First of all - HUGE kudos to you for being vulnerable and sharing your journey, and being open to feedback. I'm not a pro and haven't had a ton of training (so someone else who knows better might...
First of all - HUGE kudos to you for being vulnerable and sharing your journey, and being open to feedback.
I'm not a pro and haven't had a ton of training (so someone else who knows better might come along and tell you differently), but I've done a little and to me it sounds like the first thing you need to work on is breath support. You have very nice tone naturally, but it sounds to me like you don't have much practice supporting it so that you keep a consistent and stable tone and pitch. Have a good, solid foundation for your voice makes almost everything about singing easier.
Thank you I really appreciate the feedback! Breath support, noted. If you happen to have any recommendations or know some good resources that would help please let me know! I’ll look into it...
Thank you I really appreciate the feedback! Breath support, noted. If you happen to have any recommendations or know some good resources that would help please let me know! I’ll look into it myself though and do some research :)
Will do, so far I've come across these videos to understand what breath support is: "Breath Support Definition - What Is Breath Support?" How to ACTUALLY Use Breath Support (Ultimate Guide) If I...
Will do, so far I've come across these videos to understand what breath support is:
I don't have any specific recommendations, but if I come across anything I'll try to remember to let you know. I can say that every experience I've had with voice instructors/choir teachers (and...
I don't have any specific recommendations, but if I come across anything I'll try to remember to let you know. I can say that every experience I've had with voice instructors/choir teachers (and to echo @TheRTV, band teachers) they all very heavily emphasized diaphragmatic breathing and breath support very heavily and early on. Breathing exercises were one of the most common things I learned in choir and in band, and they were a frequent part of warmups and practice. It really can't be understated how important it is to have good, firm, consistent breath support when you're trying to make music with your lungs, lol.
Also, this seems like a small thing but I wonder if you were standing or sitting when you recorded your singing? If you were sitting, just try singing standing up some - I think you'll be surprised how much easier it is to support your voice when you're standing up rather than singing. It's not a cheat code or anything, but it definitely makes things easier.
Sounds good, thank you! Yeah I didn't do band and/or choir aside from what was mandatory throughout elementary school so it's very much outside of my knowledge base on what I should be working on....
Sounds good, thank you! Yeah I didn't do band and/or choir aside from what was mandatory throughout elementary school so it's very much outside of my knowledge base on what I should be working on. Though I am noticing a pattern on the importance of breathing/breath support in terms of feedback
I was sitting in the BandLab recording, but I tried a bit of breathing exercises and stood up in the YouTube video recording (not sure if a difference can be heard though haha)
I wasn't a singer, but played an instrument in band all through school and college. First thing is you need to breath with your diaphragm. You can find a lot of resources online for that, but this...
I wasn't a singer, but played an instrument in band all through school and college. First thing is you need to breath with your diaphragm. You can find a lot of resources online for that, but this will be important. The it will be learning when to breath during performance.
Oh darn, the settings are set to Public, but I don’t know if it’s a BandLab specific thing that they make you login. I recorded this on my Voice Memos app and couldn’t find another way to upload...
Oh darn, the settings are set to Public, but I don’t know if it’s a BandLab specific thing that they make you login. I recorded this on my Voice Memos app and couldn’t find another way to upload the recording :/
It’s not the same, but here’s a video I took of me singing it again. The beginning is quite rough, but guess voice memos aren’t the best place to keep my recordings haha
It’s not the same, but here’s a video I took of me singing it again. The beginning is quite rough, but guess voice memos aren’t the best place to keep my recordings haha
I listened to the video, and I have a few suggestions. I'm not a highly trained vocalist, but I have good amount of experience and education with wind instruments and used to do a lot of public...
I listened to the video, and I have a few suggestions. I'm not a highly trained vocalist, but I have good amount of experience and education with wind instruments and used to do a lot of public singing (worship leader when I was a churchgoer).
