seriously now and want to make sure I am doing everything I can to improve. Additionally- any suggestions of books or CDs anyone can recommend to keep me going before I can get the help I need would be great.

Anyway, here's the Radiohead cover. I think it sounds kind of nasal and off pitch (particularly the backup vox), any criticism yall want to lend or suggestions you can offer are much appreciated:

http://www.soundclick.com/chriskang

Nice guitar work! The vocal is a little back in the mix, but from what I can tell it's the sort of understated singing that the song calls for. Doesn't sound particularly nasal, more like breathy; again, sounds appropriate for the song. You drop off at the end of some phrases, which is especially difficult to avoid in this type of singing; watch your breath management. There's a small hiccup at the very beginning of the harmony, but it smooths out nicely. You could probably fix that in a few takes.

I love this song...I agree the vocal is a bit back in the mix, but this'd be fixed with just moving it forward a BIT. Not much, as it's that type of song. But also cause it's that type of song, you do need the voice to be forward and clear, or else it can disappear and become a sort of dream...the song is so dreamy, you know? And if the vocal's a bit back, it's in danger sometimes of people almost not focusing specifically on it.

I like your verses better than the chorus somehow...I LOVE the very beginning when you go down to that lowest note of the verse...gorgeous vocal tone I think.

Great job!!

I think you do a fine job on this great song! Your tone is great, and the slight breathiness and pitch problems are to my mind not much different from those of Thom's own voice (where they are not problems!)--so you're all set!

Hi, I think you sing very nicely but agree with the other comments that it is a little breathy. The problem with doing that is by allowing the air to escape in that way, you tend to dry out the vocal chords, you become short of breath at theend of the verses and you can damage your voice if you do it all the time.

If you find that after singing for an hour or two you become hoarse, you are on the way to doing damage long term. It is also important to warm up the voice before singing for about 15-20 minutes by doing some scales and vocal exercises (not singing).

When looking for a teacher, I would suggest you find a classical teacher to get you through the basics. In order to do things correctly and not do any damage, you need someone in front of you so DVDs and books are not the best way. Any teacher who gets you to sign high and loud before you are properly warmed up is no good.

Once you have learnt how not to damage your voice, you might want to get a more rock oriented teacher.

If you hear all the aging rock stars like Elton John, Roger Daltry etc. you will hear that they have mostly lost their voices, probably due to abuse in younger years and not warming up.

I have been taking lessons with various teachers over the years and fortunately was initially taught to warm up before doing any singing whatsoever, rehearsing included. It also gives you more confidence at the outset. Learning correct technique (which is the same for whatever style of singing) will enable you to sing more powerfully, for maybe 3 hours at a time and every night at that.

Hope this helps.

David

Thank you guys for your comments and (very unexpected) compliments. Been having confidence issues lately, and definitely did not intend to fish for positive feedback, but it is nice to hear.

Anyway, that said... I worry a lot about consistency, and have a specific laundry list of things I wish to improve, and just want to improve in general- I think everyone knows that feeling- so I'm still thinking about looking for a vocal coach in town. I thought it might be nice to try learning from someone who is classically trained this time vs. someone who just picked up a few techniques and tricks; what are your thoughts on that? And if in favor, anyone know a good way to go about finding someone? After my first experience with a teacher I am really leery about just picking whoever. If you Google "voice lessons chicago", you are suddenly swamped by a huge list of people/organizations professing to be the best teachers around.

Again, I really appreciate the feedback on the RH cover. I am out of town most weeks for work but next time I will record/post a clip that better highlights some of the issues I am having and trying to work through...

Cheers!

David, thank you, this is definitely a huge concern of mine. After seeing a couple of people mention the book "Set Your Voice Free" on this forum, I looked into nabbing it from amazon... of course, I read the 1- and 2-star reviews first, and they all mentioned that the techniques taught in this book could result in damaging your voice permanently. So now, I am basically paranoid and terrified (terrinoid?) of this happening... that's why I'm wondering how to go about finding a proper teacher.

I also really do want to get some strong, healthy basics, exercises, and warm-ups that I can fall back on when I am on my own and can't shell out for a proper teacher.

I just listened and I really like what I heard....definitely

write and post your own material!

I think when people sing in perfect pitch, it takes away from the raw

realism and emotionality, so in this regard I think you nailed that tune perfectly.

Check local universities. I'm working with a wonderful coach at the University of KY who has helped me a lot. Ask the vocal teachers if they have time for a non-registered student. If they don't maybe they can recommend a grad student. Look for patience and understanding; vocal coaching is tough. if you don't feel a connection with the teacher, try another.

Cool, thanks Ben. This sounds like a great idea; actually most folks I know here in Chicago are attending music school at NEIU, Columbia, or DePaul, so maybe they can offer some suggestions.

Johnny, I feel the same way about the rawness, emotion, and maybe most importantly, the accessibility of less-than-perfect vocals. For this reason I'm looking for someone to help me with a really solid foundation, basics, and DIY tools/techniques for when I can no longer afford a teacher (which probably won't take long... money = ) and so that I can avoid damaging my voice with bad technique. I suspect my financial inability to keep up any vocal coaching I might get will nicely take care of any liability of coming anywhere close to "perfect pitch".

Forgotten boy, I agree with Ben and at the outset you should only work with someone who is a properly qualified teacher. Ask them how they work and how lessons are structured, if you like what you hear then give them a try, don't be paranoid about damaging your voice, if you do something wrong once, twice or even more, you are highly unlikey to do permanent damage, what causes real damage is if you keep on doing something the wrong way. You will surprised if not "amazed" at how you will improve with correct breathing technique and placing the sounds correctly.

Once you have learnt these basics, you can do the exercises yourself without a teacher although it is always a good idea to see a teacher from time to time for correction as it is very easy to fall into bad habits. I do them almost every day to maintain muscle tone. If you can, try to learn with someone else with the same teacher so you can practise together and correct each other. Practicing exercises (rather than singing) is very important.

Just warming up properly will greatly improve your singing in general and help you get difficult notes. As you go on, your range will also increase but don't expect miracles, you are limited by what you have been given physically but there is a huge amount you can do with falsetto once you have learnt the technique of using it to sound like the normal voice, just listen to early Beatles tracks, especially their Decca demos. All three singers were very good at this but McCartney was a master at it. It's not easy to learn though.

Depending on how quickly you learn and how much work you do by yourself, you could make major improvments in a few months and with a good teacher, you should see a difference almost immediately.

Sorry to ramble on.

David

PS Perfect pitch is when you can sign a given note at will and is quite rare (Cleo Lane comes to mind, the band could tune their instruments by her voice). I think what you mean is singing perfectly in tune which is a question of training your ear and voice and again technique amd practice will help a lot. Recording yourself several times doing a particular song will go along way to achieving this.

David, thank you for your valuable input, your experience is evident in the quality of your advice, and I appreciate you taking the time to respond at length. A small note on falsetto, this is definitely something I wish to learn well, as basically all of my singing "heroes" use it heavily. I think my definite next step here is "find a good teacher"! Will let you guys know how the hunt goes!

Sounds good. I enjoyed listening to that.

It would be helpful I think if you posted something a little more raw. The production of this song was quite good, maybe to the detriment of people's critiquing abilities? Not sure if that makes sense. But anyways, I'd hire you guys any day.

Cool, thanks Axe. I am out of town for work but the plan is to get just a 1 acoustic guitar + vocal recording of a couple of originals I'm working on where I am struggling with the vocals. Hopefully up by this weekend...