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[mookers]

yeah, i'm in two bands now in a place that is very sparse with talented musicians with indie rock tastes, so i'm tryig to cover multiple roles. so far i'm just a bassist (but i'm looking into expanding that) and i'd like to learn to sing like the dudes from Grandaddy and Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. i've been told i'm a tenor, and i can sing on pitch, but my range is horrible.

i don't really know what i'm asking. i guess i'm asking if any vocalists out there have any tips that could help me train my voice. it is hell of frustrating. i can make my hands more nimble or expand my lung capacity for wind instruments, but can i expand my pitch range and improve the sound of my voice? (it's kind of bad.) or is that something one is just born with?

[mookers]

ennybody

[RUMBLEMOOSE]

Yes you can.

Bear in mind I'm a terrible singer, but I have it on good authority that you can learn how to sing. There are tons of vocal coaches all over the world, they must be doing something other than telling their students, "stop sucking so bad."

I've heard tell that Chris Cornell used to sing/scream the highest note he could reach as loud as he could first thing every morning, and the note would gradually get higher and higher. The downside is that, nine times out of ten, this will ruin your voice first.

[mookers]

haha i suppose you're right.

and egad. that is dodgy.

[mookers]

there has to be a way that costs less (read: no) money though. i am hell of poor. the only instruments i've ever bought new were from Costco.

[Mikendher]

mic yourself, and be honest about your voice. figure out exactly what you need to improve, then try it day after day. if it be range, do scales. i'm no expert, but i've managed to improve my voice considerably in the direction i wanted. i've still got a long way to go. that said, i'm sure a voice coach would get this done more quickly

[mookers]

thanks man, good idea.

if only i didn't lend my mic to my friend so he could drool all over it playing Battlefield 1942 and then end up snapping it in half. ima get a new un.

[oceansaway]

Coaches are the best, do scales every day, sing as best as you can to songs you like!

Also if you think you're never going ot be a great singer, that's okay. There's tons of bands with singers who don't have the best voices.

[moley]

have you tried searching the Intarweb? there are probably hundreds of tutorials out there for vocalists.

[mookers]

do you know how hard it is to sing Summer Here Kids?

it is so hard.

summer here KIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIiIIIiiiiiigagh

[oceansaway]

do you know how hard it is to sing Summer Here Kids?

it is so hard.

summer here KIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIiIIIiiiiiigagh

Haha I know what you mean...uhhhh Yeah but you have to remember he doesn't have the perfect voice either! Maybe you should do it in a really low molester type voice.

Summer....heerrrrrrrrrrrrreee kidddds bwhahahahahaah.

[Mel_of_hell]

If there's a note I can't sing, I either try it in another octave (rarely), or I sit there and practice it until it doesn't sound all shithy.

[Eldirial]

I would suggest a voice teacher/coach if its in your price range.  When I first did my Italian training (Cause I'm weird like that and sing opera and arias, etc.)  My range was that of a rather low bass.... but the teacher that I liked best was himself a fairly high ranged tenor- the reason I went with him was because he pushed me, as he knew more about the upper ranges- but he knew how to work slowly.  I ended up with a higher and lower range than most people I have sang with (Who are male, that is).

The other thing- I would caution you with finding techniques on the intraweb unless you know they come from a good source- it's suprising easy to fuck up your voice something fierce if you strain it to much.  And yes, anyone can learn to sing- there is a certain place you can't pass if you have absolutely no talent, but it sounds like you have some talent- so go for it.

Also- learning vocal styles that you normally wouldn't be interested in, just to learn the songs and techniques, are allot of help, imho.

Thats bout it from me.

[normz]

Hmmmm i'm a classically trained vocalist too (alot of italian opera music and the sterotypical show tunes) and I'd say even just go for a few lessons with a teacher to improve your technique (learning correct posture, breathing and scales) and just keep practicing/ trying a variety of styles till you find one that works with your voice ... the other thing i always found that really helped was gtting a tape recorder and recording yourself whilst singing and then playing it back to critically analyse it cause sometimes its hard to really 'hear' yourself when singing and having it played back makes it easier to pick up faults

[Eldirial]

Hmmmm i'm a classically trained vocalist too (alot of italian opera music and the sterotypical show tunes) and I'd say even just go for a few lessons with a teacher to improve your technique (learning correct posture, breathing and scales) and just keep practicing/ trying a variety of styles till you find one that works with your voice ... the other thing i always found that really helped was gtting a tape recorder and recording yourself whilst singing and then playing it back to critically analyse it cause sometimes its hard to really 'hear' yourself when singing and having it played back makes it easier to pick up faults

See, the tape recorder is a great idea... but the problem with it for me is that I really hate hearing my voice recorded for some reason- gives me the heebie geebies.  I will admit it is a great tool for learning, though.

