General Music Chat

My niece wants to sing and is pretty darn good at it. She has had lead parts in her School musicals and recently has done some recording in Nashville. She has just set up a youtube section with some videos of parts she has done. I think she is pretty talented and has a super voice, especially for her age, but then again, I can't carry a tune if my life depended on it. Well, and I am her Uncle, so I suppose I am a little bias. If you want to see what she has done so far, her youtube site is http://www.youtube.com/user/ReneeSpencerMusic - there are clips from her last musical with solos and some from a studio recording session. She has a myspace too - http://www.myspace.com/reneespencermusic with some clips from her CD.

If you can leave some words of encouragement, that would be amazing and appreciated! If anyone has experience and can share with me ideas, I would love to help her out. I had dreams when I was a kid. Obviously, they didn't involve singing, but any way I can help her, is all good. Thanks everyone.

...spam?...

bwhahahaaaaaa

uhhhh.

hmmmmmmmmm

I just don't get it.

She's got a CD out and this guy is asking for advice?

Er... read forums dude, learn about the biz, learn what real people are doing, and most of all, DONT PUT OUT CD AFTER CD AFTER CD of crap crap and more crap.

Jeez, remember back when an artists first album was almost always their best?? Think about WHY. And why that isn't the case anymore. NO 16 year old should ever put out a CD unless she grew up disney and some famous songwriters are writing her crap for her, and that leaves brittany and christina arugula ....(yes I spelled that wrong on purpose)

edit

Listening to her rendition of "Amazing Grace/My Chains Are Gone."

She's got a good voice. Nothing really outstanding, but she has some power & can stay in key with the guitar. This song would allow her to really open up & add her personal touch, but I suspect that she's a bit young & inexperienced to have developed much of a personal style, yet.

She will do well, if she keeps it up, but for now, I see nothing that really makes her stand out to me over everyone else. That may change with time, education, & seasoning, of course.

She has a very good base of ability to start from. She could use a bit more presense, I think, but this vid seemed a bit casual for that to show very well.

If you want to help her, I'd suggest first, that you do not tell her that she's the best there is, but that she's doing very well so far. That's tough to do when you're so personally involved in her life, but it may help to keep her trying to learn, imo, & there is room for improvement, esp at her age. Get her a good coach that can help with phrasing, breathing, posture, etc. The more she sings, the more she's likely to develop. It will also help if she learns an instrument, particularly the piano. (I dunno if she's learning to play anything, as of yet, from what you've told us.) This will help her to understand harmonies, timing, song-writing, music theory & the like. Remember that the more you know, the more you are able to apply in any given performance.

It isn't necesarilly wrong for her to produce CD's at this point, but her main goal right now should be to learn as much as she can about music & live performance.

She looks like a sweet girl. Keep her away from the likes of most of us...heh heh heh (j/k - sorta)

I wish her the best of luck. Music is one of the toughest fields of endeavor, & ppl will often be harsh in their criticisms of her stuff, so I hope she's a strong-hearted girl.

uhhhh.

hmmmmmmmmm

I just don't get it.

She's got a CD out and this guy is asking for advice?

Er... read forums dude, learn about the biz, learn what real people are doing, and most of all, DONT PUT OUT CD AFTER CD AFTER CD of crap crap and more crap.

Jeez, remember back when an artists first album was almost always their best?? Think about WHY. And why that isn't the case anymore. NO 16 year old should ever put out a CD unless she grew up disney and some famous songwriters are writing her crap for her, and that leaves brittany and christina arugula ....(yes I spelled that wrong on purpose)

Dude, are you serious? I just listened to your band and you want to talk about crap. My niece can sing circles around that - I'd be willing to take a poll of musicians on here. Hands down....not even close. I can see if you and your singer were actually good, but the nerve to step up and call someone out and have that posted, is a joke at best.

hahaha, dude, seriously-

don't come here asking advice if you can't take criticism.

Fuk.. I didn't even criticize HER, I criticized your approach. I didn't ask you to critique my band, but thanks anyways. If you can't take the heat, GTFO out the kitchen retard.