I get the sense that if I were on the other side of the room, I'd have trouble hearing you. Other people have mentioned breath support and diaphragm breathing. This is a bit nebulous, so I have a few practical bits of advice on this. One easy way to work on that is to sing LOUD. Take a big breath that fills your body, open your mouth WIDE and really let it out. Seems kind of gross, but you should easily be able to stick 3-4 fingers in your mouth without hitting your teeth if you're doing it right (this is just as a guideline, not recommending doing this while singing). You might feel like you're shouting, and that's the point. It might even help to pretend you're mad and yelling at someone. We can learn to sing quieter after we learn how to open up.
Second thing is intonation (pitch). You're targeting the right pitches, but frequently sharp or flat. This can be worked on by singing along with a track, listening really carefully at your voice, and being very picky about matching your pitch to other singer, shifting your pitch to meet them if necessary. Being able to hit exactly the pitch you want is kind of a life-long pursuit, so it's really about developing skills for this over time.
Last thing is to sing a lot. Your voice is a malleable instrument that improves with practice, especially deliberate practice. You don't have to focus on all this stuff, but it might be helpful to think on at least one thing while you're singing for fun in the car or the shower or something.
Thanks for the suggestions! I think it's a mixture of confidence and not wanting to be too loud (I'm in an apartment complex) that I sing quietly haha, I'll work on that. Okay noted, I'll try to...
Thanks for the suggestions! I think it's a mixture of confidence and not wanting to be too loud (I'm in an apartment complex) that I sing quietly haha, I'll work on that.
Okay noted, I'll try to listen a bit closer and work on matching what I'm hearing.
Haha yeah exactly! I'm not aiming to be a hit popstar or anything, just want to be able to sing along better to what I'm listening to, but it's definitely a lot to keep in mind while singing! At least this way, if I want to practice more intentionally I've now learned a few things that will help me develop my voice :)
If your apartment complex has a laundromat building, that's the perfect place to practice loud singing. If no one else is in there, great! Otherwise, everyone expects the complex laundromat to...
If your apartment complex has a laundromat building, that's the perfect place to practice loud singing. If no one else is in there, great! Otherwise, everyone expects the complex laundromat to have a few weirdos. :)
You're off to a good start in your journey! You can mostly stay on pitch and stay in time, following a melody you are hearing while you sing. As an interesting exercise, go find a vocals remover...
You're off to a good start in your journey! You can mostly stay on pitch and stay in time, following a melody you are hearing while you sing.
As an interesting exercise, go find a vocals remover online (they are myriad), and strip off the original artist's vocals from that track that you're singing with, then use that to try to sing the song without hearing the original artist at the same time.
If you have the budget for it, learning from a teacher is recommended. They'll have the background and knowledge to guide you to the right places, and can work with you in person at the level you are at to help you get better by bit, giving you tailored exercises and repertoire that suit you.
Thank you for the feedback! That's a great idea that hasn't crossed my mind, I'll look into finding the songs without the original vocals. Unfortunately, right now I don't have the budget for a...
Thank you for the feedback!
That's a great idea that hasn't crossed my mind, I'll look into finding the songs without the original vocals.
Unfortunately, right now I don't have the budget for a teacher, but maybe over time I'll look into one
There's a ton of actual good karaoke tracks on YT for example. Like the real song minus vocals. I use these to practice singing myself. So I'm mainly a guitarist/bassist but also learned to sing...
There's a ton of actual good karaoke tracks on YT for example. Like the real song minus vocals. I use these to practice singing myself.
So I'm mainly a guitarist/bassist but also learned to sing over a couple decades so I'm not an expert. And this may be a bit rambly but hopefully helpful.
Like others have mentioned breath control is important. Also sustaining clean notes of course. Practice is the real key. You are literally getting your vocal chords to make specific shapes for specific notes. It will definitely get easier and more intuitive over time. It will become muscle memory. But the one thing I would warn against is singing too low or softly and learning at those volumes. Its basically it's own thing and will make singing at any louder volumes much harder to control and hone.
I saw the comment above where you said you don't want to disturb your neighbors so I would say a good medium volume shouldn't annoy them. That's a good practice volume. Practicing loud volume and full projection will definitely require a space for it.
For now I would say pick a song you love to sing or want to learn to sing, find a karaoke version, and just work on a part at a time.
