I posted this in the miscellaneous forums, the bands I play with want me to start doing some backing vocals. Only problem my singing is pretty bad. So help?
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Singing
- Thread starter Raynier
- Start date
Take lessons, instruction videos etc. It's an instrument like any other and you won't be good before practising.
+1 to some lessons, or at least get with someone that has been trained and the two of you go over what is necessary.
Most of us guys do not understand how to harmonize and end up singing lead, which is OK on the chorus, but does not really fit in with "singing backup". Once you get that lead / harmony thing worked out.......
....... Your voice will probably be fine for backup. Give it a go, see what happens.
Most of us guys do not understand how to harmonize and end up singing lead, which is OK on the chorus, but does not really fit in with "singing backup". Once you get that lead / harmony thing worked out.......
....... Your voice will probably be fine for backup. Give it a go, see what happens.
I've tried and tried to sing while playing bass, but in my mind they are both so monolithic that I can't separate the two, and generally wind up singing the bass line. However, when I play guitar(Sshhh, don't tell anyone), I can sing fine, or as well as I can...Good luck...
What do you mean by "bad"?
Do you have difficulty hitting the pitch you want to hit?
Do you lack power and sustain?
Do you have bad singing technique?
All of these? None of these?
if this is something you really want to pursue, I suggest the following.
1. Get a good voice teacher/coach. Someone who will school you on proper singing technique from the get-go. You only have one set of vocal cords. You can't change them out. Proper technique will help you avoid damaging them.
2. Get a mic and a monitor for home use, so that you can get used to what your voice sounds like while you are singing.
3. Practice matching pitches with your voice to an instrument (keyboard, guitar,etc), using the mic and the monitor. Record yourself, listen back. This will help train your ear.
4. Do not strain your voice. Vocal cords are not muscles.
Shop around for a good voice teacher. Ask lots of questions. Find out what their philosophy and approach is. Make sure they understand what you want to achieve.
Good luck.
Do you have difficulty hitting the pitch you want to hit?
Do you lack power and sustain?
Do you have bad singing technique?
All of these? None of these?
if this is something you really want to pursue, I suggest the following.
1. Get a good voice teacher/coach. Someone who will school you on proper singing technique from the get-go. You only have one set of vocal cords. You can't change them out. Proper technique will help you avoid damaging them.
2. Get a mic and a monitor for home use, so that you can get used to what your voice sounds like while you are singing.
3. Practice matching pitches with your voice to an instrument (keyboard, guitar,etc), using the mic and the monitor. Record yourself, listen back. This will help train your ear.
4. Do not strain your voice. Vocal cords are not muscles.
Shop around for a good voice teacher. Ask lots of questions. Find out what their philosophy and approach is. Make sure they understand what you want to achieve.
Good luck.
Lessons. However it's a waste of money if you don't practice every day what they teach. Or take notes and after three months or so you should be able to practice yourself and get to the next level for more lessons. Pick a singing teacher that knows about the mis-use of the voice in rock/pop music as opera- related teachers abhor such singing styles.
Also, this book is worth its money:
http://www.amazon.com/Rock-N-Roll-Singers-Survival-Manual/dp/0793502861
You get an insight into how much singing is tied to your body state and muscle memory in the thread.
Personally, I think 80% of singing practice is to accept your own voice, that's how it is thanks to your mother and father.
Also, this book is worth its money:
http://www.amazon.com/Rock-N-Roll-Singers-Survival-Manual/dp/0793502861
You get an insight into how much singing is tied to your body state and muscle memory in the thread.
Personally, I think 80% of singing practice is to accept your own voice, that's how it is thanks to your mother and father.
As an Amazon Associate, TalkBass may receive commissions from qualifying purchases made via links on this site.
Almost anyone can sing to some extent, especially musicians. Most of the time the musicians that say "I can't sing" are really saying "I don't like the sound of my voice". As a musician you should be able to at least hear notes in your head, whether they are in tune or not, the duration of the notes, etc. If you can do that, you can learn to at least sing backup parts in a band.
Getting a teacher is great, but I've found that most people will not go that far unless they're really motivated to sing. But you can get a long way on your own by singing with your car radio, ipod, whatever .... nobody will make fun of you there, no embarrassment, just you and your voice. If all you are looking to do is add another occassional voice to your band harmony, you can do it ...
In the beginning you'll need to really know either the vocal part or the bass part. One of them should be effortless and automatic, that'll allow you to focus on the other part. There will some rhythmic things that'll be difficult to sing against, but with practice you'll get it down.
If you intend to sing a lot, I would also recommend a vocal coach ... they'll help you to sing properly and avoid doing damage to your throat and vocal chords ....
Getting a teacher is great, but I've found that most people will not go that far unless they're really motivated to sing. But you can get a long way on your own by singing with your car radio, ipod, whatever .... nobody will make fun of you there, no embarrassment, just you and your voice. If all you are looking to do is add another occassional voice to your band harmony, you can do it ...
In the beginning you'll need to really know either the vocal part or the bass part. One of them should be effortless and automatic, that'll allow you to focus on the other part. There will some rhythmic things that'll be difficult to sing against, but with practice you'll get it down.
If you intend to sing a lot, I would also recommend a vocal coach ... they'll help you to sing properly and avoid doing damage to your throat and vocal chords ....
Hi
I took up singing back up vocals and I thought I couldn't sing to save my life when I first started.
If you have a car and drive, do singing practice in the car so nobody can hear you. I used the best of the Beatles. It was all familiar and when I started I couldn't sing high notes because I really wasn't used to singing and my voice was super tight. Now all those notes are easy and I can sing up to a high D if I want. So it's possible to really improve just through practice.
