The**OFFICIAL**Voice/Singing Help Thread

I have a simple issue. I would like to make my voice project better and be more powerful. I have an alright singing voice but have problems projecting. This is pretty odd because back before my voice broke I sung for a Queen's Chapel and pretty much filled the place with my voice which was just naturally powerful. Now, I'd really like to try and make it that good again.

Is it just practice or do certain exercises help?
 
hey guys ok i wanna learn to sing screamo...can u suggest where i should go to practise without buggin the familly? and also can you tell me what i can do to learn how to scream w/o hurting myself? thanks guys
 
Thanks dude, ill keep posting in here for sure...even after i get it down.Im really posting this to say thanks, that one paragraph helped ENORMOUSLY. Thank you very much. now....

About the holding back...i wasn't, no. I was home alone haha. but um...i tried to get my voice to....ring out , i guess. it was pretty hard. I tried the hardest in the end...the very last second. But i knew something was wrong...I wasnt actually singing the note. The last part was pretty hard for me, and pretty pathetic sounding...it seems whenever i try to let it ring out, i dont get as much 'rasp'...if im understanding what rasp is properly.

Another thing...I was using my ...gut alot, i guess. everytime i tried to 'push' for each syllable....That seems wrong to me ,though. Like I shouldnt do that. but.... i dont know for sure. When im doing that, do I want to use my stomach and push(flex abs)? or nah?
 
This may be a big waste of your time cuase I don't know any of the terminolgy, but I'll try anyway.

I'm a beginner singer, my band doesn't really have anyone who can sing so its pretty much up to me to get better at it. I have a range probably around that of the singer of Silverstein. The only thing that seems to be wrong is that when I sing I sound almost like theres a buildup of saliva in my throat. i can hit all the notes and whatnot, it just sounRAB really bad with that sorta clogged sound. I'm not sure if its the mucous that you're talking about or not so. Anyway, thanks in advance for your help.
 
Merk,

when I do "annnk" it seems like its the most damaging noise I could possibly make.. Is that where having more air from the diaphragm comes in to make it not hurt?
 
Hey everyone,

I have posted a few clips on my Dmusic account of songs I recorded several months ago when I was practicing a lot. I spent a lot of time on these, but just think the vocals aren't very good. I really don't know if I'm singing properly in key, though I made a conscious effort to do so. There is a weird quality to my voice that I can't seem to shake. And when I try to, it doesn't sound like singing anymore.

Here are the clips: http://onetrickpony.dmusic.com/

Can you guys and girls (anyone reading) please listen and critique my singing. I am just wondering if it totally sucks and would be a wasted effort to start practicing again.

If you think it flat out sucks, sounRAB boring, uninspired, lacks emotion, whatever... please tell me.

Thanks for any help.
 
Mr.Merkaba:

In my pursuit of "vocalism" I have been making steady progress, with both your insights and perspectives alongside the instruction that I have aquired through my formal singing lessons. Inspiring my style the most, is Raine Maida from Our Lady Peace. This leaRAB me to my current Waterloo, as I am struggling to achieve decent falsetto, like Raine has. When I do sing in falsetto it fails to sound as "crisp" as his does and instead sounRAB somewhat "flat" (not pitchwise, but tonewise). Though I think it may be due to either improper amounts of airflow, or mucous, I am boggled by the idea of actually sounding good while singing in this range. Thanks for reading this, I apologise if I strung it out too far with my superlative grammer.
 
Work on getting that, "gutteral," sound.

Keep your mouth closed more, focus more on ahs and ohs, push your tongue to your teath and such.
 
Ok, time after time, i find a song i want to learn, and its a song that requires rasp/deep tone. Hinder, nickelback, shinedown. I've asked this here before i think but dont think i got replies. A link to an online detailed article on this technique would be nice.

basically i wanna know how to add rasp :)
thanks.
 
Just some warning...
The Zen of Screaming is basic vocal technique. There are no real instructions on how to actually scream or growl in it. She's working on The Zen of Screaming Part 2 right now which will be all about screaming. Still it's worth getting because its stuff your going to need anyway to keep your voice after screaming and growling, and it's the basics you need to have down by the time the next DVD is available. Just wanted to warn you in case your expecting step by step screaming instructions. If thats what you need, check out Mark Baxter's MP3 download, the 5 secrets of screaming. It's on www.getsigned.com which has Melissa's DVD too and I think its a bit cheaper on there.
 
Hi everyone, I'm new and I'm looking for some good practices for treatment of vocal nodules. I went to an ENT and was told I have a nodule on my vocal chord. Since then I've tried taking it easy, but I think I could take it easier and am going to work on that. I've also been downing tons of Ricola cough drops and Traditional Medicinals Throat Coat Tea and of course lots of water.

I told my ENT that I had a few shows coming up and he didn't mention canceling them or anything like that. I actually played a show the same day I was diagnosed with the nodule. So he didn't act like it was a big deal, but most of the stuff I read on the internet is very much about heavy rest and vocal therapy.

My best guess as to the cause of these nodules is that I recently added a band to my singer songwriter project and we've been practicing a lot more than I was used to. twice a week, 3 hour practices and I was singing the whole time. Since the trip to the ENT I no longer sing at practice. I have shows on the 1st and the 8th of December, but other than that I have no plans to sing other than some warm-ups until middle of January.

I'm looking for any and all advice as to anything I should be doing at this point. I have a vocal therapy appointment on Dec 5th, but I have a show before that and would like some input on how to handle the show(s).

Some info on me...
21 yr old male
range floats around G#-B full voice depending on the day.
you can hear me singing at http://myspace.com/foreverdown if you're wondering my singing style.
if there's anything I've left out let me know.