For example Kiss From A Rose is a great one to do. It covers so many techniques, scales, and just interesting bits that I have found to be applicable to multiple genres.
Yeah thankfully there are lots of good karaoke tracks on Youtube! Haha yeah that seems to be the recurring theme- breath control. I think I’m gaining more confidence over these past couple days...
Yeah thankfully there are lots of good karaoke tracks on Youtube!
Haha yeah that seems to be the recurring theme- breath control.
I think I’m gaining more confidence over these past couple days about being heard and singing freely so I appreciate all the comments encouraging the singing and not to be too self-conscious about it.
I’ll try to give that song a go one day! Thank you for the suggestion :)
High five, fellow Kiss From A Rose lover! You all should join us for VRChat karaoke one of these days. We don't gatekeep, typically everyone is welcome no matter how they sing (if someone happens...
High five, fellow Kiss From A Rose lover!
You all should join us for VRChat karaoke one of these days. We don't gatekeep, typically everyone is welcome no matter how they sing (if someone happens to be an ass, they are unwelcome; moderation isn't always available unfortunately).
I’m trying to improve my voice/singing and would appreciate any feedback. I’m quite a novice to singing so my experience is limited to karaoke at parties and playing the uke once in a while to...
I’m trying to improve my voice/singing and would appreciate any feedback. I’m quite a novice to singing so my experience is limited to karaoke at parties and playing the uke once in a while to songs I like.
I’m very new to the technical aspects of singing, but I wasn’t sure on where to start and what to work on first. I’d appreciate any constructive feedback on what I did well, what I could work on, and where I struggled. Any other feedback that you think will help me is welcome.
Please be gentle as this is my first time sharing my singing on the internet 🙏
What I did when I was learning to sing was play A440 standard pitches within my vocal range, on a keyboard, and attempt to hit each one, gliding in to it if I had to. A bit of glide to reach pitch...
What I did when I was learning to sing was play A440 standard pitches within my vocal range, on a keyboard, and attempt to hit each one, gliding in to it if I had to. A bit of glide to reach pitch is not a bad thing IMO, it's characterful I think. Or it can be. I never learned breath technique or any such thing. I suppose these days I'd use some website or a DAW or something.
Bear in mind, I'm just some bum who's a self taught multi instrumentalist (lol, overselling much) who sings a bit. I'm currently rehearsing a set for mum's 80th birthday in 2 weeks, which is still a year awa... HOLY HECK IT'S NEXT WEEK
Another tip would be to sing what you enjoy. Might sound obvious but I've spent too much time playing and singing things I didn't care all that much for
What's it mean to play A440 standard pitches in your vocal range? Sorry, my musical knowledge is limited and I couldn't quite find an answer through Google. All I found was that 440 Hz is a...
What's it mean to play A440 standard pitches in your vocal range? Sorry, my musical knowledge is limited and I couldn't quite find an answer through Google. All I found was that 440 Hz is a frequency that a standardized pitch correlates to. My understanding is to play the 440 Hz pitch and try to match it using my voice?
Good point! I definitely could get caught up in the technical aspects and forget to simply enjoy singing to songs that I like. For right now, The Night We Met is a song I enjoy singing along to. It just happens to be comfortably within my vocal range and has aspects where I can practice and develop parts of my voice :)
Sorry, it's just the notes you'd find on a piano , white notes, CDEFGABC, the do rey mi scale :) You might find your range expands or changes as A) you get better and B) you get older, which we...
Sorry, it's just the notes you'd find on a piano , white notes, CDEFGABC, the do rey mi scale :)
You might find your range expands or changes as A) you get better and B) you get older, which we all do. Mine's certainly changed since I was gigging aged 17, and I'm the broad side of 50 now , lol
I wish I could offer something concrete, but as I say, I'm just a self taught hack (apart from Keyboard and Harp where I had formal training), but certainly self taught on the uke, guitar, flute and vocal.
Used to KJ a Karaoke after we discovered it was more profitable than being a duo. That was a depressing realisation. More venues would pay us more money to host a Karaoke event than would pay to hear us play instruments and sing. Oh well :)
Very good! I think the breath support is a key takeaway. Some people are suggesting ways to access more range, but I think frankly the breath support would open up the range you want as well. It...