Also I recommend the exercises in brett manning's course. They are great for retraining your muscle habits so that you can sing without hurting your voice. That's the biggest risk is that if you haven't sung before, you could sing the wrong way and hurt your vocal cords. So do the lip roll and the tongue roll with scales and melodies and you'll improve.
The other thing is do it every day and just ignore that you sound bad. It helps to have the mindset that you are going to do the singing anyway and that eventually your voice will be usable for something, you just need to discover what that something is but for now you're going to enjoy the activity of singing. That way every month you will notice improvement but don't think about a final goal because it's demotivating. We're all very emotional about our own voices and so you have to be very accepting with yourself.
One thing I will say is that someone once told me singing and dancing every day is a great way to be happy. They are totally right- I find singing really lifts my mood and makes me forget about BS. It's also a great release. Singing is something which is great for your life, not just for performance, so I hope you enjoy discovering your voice.
I took up singing back up vocals and I thought I couldn't sing to save my life when I first started.
If you have a car and drive, do singing practice in the car so nobody can hear you. I used the best of the Beatles. It was all familiar and when I started I couldn't sing high notes because I really wasn't used to singing and my voice was super tight. Now all those notes are easy and I can sing up to a high D if I want. So it's possible to really improve just through practice.
Also I recommend the exercises in brett manning's course. They are great for retraining your muscle habits so that you can sing without hurting your voice. That's the biggest risk is that if you haven't sung before, you could sing the wrong way and hurt your vocal cords. So do the lip roll and the tongue roll with scales and melodies and you'll improve.
The other thing is do it every day and just ignore that you sound bad. It helps to have the mindset that you are going to do the singing anyway and that eventually your voice will be usable for something, you just need to discover what that something is but for now you're going to enjoy the activity of singing. That way every month you will notice improvement but don't think about a final goal because it's demotivating. We're all very emotional about our own voices and so you have to be very accepting with yourself.
One thing I will say is that someone once told me singing and dancing every day is a great way to be happy. They are totally right- I find singing really lifts my mood and makes me forget about BS. It's also a great release. Singing is something which is great for your life, not just for performance, so I hope you enjoy discovering your voice.
Backing vocals are usually harmonies so not only have to carry a tune but sing a line above or below the other singers including the lead vocalist.
I suggest practicing to get the vocal and bass line down then doing both very slowly so you can get the separate rhythms of each going, even down to note-by-note as the slowest speed possible.
Here are a few links to check out:
Singing and Playing bass
Protecting your voice
Bassist's guide to singing
You can also download free software like Best Practice and make karaoke type recording to sing along with.
Check out some websites that have ear training exercises to get the hang of singing intervals.
Here are a few:
Goodear.com
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
Free downloadable ear trainer (basic/advanced) Xlnt program
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
Online Visual Beginning Theory, ear trainer
Discussion of Solfege
I suggest you record yourself to hear how you're doing.
Good luck.
I suggest practicing to get the vocal and bass line down then doing both very slowly so you can get the separate rhythms of each going, even down to note-by-note as the slowest speed possible.
Here are a few links to check out:
Singing and Playing bass
Protecting your voice
Bassist's guide to singing
You can also download free software like Best Practice and make karaoke type recording to sing along with.
Check out some websites that have ear training exercises to get the hang of singing intervals.
Here are a few:
Goodear.com
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
Free downloadable ear trainer (basic/advanced) Xlnt program
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
Online Visual Beginning Theory, ear trainer
Discussion of Solfege
I suggest you record yourself to hear how you're doing.
Good luck.
If your singing is bad, why do they want you to do the backing vocals? Have they heard you sing? Have YOU heard you sing?
So work at it, take some vocal lessons...and get better. OK?
Was that so hard to figure out?
MM
(cont'd) I highly recommend the Brett Manning singing success system. You might be able to find it used on eBay and you probably only need about the first half of the CDs.
For learning harmony what helped me tremendously was singing in church choirs. It really helped me to be able to "hear" my part. To learn to sing your own harmonies you really need to sing in a group. You could find a good church choir, community choir, or a choir class at a community college.
If you go the church route, you want a big choir where the choir director knows what they're doing. My old church choir director was a jr high music teacher and so took the choir very seriously.
Singing in some kind of choir will help you develop good pitch and give you a lot of confidence in singing a different vocal part counter to other parts you're simultaneously hearing.
Practice singing harmony along w the radio. Listen to what the backup singers parts are and sing along with them.
The other thing that really helped me, almost magically, was learning to play guitar. I can only play 9 or 10 chords, but I think something flipped in my brain and that took me to the next level where coming up with my own harmonies became way easier.
Hope some of that helps. It may be a lot more time than you have, but this is just sharing a history of what has helped me most to be a good backup singer.
For learning harmony what helped me tremendously was singing in church choirs. It really helped me to be able to "hear" my part. To learn to sing your own harmonies you really need to sing in a group. You could find a good church choir, community choir, or a choir class at a community college.
If you go the church route, you want a big choir where the choir director knows what they're doing. My old church choir director was a jr high music teacher and so took the choir very seriously.
Singing in some kind of choir will help you develop good pitch and give you a lot of confidence in singing a different vocal part counter to other parts you're simultaneously hearing.
Practice singing harmony along w the radio. Listen to what the backup singers parts are and sing along with them.
The other thing that really helped me, almost magically, was learning to play guitar. I can only play 9 or 10 chords, but I think something flipped in my brain and that took me to the next level where coming up with my own harmonies became way easier.
Hope some of that helps. It may be a lot more time than you have, but this is just sharing a history of what has helped me most to be a good backup singer.
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