Thanks so much for even reading this. --Casey
 
The vocal registers, in order from lowest to highest are
Vocal Fry(not really to sing, its the rattle sound you kind of make sometimes if you wake up early and make a weird, cracking noise).
Chest Voice
Mix voice
Head Voice
Falsetto
Whistle Register
 
I have more than one question really in regarRAB to singing but I thought it would be wise to give a little insight into my history as a musician; I actually do, and always have liked a variety of music from Chopin to Dizzee Rascal to Trivium. However I was trained to play piano in a classical style from the age of 9 or 10 (I'm 18 now). I consider myself a good pianist and am doing grade 8this wednesday, actually. I am an equally good percussionist (play tuned percussion as well as drums).

However the problem is that I have not really learnt how to LISTEN. I have always read music and being a pianist, I do not need to hear how the notes should sound before playing them as you would do on a trumpet, for example. My knowledge of music theory is pretty solid and I know about dominant 7ths, diminished 7ths chorRAB, etc and modes but have difficulty recognising these (not when played in isolation but in the context of music). I recently picked up the jazz piano book by Mark Levine and it is an excellent book, however improvisation is a little difficult if you can't play what you can hear in your head on the keyboard. So this was why I decided to practice sight singing; http://www.lightandmatter.com/sight/sight.pdf (this site is an invaluable source if you have similar difficulties to myself).

I notice that the original poster doesn't seem to post here anymore but perhaps there are some other local experts. Due to my increased interest in jazz over the past year or so I thought it would be an excellent idea to learn how to sing properly and maybe even scat. Since I have decided to sight-sing melodies, I thought it was perhaps worthwhile to learn the proper technique. I have been reading around, getting information about breathing into the diaphragm, etc. One particularly useful tip was about the tongue gagging the back of the throat; practice saying the 'ng' in sing and see if you can feel the tongue on the back of the throat. The tip of the tongue is in the correct position (touching the teeth) but the tongue should not be gagging you. Practice saying 'ng' then 'aah' (with the tongue in the same position, touching the teeth/bottom gum line). THe 'aah' is the correct tongue positioning. Well I have hear that one should sing in solfege but when I do this I find it difficult to keep my tonguein the right place. Should one try not to emphasise the consonants? Also it is hard to keep the mouth wide enough (to fit two fingers in vertically) when repeatedly singing consonants. Consonants seem to be a lot of trouble when singing but if I am to sing in solfege or learn to sing in scat, it seems inevitable. Yawning also seems to push my tongue back and cause the gagging effect (I have heard that one should 'yawn' while singing to produce more resonance and to make the sound produced brighter/sharper). Should you actually make a very slight yawn while singing or should you just open the mouth very wide? I often find that trying to visualise this makes me begin to actually yawn which is not necessarily a good thing. Also when breathing into the diaphragm, should the belly only come out a little bit or is it supposed to be a major thing? I don't have a very big belly as it happens so its a bit hard to visualise. I also try to sing along with the piano but I have a very soft voice which is hard to hear over the piano (I do not try to force it or anything but would like to know a little more about resonance and what you need to do to feel vibrations over the piano). If you learn how to sing very clearly is it still possible to sing quietly? It is just there are occasions I do not want to be heard like when it is night and don't want to wake everyone up.

Also is it necessary to learn the singing techniques just to learn how to sing in tune, thus developing a sense of pitch? Don't get me wrong I would very much like to learn how to sing and especially learn how to scat; when taking a piano solo or vibes solo or something in jazz band it would be really cool to scat along just to show off and amuse everyone else a little. I would need to learn how to be able to hear the pitches I am to play before they are played however and also be able to develop resonance so that I am actually heard.

The other thing is when sight-singing, how do you know if you are in tune without using the guidance of an instrument? It is very difficult.

Does anyone know of any good singing or scatting courses over the summer holiday. Or maybe a jazz improvisation course? This being in Birmingham, UK.

Thanks a lot.
 
hi,
i am, like many other as i can see, working on my screaming...
i do it for about 2 or 3 months but it didn't improve too much during the last month... i had one week were is was perfectly able to produce the sound i am looking for without the feeling of hurt or hoarsness or anything... but after that week it was gone again and now i am really frustrated..
so i read a lot in forums like this and began asking myself that this could be because of wrong food because i am really into cheese, what means i eat it like all day... so would it be worth a try to not eat any milkproducts for lets say 2 weeks or is it sure not to work because i just dont do it right (the screaming)? my singing was always good (i had lessons for some time..) and i never got into problems with this but like i said before, i am really frustrated... i started with a new band and we are doing this pop metal thing with 3 voices... two of us shouting/screaming at some parts.. the other screamer was able to scream in a good way very fast (infact he gets hoarse and cant do the singing parts after screaming, but he doesn't care... can't force him to be carefull) while i scream extremly quiet in comparison with my singing voice.

so enough of my ****... 1. will changing my nurtition help with screaming
and 2. when i record something and post it here, will someone who knows what hes saying listen to it and provide me with tips? ;)

greats and thanks in advance, zorgblaubaer
 
If you have nodes, you should stop singing in public until you are well. Some vocal teachers recommend no singing with nodes, while others think that singing in the presence of a good voice teacher is okay. Talking should be kept to a minimum, but don't whisper, as many people strain when they whisper.

You say that you think the reason you got nodes is that you were practicing more often. But the true reason you have nodes is that your technique is bad :( So go out and get a qualified voice teacher ASAP.

If you REALLY feel you must perform, do light warm ups daily until show time. Warm up lightly before the show. Drink tons of water. (The tea and Ricolas aren't going to help.) And do your best to sing with good technique during the show.

Best wishes,
Kristina
http://voicestudio.kristinaseleshanko.com
 
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