Very good!
I think the breath support is a key takeaway. Some people are suggesting ways to access more range, but I think frankly the breath support would open up the range you want as well. It might mean standing up straight, shoulders relaxed, chest supported; it might be a deeper breath, and longer phrases before taking another one; and it might mean singing out like you're trying to knock a paper plate off a windowsill across the room. I think the emotional soul of the lyrics and the lilt in the melodic phrasing makes this super memorable and sweet and cerebral. Quiet, breathy singing might be the style, but that kind of singing still requires a full breath! Breathe!!!!
I have a music ed degree in k-12 band, so I'm not a choir teacher. But I hope you keep making music, you sound great!!!!
Yeah I do worry that OP will hear "sing out" and go a little too hard and hurt their voice. I thought about saying the same since it seemed like she was really trying to keep quiet/soft and that...
Yeah I do worry that OP will hear "sing out" and go a little too hard and hurt their voice. I thought about saying the same since it seemed like she was really trying to keep quiet/soft and that can be very difficult to support if you don't have much experience singing - IMO singing quietly but staying consistent and keeping pitch is harder than singing loudly.
Right - but there is a good reason to work on singing out in the ways I described, eg. to work on clarity, build muscle and reduce fatigue, hone an ear for tone quality, build confidence in own...
Right - but there is a good reason to work on singing out in the ways I described, eg. to work on clarity, build muscle and reduce fatigue, hone an ear for tone quality, build confidence in own instrument capabilities, etc.
I was a young musician once who made things for friends to listen to, but I also recorded them in my closet and sang quiet enough for my parents to not be able to hear. This might not be the exact case, but I think what I want to add is you are worthy and capable of signing out and being proud of what you have! Don't feel like you have to be quiet and make your instrument smaller in order to express yourself!
But yes, of course, singing quietly (and doing it well) is much harder than singing out loudly (and doing it well). But long tones and breath support are the bread and butter that will supercharge either of those
Haha, okay I will remember to breathe! Thank you for the feedback and the imagery of singing out to knock a paper plate off a windowsill is very helpful. I'll keep working on that breath support...
Haha, okay I will remember to breathe! Thank you for the feedback and the imagery of singing out to knock a paper plate off a windowsill is very helpful. I'll keep working on that breath support though. That seems to be one that's been brought up multiple times.
Awe thank you! That means a lot; who knows, maybe I'll post updates along the way and see how my singing progresses >_<
Happy for you on your singing journey, I hope you have fun with it, I believe that's the most important thing with music :) The bandcamp link didn't work for me with no account but I was able to...
Happy for you on your singing journey, I hope you have fun with it, I believe that's the most important thing with music :)
The bandcamp link didn't work for me with no account but I was able to listen to the video you shared.
This isn't an easy song, so you've done well in generally following the timing and melody.
You struggle with hitting the pitch in some places, most noticeably in the lower range (for example around 0:31 in the word "debt"), so it's possible that this song's in a key that's a bit too low for your range, and you could try singing it in a higher key. I found a couple of covers of this song that you could try singing along to to check if a higher key would be more comfortable for your range: The Night We Met cover by Mary Williams The Night We Met cover by Drew Ryn & Thunderstorm Artis
Tip #1: Study covers of the song you want to sing. Especially covers that change the key or style of the original, or covers by singers who have a similar range/style to yours. Learn how other singers are able to transform a song and make it their own. For example, Aurora's cover of Rasputin is so ethereal and folksy compared to the original.
If you prefer to sing in the original key, that's ok too, you can still practice and stretch your range a bit, just don't strain/damage your voice. You'll get to know your range and personal style by trying out lots of different songs and styles, but feel free to focus on the songs that you feel personally drawn to. Here are some songs you might also want to try singing, might be in your style, based on similarities with The Night We Met. All have a slow tempo: Strange by Celeste - soft raw emotional yearning, ethereal vibe I Raise My Cup To Him by Anais Mitchell - soft folksy vibe, wistful Can't Help Falling In Love cover by Kina Grannis - I would recommend this as your "warmup" karaoke song, it's easy and it's well-known, and the instrumental riff of The Night We Met sounds a lot like this too. I linked a cover by a singer whose range and style is probably more similar to yours compared to the original.
