John Revoredo Posted October 2, 2008 Share Posted October 2, 2008 Hi there. Im making this thread asking all of you if know any videos/techs/tips on how to sing properly. I've been attemping to sing for the last two years (by myself) and I still suck as much as the first day. My problem is not with pitch: Only that the "sound" of my voice is not good (neither is bad, but definitely wouldn't sound allright being the lead voice on a band). How to work on that? Breathing exercises? Is it better to pay a teacher to help out? Or is it possible to do by oneself? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ransom Posted October 2, 2008 Share Posted October 2, 2008 This thread is relevant to my interests. I've never been good at singing, which is why I turned to musical instruments in the first place, but I've had experienced musicians tell me anyone can do it. Granted, I have improved a little from when I first started, but I'm at no place to sing in a band as of yet. I'm interested to hear if there's any advice from more experienced vocalists here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sgx Posted October 2, 2008 Share Posted October 2, 2008 Just a quick tip - Rock Band is a pretty fun way to practice. It will help you get used to controlling the pitch of your voice and what type of range you can sing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SLyGeN Posted October 2, 2008 Share Posted October 2, 2008 Hi there. Im making this thread asking all of you if know any videos/techs/tips on how to sing properly. I've been attemping to sing for the last two years (by myself) and I still suck as much as the first day.My problem is not with pitch: Only that the "sound" of my voice is not good (neither is bad, but definitely wouldn't sound allright being the lead voice on a band). How to work on that? Breathing exercises? Is it better to pay a teacher to help out? Or is it possible to do by oneself? Steer clear of pretty boy bands. That's negative reinforcement. I'm not a singer, but I can try to give a helpful piece of information. You need to manipulate the resonant frequency of your chest cavity. When your whole chest is amplifying your voice, it makes it sound much louder and richer. I used to have to yell customer orders to the back of a loud pizzeria. Instead of screaming, I just spoke normally and expanded my chest. I'm not sure if this same concept works for higher pitches (women.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DragonAvenger Posted October 2, 2008 Share Posted October 2, 2008 Two tips: Sing in the car ALWAYS. It's a place where no one has to hear you, and makes travel time much more fun. Sing to anything, and everything. Record yourself often. The more you do it, and listen to yourself, the more you can see what you need to do. Find what you have to do that sounds good when you play it back, and work on being able to do that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BardicKnowledge Posted October 3, 2008 Share Posted October 3, 2008 Is it better to pay a teacher to help out? Or is it possible to do by oneself? I had excellent results working with my voice professor in college -- if you're that age, I highly advise taking a semester of paid lessons to see if that style of learning is right for you. You definitely won't be any worse off trying it out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kizyr Posted October 3, 2008 Share Posted October 3, 2008 Two tips: Sing in the car ALWAYS. It's a place where no one has to hear you, and makes travel time much more fun. Sing to anything, and everything. I'm a lousy singer. But, I will say that when studying Chinese, I always practiced tones/pronunciations in the car. Also, a car is much better than the shower, since the acoustics of a shower can make you think you sound a lot better than you really do. (At least, I think... I mean I'm basing that off of my roommate in college knocking on the door and asking me to stop.) KF Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shadow Wolf Posted October 3, 2008 Share Posted October 3, 2008 Jill Goldin should be doing this, but a few tips from someone who sings a LOT: Sing with your diaphragm. Learn to control it, and control your breathing while you sing. Use your resonating cavities. You have three: Your chest, your mouth, and your nasal cavity. Understand that you won't necessarily use just one of those cavities in ALL your singing. You'll be able to feel by vibration where the notes are resonating. Singing from your chest will give you a powerful and deep sound, whereas singing from your mouth/nasal cavity while locking off some of the resonance from your chest will give you a higher, cleaner, crisper sound. It's important to find your range, and to practice compensating if you have to go out of it. My range is bass and baritone, and perhaps a little higher than the top end of baritone range. Obviously not all songs are written in those ranges, so you have to learn to change that. Occasionally I have to pop into falsetto to hit really high notes, which for me involves breathy, quieter singing almost entirely through my nasal cavity to hit those notes. For instance, most of Howie Day's 'Collide' is in my range, but I have to go to falsetto for the top end of the chorus. Then experiment with tones. Listen to other singers, and try to emulate the way they sound when you sing something. You'll find that for each different singer, there's a whole different set of tricks to maintain that sound, and what it eventually does is give you kind of a mental portfolio. So you can say, for instance, "I wanna sing this song kinda like James Hetfield does," or maybe "The sound I'm going for is roughly like Peter Shaw." Then you modulate your voice to fit that sound, and you eventually learn to pick and choose things from different singers and develop your own sound. I've developed that ability almost to the point of being scary... I can usually sound almost exactly like Hetfield or Shaw or whoever I want, unless it's a woman. For obvious reasons. The main thing is though, and mind you this is coming from someone who hasn't had vocal training since he was 7, Sing everything. Discover your range, and learn how to get into other ones, how to compensate to sing what you want. If you really wanna have fun, learn to harmonize. I adore singing, it's the only musical thing I'm fairly good at. Anyways, I hope some of that helps! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ransom Posted October 3, 2008 Share Posted October 3, 2008 I've been given breathing and posture advice from a few different vocalists, and they all agree on the same thing: Keep a good posture. Stay balanced on both feet when you sing while standing tall. If you have to sit while singing, sit up straight and keep your knees below your waist. Keep your head facing forward or a little bit down, not up. You don't want to slouch, as that will hinder your ability to breathe and hit certain notes. As for breathing, when you inhale, your belly should expand, not your shoulders and upper chest. That combined with a proper posture will help you out. I'm pretty excited to practice singing more with this advice. I just found out that my own vocal range is tenor-baritone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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