And there is nothing wrong with learning show tunes.

Right?

[normz]

lol yeah the first few times i heard my voice recorded it really freaked me out but soon i got used to it and used it to become a better singer and showtunes FTW I mean what would i do without andrew lloyd weber *breaks into upbeat version of 'I Don't Know How to Love Him'*

[Thrillho]

Find out what key you sing best in, and find bands that use it a lot - sing along to their songs to strengthen your voice. Say, your voice works best in D (major or minor doesn't necessarily make a huge difference); find a band that uses D a lot, because that's what your voice is good at. After a while doing that, find a band that plays in Eb, like Guns 'n' Roses (just an example...) so at first it'll be just out of your range or just into your range - the more you sing it, the more comfortable your voice will be singing those notes (as long as you aren't screaming them too much which will shred your voice) and then soon you can move up to E.

[mookers]

uhh, what are some ways i can destroy my voice? cause lately i've kind of found that it's harder to sing than when i first started trying and i keep worrying that i'm fucking up my vocal cords somehow. or maybe it's just me being paranoid or something.. but what are some ways to avoid killing my voice?

[Eldirial]

Well, if your voice hurts, let it be for a bit.  I often would allmost blow my voice out when i was doing a musical- just give it a little bit of a rest.  Pain in the throat is bad- it being harder to sing isn't neccisarilly bad.  Just don't scream all that much if you can avoid it, and if you are raspy or in pain, give it rest.  usually it's just overusing it to incredible amounts that can hurt your voice- most vocal problems arn't total blowouts, just need for rest.

[Switchblade]

Sure, singing is trainable. The two important ones are pitch and technique. Even the most mediocre of voice can become at least reasonable if you've got a decent ear for pitch and rhythm, and know the fundamentals. and yes, it's possible to train yourself for pitch and rhythm discrimination.

The key to proper singing technique is in the breathing and airflow. Try to keep your back straight, and arms back. Breath from the diaphragm rather than the chest, and keep your gut muscles nice and tight throughout. And don't ever be afraid of volume.

The above should give you a nice operatic voice. If that's not what you're after, you can pretty much ignore the "technique" bit and just work on the pitch.

Of course, every voice has it's own character which is simply impossible to ever completely change, but you can certainly modulate it.

[little daemon]

i don't really know what i'm asking. i guess i'm asking if any vocalists out there have any tips that could help me train my voice. it is hell of frustrating. i can make my hands more nimble or expand my lung capacity for wind instruments, but can i expand my pitch range and improve the sound of my voice? (it's kind of bad.) or is that something one is just born with?

For what it's worth here are my two cents.  I'm the lead singer in a  band and very recently (this past summer) I ran into vocal trouble.  I started out with a passable voice so I never bothered to take lessons or anything. I 'm singin' fuckin' rock n' roll I didn't want some vocal teacher to tell me I can't yell, or make my voice raspy, or whatever. I was afraid they would make me sound like an opera singer.  Hell I never had problems singing before so fuck it.

Well the band finally got our act together, and we started practicing regularly, writing new songs, the lead guitarist and I moved in together and set up the practice space in the basement. Basically we started rocking out 24-7 -and quickly I couldn't sing anymore!  

Once in a while was never a problem, but through constant poor technique  I slowly lost the notes that I had and was left with a voice I didn't recognize.  I couldn't find any notes and I was always raspy like I had a cold.

Finally I decided that I'd rather sing like an opera singer than not at all, so I took some voice lessons and this is what my four (hey I'm poor) voice lessons taught me:

1) Don't sing from your throat: You shouldn't feel pressure and straining in your throat when you sing. When you push for a note, do it with your diaphram.  If you can't find your diaphram put your hand right below your rib cage when you sing and tighten those muscles. Push the air from that area and you'll be on the right track to healthy singing.

