woodstock777 wrote:I have a friend who has played music for years. He has been into music since he was a kid. He has lately been attempting to sing and it is bad. I am always the person who says that anyone can sing with practice and this may be true with him but for the time being, it is absolutely NOT. I want to help him out but his family and closest friends have him under the impression that he can sing now which is completely untrue. I feel that it is important that he knows that he needs alot of practice before he keeps singing in the public but I do not know how to approach him. There are few bands in his area so he is able to get a gig here and there but the places he gigs are dives and I mean DIVES. I know he is a good guitar player and bass player but singing takes work. You can`t just jump in, learn a few tunes and claim to be a singer. There are other things clouding his judgement but the hardest thing to get by is the misleading support. This may seem grouchy or some other form of negativeness but it`s not. I watch people react to the singing and see their thoughts as they all rush to leave unless they are drunk beyond belief. I want to help him but I am afraid if I say something to him about it, it will break our friendship. Any ideas??
Its a common mistake for many vocalists to angle their voices and tones towards some signature mixed and mastered voice... (I'm guilty as charged) . Folks tend to vocally express what they believe it should sound like, like rather than
what the song actually calls for... In extreme cases I've seem some guys scrunch their voices into a ball of awfulness, which , as you might say, would 'embarrass' others I mean its like somebody killing a chicken...
As a professional, it would be a disservice to NOT tell him straight up about his weak points and the severity/impact of them.
(But one does not have to be toxic to get the points across) ..
Tips to improve vocalization
1) Examine the need for Tonal inflection: Attempts at inflection do not guarantee a viable variation in a given vocal. I cannot stress this enough... Have you ever tried to sing in "reverb" ? We all do it, and the results are hilarious .
2) Instead, Strive for the actual notes in the melodies, and stop trying to sound like the 'end-product' voice.
Let the engineer package the signature. I bet klugmo would agree with this one.. (I hope

)
3) Practice in smaller increments , often, throughout the day... wherever possible.
If the guy is musically inclined, then his buds just need to give him thorough support, Kick or reward his ass as appropriate and be his wing-man.. But above all, be critical... with the understanding that we are all in constant trajectory of musical self-development