Tip #2: Know your range and personal style, and perform songs within your range and personal style. Change the key and style of the song if you have to. The song should serve your voice and not the other way around.
In the intro "oohs" portion as well you're not hitting the pitch sometimes, but I think you have the range for these high notes, you just need to memorize the melody in this portion better so you'll sing it with more confidence.
Tip #3: If you're having trouble with a particular line, sing it repeatedly until you've got it memorized. When I practice songs sometimes I'll repeat a specific line 5x or 10x when I'm trying to get it right. I'll slow it down if needed, until I'm confident I've matched the melody correctly.
Tip #4: Be very aware of how you shape your voice using your mouth, tongue, throat, chest, posture, etc.
Pay attention to where exactly you feel the sound resonating within you, like is it more towards the back of your throat? More towards the nose or forehead? With my own voice I notice this the most when I vocalize the same note using different vowels. My "ah" is near the back of my throat and my "ee" is more to the front of my face, behind my nose. My "ooh" is lower in my throat, somewhat in my chest too.
When you make a sound that you like, remember where you felt that resonance, and try to replicate that placement next time you want to make that sound again.
When I want to make a warmer, more resonant sound, I try to push my voice more towards the front of my face, towards my nose/forehead. I practice it by singing a line using "ee" vowels only, and then I try to sing it with words but with the same placement. It's a bit hard to explain without audio, so I recorded a short vocal sample to demonstrate. First, I sang the line "I am not the only traveller" as plain as possible, just hitting the notes without stylizing. Next, I sang the same melody using only "ahh" vowels. Next, using only "ee" vowels, which is where I feel stronger, warmer resonance. Next, I tried singing the line again, but tried to sing every note as close to my "ee" warm resonance as possible, to practice shaping the sound. Next, I only sprinkled that "ee" resonance in some parts. And lastly, I tried to keep that warm resonance sprinkled in some parts, but also tried to sing it with more emotion.
This is all super subjective and depends on your anatomy since we all have different shapes/sizes of skull, lung capacity, etc. So your vowels might sound different from mine, and where you feel resonance might be different from me, and your preferred resonance might be different too. The point of this kind of exercise is to just be aware of how your own body actually shapes sounds, then try to control it so you can sing in the way you want.
Lastly, when you're practicing, you'll be very in your head, thinking about all these ways of controlling your voice, hitting the pitch, etc... but the point of the practice is that you'll develop muscle memory, so by the time you're actually performing, it'll be on autopilot and you don't have to consciously think about all of these things, and you can just lean into the emotions of the song and have fun. Hope this helps! :)
I don’t know if you guys get notified on this post, but after a couple days of practicing I gave the song Satellite by Harry Styles a go. According to the singing app I’ve been using to learn it’s...
I don’t know if you guys get notified on this post, but after a couple days of practicing I gave the song Satellite by Harry Styles a go. According to the singing app I’ve been using to learn it’s my best one so far— anyone have any thoughts or feedback on it? >_< (I know it’s only been a few days, but I want to make sure I’m headed in the right direction haha)
Hi there. This is your first song I hear so I can't speak of your progress but here's some first time advice. A big disclaimer first of all that I'm not any kind of certified professional who...
Hi there. This is your first song I hear so I can't speak of your progress but here's some first time advice. A big disclaimer first of all that I'm not any kind of certified professional who knows what he's talking about, so I apologize for the haphazard recommendations. I'm sure someone will tell me off in short order.
You have a nice voice but you are going a little off pitch sometimes. Have you been using scales for practicing? I think you might benefit from singing scales if you want to level up, going slowly at first. You don't have to try to deliberately push your range. Instead, focus on control: For each note, you want to sustain the same, correct pitch for a set duration (you can use online videos of learning platforms as a guide, or even just some kind of piano or synthesizer).