2) Always warm up: You've been up all night boozing and having sex with your band groupies. You're tired and hung over. So is your voice. Gently massage it. Relax it. Warm it up so that its ready for action. The guitarist, the bassist, the accordian and kazoo player are all warming up their instruments. You gotta warm that voice up too.  One way to do this is by
gently humming on what ever note feels comfortable.  This can be almost inaudiable, no pressure, no strain. Just start some gentle movement down inside there. When I have band practice after work, I'll spend the last half hour and the commute home just gently humming to myself.  After a while things will relax and you can gently start moving to more notes... make a 3 note melody, start moving around a bit to other places that feel comfortable. Don't worry about pitch, this is all about waking up the muscles.  This will help improve your voices range and stamina.

3) I don't know. Like I said: I'm poor I could only afford four voice lessons!  But what a difference they made! Now the band is back to non-stop rocking  and we're even writing songs that have vocal melodies in ranges that I couldn't reach before.

And I don't sound at all like an opera singer!
peace
-ld

[IronOxide]

The main thing is practice. Learn how your own instrument works, and you will be better for it.

[Mel_of_hell]

uhh, what are some ways i can destroy my voice? cause lately i've kind of found that it's harder to sing than when i first started trying and i keep worrying that i'm fucking up my vocal cords somehow. or maybe it's just me being paranoid or something.. but what are some ways to avoid killing my voice?

Drink water.  That helps too.  I always hurt if I'm singing with coffee or sodas.  I think it might be the acid.

[TrueNeutral]

Although I'm no expert on singing(I'm a terrible singer, but loving doing it anyway), I gotta say room temperature water is great while singing. If your voice already hurts, try honey.

I need to try that Mic thing. Man, I wish I could still sing like pre-puberty me. My range was fucking INCREDIBLE.

[KharBevNor]

I trained myself to sing, but not in any way you guys would like.

[kikanjuuneko]

I trained myself to sing, but not in any way you guys would like.

Ditto. And I used to have a decent range when I was pre-pubescent.

[Thrillho]

I wouldn't know, I didn't sing as a kid. Not properly.

But my falsetto is still brilliant at age 16, and if you'd heard me talk you'd find that extremely surprising.

[Mel_of_hell]

I always tried to sing opera up until I was about twelve.  Then I realized, hey, that's annoying, so I can't really say if I was good or not.

I still do an amazing Cher impression, though...

[McTaggart]

I have the vocal range of a barometer. About the same level of musical talent too.

[Thrillho]

I always tried to sing opera up until I was about twelve.  Then I realized, hey, that's annoying, so I can't really say if I was good or not.

I still do an amazing Cher impression, though...

How coincidental! I can do Bob Geldof!

Wait, did I say coincidental? I meant mediocre on both our parts.

[Music_of_Roots]

The thing I found that makes your voice sound the best and get rid of that horrible yucky flemmy sound is to kind of sing with your sinuses.  Yeah, that sounds weird, like you cant sing out your nose, if you could I would be impressed but the thing to try is to start singing in one octave through your windpipe and then literally try to bring it up till it feels like you are singing through your sinuses.  You know you are doing it right when you start to feel that kind of scratchy feel go away.  The warm up I like to do best is to roll me tongue, like that rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr sounds like an engine and you just sing octaves while rolling your tongue.  Final thing is sing with good posture.  If your windpipe is open you will get a better sound.  Tilt your head up and for goodness sake open your mouth.  How can you expect to sing if your mouth isn't open?

[Borondir]

Having sung classical stuff most of my life, I'd mainly just second what people have said about breathing and warming up.  If you don't warm up properly you can do real damage to your voice quickly.  

When you breath, don't lift your chest, but drop you diaphragm instead. Lifting your chest tightens you up and means you don't get proper resonation.
And yeah, try to avoid straining and singing with your throat and jaws tight, instead sing from your diaphragm.  

It's definitely possible to make huge improvements if you have at least basic ability to stay on pitch. Range comes gradually, don't try to force it. My true voice ( not falsetto) has extended about two steps just from singing an hour and a half each day in chorale this fall. And if you can't sing something, don't. I've come to terms with the fact that I'm not a high tenor.

[Patrick]

Here's a way you can really fuck up your voice: Be Robert Plant.

Nah, seriously though. He fucked his voice with a steel wire brush the way he sang from '69 to '73. Like, you listen to "How Many More Times" and just you TRY to tell me that it was good for his voice. Basically, be sensible.

Have a good listen to Freddy Mercury in Queen, and you'll realize that what everybody's telling you about "drop your diaphragm" and "open your mouth" bit is as true as Hilary Duff is stupid/hot (synonyms?).