Philby's got some good advice. Learning an instrument would be recommended, if she doesn't already know one.

Only thing I'd add to is: get her in a band and start playing out. She needs to be showcasing her talent in a public setting.

She already has stage experience, so that's great. She knows what it is like to be in front of an audience. A band can only help that even more; get her more comfortable with being in front of an audience. And it would be beneficial for her career to learn to work with other musicians in a live setting.

I think she's pretty good for her age.... she can only get better..

she's o.k., but I agree with Philby - there's nothing about her voice that makes her stand out - at least in the songs I listened to.

Have her study other artists closely and practice her voice inflections - she really needs to feel the music and convey that through her singing if she want's to excel and stand out. She's young and has room to grow certainly, but being able to sing in-key doesn't make one stand out - it's ability to pull emotion.

Consider this examle of using the voice to convey emotion
http://www.youtube.com/user/lisalavie1# ... 4LnV0gC_X0

or Zoe who's 14 (Listen to Big Girls Don't Cry cover, or fish out of water )
http://www.myspace.com/zoenoell

Being good is more than singing in key - it's sounding relaxed, comfortable and the ability to work your voice like an instrument.

Best,
Chris

Lisa Lavie is very good at what she does. I just wish these more modern r & b singers would hold a frikken note once in awhile! This is just one of those things that irks me, & it prolly just means I'm old, cuz there's an obvious call for it, but I'd rather hear the plainer, truer voice than the constantly wavering scale-singing Americam Idolized one any day.

Zoe is very good. She has control & pitch, yet found the feel of each song, as well, without all the embellishments. Very sweet honest voice.

Good examples, Chris.

Lisa Lavie is very good at what she does. I just wish these more modern r & b singers would hold a frikken note once in awhile! This is just one of those things that irks me, & it prolly just means I'm old, cuz there's an obvious call for it, but I'd rather hear the plainer, truer voice than the constantly wavering scale-singing Americam Idolized one any day.

You know, I'm a stickler for hitting true notes - if something is played or sung ever so slightly out of tune, I find it really distracting - but I have to say there is something that can redeem a song sung slightly out of tune for me - how the notes are sung. I'm very touchy feely that way, so if someone's voice can convince me they are sincerely feeling what they are singing, that is the dynamic that makes the difference. I can handle out of tune sung with conviction, but I cannot handle a pefect-pitch song sung with no conviction.

^.^

Lisa Lavie is very good at what she does. I just wish these more modern r & b singers would hold a frikken note once in awhile! This is just one of those things that irks me, & it prolly just means I'm old, cuz there's an obvious call for it, but I'd rather hear the plainer, truer voice than the constantly wavering scale-singing Americam Idolized one any day.

You know, I'm a stickler for hitting true notes - if something is played or sung ever so slightly out of tune, I find it really distracting - but I have to say there is something that can redeem a song sung slightly out of tune for me - how the notes are sung. I'm very touchy feely that way, so if someone's voice can convince me they are sincerely feeling what they are singing, that is the dynamic that makes the difference. I can handle out of tune sung with conviction, but I cannot handle a pefect-pitch song sung with no conviction.

^.^

Ah...I agree 100%. I'm guessing you can learn to sing with conviction easier than you can learn to sing perfect pitch. I only listened to Lavie's first song. Good, but not really my bag...although I like the low end, that's almost too masculine for me. Too much repetitious arm motion 'runs' with her voice and quite honestly, this is exactly what you talk about when you say conviction vs pitch. I, too get tired of the constant runs. Not saying it applies in this case, but it sure is a good way to get yourself to the correct note, finally, and get away with it.

I'm going to put a band behind Renee when they come up in a couple weeks and see if she can get a little 'dirtier'

Get out and play live gigs, thats better than anything you can do. One gig is worth 100 practices in my opinion. She is developing but in my opinion she isnt ready for the big leagues yet..............................but if she keeps at it and develops more she may have something, the groundwork it there.

Good Luck!!

Send her to my house...I'll take good care of her.