Think of it as trying to operate your voice as a musical instrument. Control the rate at which your lungs are forcing air up through your throat, and constrict your throat to modulate the pitch of your singing, holding these things to sustain a note. Don't be surprised when certain pitches exhaust your breath faster than others, and certain pitches require you to sing more quietly than others. Singing loudly and confidently is great, but if you have to choose, prefer control (unless that's deliberately not the vibe of the song, of course).
I was lucky enough to have a decent education in the basics of music (not singing!) when I was a kid attending school, and I think it worked quite well so I'm a big believer in basics. I sing scales all the time just for the heck of it.
(But also, don't stop singing songs!)
Some lifestyle habits can also help. Dairy apparently mucks up your throat, but I can swear for hot water and honey when singing. Also aerobic exercise improves your lung capacity!
First of all - HUGE kudos to you for being vulnerable and sharing your journey, and being open to feedback.
I'm not a pro and haven't had a ton of training (so someone else who knows better might come along and tell you differently), but I've done a little and to me it sounds like the first thing you need to work on is breath support. You have very nice tone naturally, but it sounds to me like you don't have much practice supporting it so that you keep a consistent and stable tone and pitch. Have a good, solid foundation for your voice makes almost everything about singing easier.
Thank you I really appreciate the feedback! Breath support, noted. If you happen to have any recommendations or know some good resources that would help please let me know! I’ll look into it myself though and do some research :)
And, pls, pretty pls when you have found useful resources pls share them with the class!
Will do, so far I've come across these videos to understand what breath support is:
"Breath Support Definition - What Is Breath Support?"
How to ACTUALLY Use Breath Support (Ultimate Guide)
If I find more videos that I've found helpful I'll let you know!
I don't have any specific recommendations, but if I come across anything I'll try to remember to let you know. I can say that every experience I've had with voice instructors/choir teachers (and to echo @TheRTV, band teachers) they all very heavily emphasized diaphragmatic breathing and breath support very heavily and early on. Breathing exercises were one of the most common things I learned in choir and in band, and they were a frequent part of warmups and practice. It really can't be understated how important it is to have good, firm, consistent breath support when you're trying to make music with your lungs, lol.
Also, this seems like a small thing but I wonder if you were standing or sitting when you recorded your singing? If you were sitting, just try singing standing up some - I think you'll be surprised how much easier it is to support your voice when you're standing up rather than singing. It's not a cheat code or anything, but it definitely makes things easier.
Sounds good, thank you! Yeah I didn't do band and/or choir aside from what was mandatory throughout elementary school so it's very much outside of my knowledge base on what I should be working on. Though I am noticing a pattern on the importance of breathing/breath support in terms of feedback
I was sitting in the BandLab recording, but I tried a bit of breathing exercises and stood up in the YouTube video recording (not sure if a difference can be heard though haha)
I wasn't a singer, but played an instrument in band all through school and college. First thing is you need to breath with your diaphragm. You can find a lot of resources online for that, but this will be important. The it will be learning when to breath during performance.
Hmm, it's telling me I need an account to view that page/track. Is that something you have any control over?
(I tried signing up for an account, but I can't seem to receive their verification email 🙁)
Oh darn, the settings are set to Public, but I don’t know if it’s a BandLab specific thing that they make you login. I recorded this on my Voice Memos app and couldn’t find another way to upload the recording :/
Gotcha, okay. @TheRtRevKaiser do you have a BandLab account? If not, can you share you how accessed it?
It’s not the same, but here’s a video I took of me singing it again. The beginning is quite rough, but guess voice memos aren’t the best place to keep my recordings haha
I listened to the video, and I have a few suggestions. I'm not a highly trained vocalist, but I have good amount of experience and education with wind instruments and used to do a lot of public singing (worship leader when I was a churchgoer).
I get the sense that if I were on the other side of the room, I'd have trouble hearing you. Other people have mentioned breath support and diaphragm breathing. This is a bit nebulous, so I have a few practical bits of advice on this. One easy way to work on that is to sing LOUD. Take a big breath that fills your body, open your mouth WIDE and really let it out. Seems kind of gross, but you should easily be able to stick 3-4 fingers in your mouth without hitting your teeth if you're doing it right (this is just as a guideline, not recommending doing this while singing). You might feel like you're shouting, and that's the point. It might even help to pretend you're mad and yelling at someone. We can learn to sing quieter after we learn how to open up.
