Learning to sing.

CDuff · #1 08-10-2008, 02:14 PM

I can't sing.

but!...I was wondering.... is it possible, through learning some techniques, to improve your voice?

I'm not asking if you can train someone who sounds like a broken car horn to have a voice like José Carreras or Jeff Buckley or whoever. I just mean getting the voice to a point where, within a certain range, you can at least sing in tune. ...like improving your fretless intonation through technical exercises. Or is it just as simple as, if you can't sing, you just can't sing?
There are a lot of websites that claim anyone can learn to sing but, curiously, they all want my money.

So I suppose my question is have you, or anybody you know, gone from not being to able to sing to being able to sing a bit?

Jazz Ad · #2 08-10-2008, 02:25 PM

Voice is an instrument like any other.
You improve through practice, lessons and hard work.
If you can hear when you're not in tune, there is no reason you can't achieve it.
I am a decent singer but it didn't come in one day.

CDuff · #3 08-10-2008, 02:31 PM

That reminds me of a comment I saw in the Basses section here. A young player was talking about how he picked up a fretless for the first time and explained that he no problem at all with his intonation. I knew immediately that his ear just wasn't good enough yet

It's similar to this thread, I think. I suppose it's good that I know when I'm not hitting the right note but there are so few notes that I actually can hit

ric1312 · #4 08-10-2008, 02:33 PM

Yes, you can learn if you if you learn real singing techniques and practice them with patience and diligence.

I went from being an awful singer to always getting compliments on my voice when I gig.

If you are looking for something like magic pill that will have you singing great a second after you do it, then dont' bother trying to learn.

Singing your best takes as much practice as being good at any instrument.

CDuff · #5 08-10-2008, 02:37 PM

thanks. I'm too old to believe in the magic pill effect or anything like it. I just want to be able to play two instruments at once. Take Richard Bona, for example. I'll never be as a good a player or a singer but I do want to be able to just sit down and play and sing for my own amusement

I just want to read some encouraging words from people who've already achieved something like this.

Did you go to a teacher, ric1312 or did you buy a book or befriend a good singer or some other method?

baalroo · #6 08-10-2008, 02:40 PM

yes, as long as you can hear when you are in or out of tune (ie: you are not tone deaf... which since you already play an instrument I find that highly unlikely) you can train your voice just like any other instrument.

An easy method is to train your voice while playing bass. Simply pick two notes at random and pedal between them while singing along, when you hit them both in tune a predetermined amount of times move to two different randomly chosen notes. As you get better start adding more notes to the string. This will train your vocal chords and brain to move around between notes properly. Basically, most stretching and interval exercises that many of us already know for bass can be adapted for singing, and if you do them together you can practice two things at once.

Deacon_Blues · #7 08-10-2008, 03:13 PM

There's a lot of singing techniques around and they can be pretty contradictory in relation to each other. One common thing though is that it must always feel good (or actually you shouldn't feel anything at all) in your throat when you sing. As long as you know that, and notice eventual problems in time (you get slightly hoarse, for instance), you should be fine. Just don't work bad techniques into your muscle memory. I did that when I was a beginner and it has been difficult to get rid of the old bad habits. It's way better now though, thanks to some good instruction.

It's very common to believe you are born with a certain range and cannot change that. Well, it IS true, at least to some extent, but your range is much much larger than you think as an untrained singer. It's possible to sing high and low, soft and loud, by using various techniques.

I don't want to run into an argument about singing techniques again (I've done enough of that with ric1312), so I just want to give a hint about the bassist's guide to singing sticky thread in band management forum. Lots of good info there.

CDuff · #8 08-10-2008, 04:46 PM

oh wow. Sorry, I didn't know about that post. I wasn't expecting something like this to be in the band management section.

That sounds like a good exercise, Baalroo. I'll give it a go if I can get over the embarrassing self-consciousness

ric1312 · #9 08-10-2008, 07:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CiaranDuffy

thanks. I'm too old to believe in the magic pill effect or anything like it. I just want to be able to play two instruments at once. Take Richard Bona, for example. I'll never be as a good a player or a singer but I do want to be able to just sit down and play and sing for my own amusement

I just want to read some encouraging words from people who've already achieved something like this.

Did you go to a teacher, ric1312 or did you buy a book or befriend a good singer or some other method?

Actually I've been to many vocal coaches over the years and bought every book on singing I could get my hands on. Just like other instruments keep practicing and pushing to learn.

I play an instrument at the same time, now too. Make sure to practice both seperate and together. Get some coaching. Don't just sing and try to sound good by ear. Get a coach that can teach you how to technically control your voice. If something doesn't work for you or you don't understand it, find another coach and keep finding learning material.

Deacon_Blues · #10 08-11-2008, 12:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ric1312

I play an instrument at the same time, now too. Make sure to practice both seperate and together. Get some coaching. Don't just sing and try to sound good by ear. Get a coach that can teach you how to technically control your voice. If something doesn't work for you or you don't understand it, find another coach and keep finding learning material.

I agree 100%

Bard2dbone · #11 08-11-2008, 12:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CiaranDuffy

That reminds me of a comment I saw in the Basses section here. A young player was talking about how he picked up a fretless for the first time and explained that he no problem at all with his intonation. I knew immediately that his ear just wasn't good enough yet

It's similar to this thread, I think. I suppose it's good that I know when I'm not hitting the right note but there are so few notes that I actually can hit

I noticed that with my fretless playing. It seemed like my intonation was better the m onth I bought the bass than it was six months later, like I was good, bad, better, better, good again.

That's the difference between playing fretless out of muscle memory and actually learning to PLAY it.