General Music Chat

yeah...dude...you make a LOT of mistakes. Most of the mistakes you make are the common ones.

If you really wanted to, you could be as good as you want...my advice, for what it's worth...

* If you want to sing, dammit sing!!!! When did music become so anti-rebelious? It sickens me...and this is why I hate cover bands! Music used to be about expressing common emotions through music...not how well another artists chops can be duplicated! That's just lame...

and I gotta say, hats off to you for not trying to sound like the original!!!

* Sing in your range...and if you play guitar, write songs!!! Like most everything, you get better at it the more you do it. Find YOUR voice!

* these mistakes you make...damn...dude. Painful!!!! But a few simple exercises will take you to a level that would impress yourself. I have no doubt you could find yourself listening to these tracks 6-9 months from now and laugh..."Wow...I can't believe that was me!"

I HIGHLY recomend looking into the Zen Of Screaming....Some of the exercises will make you look like an idiot around your friends, but they will blow your mind with how they produce results.

Even on youtube...A guy named Eric Arcineaux (sp) shows a few of these exercises...You'll look stupid doing them...but they work!

If you want it, you can do it! If you are having fun, then you are already sucessful, right? The rest is just icing!

I'll add a little something in here. I'm sure the experienced singers will agree.

When you're having a hard time hitting those high notes, drop down & sing a harmony note instead. Your audience won't know, & you'll sound much better than you will by straining yourself.

I don't agree...
Drop the key or drop the song. Jumping to a harmony makes no sense on any other instrument, why should it on your voice?

I do agree you should never strain...EVER. There's no need to...EVER.

I agree with you Stu, sing as much as possible. I feel you have potential. Join a band, sing out...Don't be shy...
Find that first club and go and sing. That's how you learn....That is if you can't afford a vocal teacher. The main thing about singing is the love of hearing yourself. Remember, vocals is just another instrument and sometimes needs tuning..
Good Luck and hope good things come your way.......

Thanks for the posts - a good mix of reality check and encouragement to keep trying to improve

I did have a couple questions, if anyone can answer it would help a lot

1- Is the problem mostly pitch? If I could learn to be more accurate with hitting the notes dead on, would I be a decent singer/ or is there something about my basic tone/timbre that you find hard to listen to?

2 - Do the pitch problems happen more on the higher notes (is that why I keep hearing that I'm out of my range)?

3- When I do hit the right notes in the higher ranges, is there still a tone problem (ie lack of resonance)? Could that maybe be helped by my opening my throat more, and/or using more breath support?

Just trying to see if I can focus my efforts a little as I get back to trying to make these better. I also suspect that maybe the headphones actually make it more difficult for me to hear (mainly beause I'm not used to singing that way). I might try recording with the PA as my monitor next time.

Thanks for any additional feedback that could help.

gb47 - there are times when your sinuses are acting up, or you're just plain tired, & your voice won't hit that perfect high note - just watch some of those concerts on the early morning news shows that showcase performers at 8 or 9 AM- when the less experienced acts are straining or cracking on those highs, or cheating with a substandard falsetto, all I can do is sigh. The best ones realize their temporary problems & adjust the melody line for the moment to make it sound better, rather than to try & fail, by using an alternate, lower harmony note, & more often than not, no one would ever notice but us exceptional few. You hear ppl do this on live recordings fairly often , too. Nothing at all wrong with it. No sense altering the entire arrangement of a tune, or the usual key, just because the singer is having a momentary problem, if it can be fixed on the fly by the seasoned pro by hitting a harmony note. A voice isn't like your average instrument, in that it cannot be perfectly consistant all the time, under all circumstances. Making informed adjustments as needed will make you better in every situation.

If you want to stay in tune vocally, don't push.

We practice singing a little more softly and turning up the level a little.

If you panic/tighten up or strain, your days are numbered.

You got the voice your alternative rock songs, but you need to practise more and do what I said in my first post.
Practise those songs without giving it that "edge" that you give it first. Then after you get it down, add it in.
And you're not out of your range, you're just using less than a quarter of your full range.