Second thing is intonation (pitch). You're targeting the right pitches, but frequently sharp or flat. This can be worked on by singing along with a track, listening really carefully at your voice, and being very picky about matching your pitch to other singer, shifting your pitch to meet them if necessary. Being able to hit exactly the pitch you want is kind of a life-long pursuit, so it's really about developing skills for this over time.
Last thing is to sing a lot. Your voice is a malleable instrument that improves with practice, especially deliberate practice. You don't have to focus on all this stuff, but it might be helpful to think on at least one thing while you're singing for fun in the car or the shower or something.
Thanks for the suggestions! I think it's a mixture of confidence and not wanting to be too loud (I'm in an apartment complex) that I sing quietly haha, I'll work on that.
Okay noted, I'll try to listen a bit closer and work on matching what I'm hearing.
Haha yeah exactly! I'm not aiming to be a hit popstar or anything, just want to be able to sing along better to what I'm listening to, but it's definitely a lot to keep in mind while singing! At least this way, if I want to practice more intentionally I've now learned a few things that will help me develop my voice :)
If your apartment complex has a laundromat building, that's the perfect place to practice loud singing. If no one else is in there, great! Otherwise, everyone expects the complex laundromat to have a few weirdos. :)
You're off to a good start in your journey! You can mostly stay on pitch and stay in time, following a melody you are hearing while you sing.
As an interesting exercise, go find a vocals remover online (they are myriad), and strip off the original artist's vocals from that track that you're singing with, then use that to try to sing the song without hearing the original artist at the same time.
If you have the budget for it, learning from a teacher is recommended. They'll have the background and knowledge to guide you to the right places, and can work with you in person at the level you are at to help you get better by bit, giving you tailored exercises and repertoire that suit you.
Thank you for the feedback!
That's a great idea that hasn't crossed my mind, I'll look into finding the songs without the original vocals.
Unfortunately, right now I don't have the budget for a teacher, but maybe over time I'll look into one
There's a ton of actual good karaoke tracks on YT for example. Like the real song minus vocals. I use these to practice singing myself.
So I'm mainly a guitarist/bassist but also learned to sing over a couple decades so I'm not an expert. And this may be a bit rambly but hopefully helpful.
Like others have mentioned breath control is important. Also sustaining clean notes of course. Practice is the real key. You are literally getting your vocal chords to make specific shapes for specific notes. It will definitely get easier and more intuitive over time. It will become muscle memory. But the one thing I would warn against is singing too low or softly and learning at those volumes. Its basically it's own thing and will make singing at any louder volumes much harder to control and hone.
I saw the comment above where you said you don't want to disturb your neighbors so I would say a good medium volume shouldn't annoy them. That's a good practice volume. Practicing loud volume and full projection will definitely require a space for it.
For now I would say pick a song you love to sing or want to learn to sing, find a karaoke version, and just work on a part at a time.
For example Kiss From A Rose is a great one to do. It covers so many techniques, scales, and just interesting bits that I have found to be applicable to multiple genres.
Yeah thankfully there are lots of good karaoke tracks on Youtube!
Haha yeah that seems to be the recurring theme- breath control.
I think I’m gaining more confidence over these past couple days about being heard and singing freely so I appreciate all the comments encouraging the singing and not to be too self-conscious about it.
I’ll try to give that song a go one day! Thank you for the suggestion :)
High five, fellow Kiss From A Rose lover!
You all should join us for VRChat karaoke one of these days. We don't gatekeep, typically everyone is welcome no matter how they sing (if someone happens to be an ass, they are unwelcome; moderation isn't always available unfortunately).
Yeah I already had an account on BandLab
I’m trying to improve my voice/singing and would appreciate any feedback. I’m quite a novice to singing so my experience is limited to karaoke at parties and playing the uke once in a while to songs I like.
I’m very new to the technical aspects of singing, but I wasn’t sure on where to start and what to work on first. I’d appreciate any constructive feedback on what I did well, what I could work on, and where I struggled. Any other feedback that you think will help me is welcome.
Please be gentle as this is my first time sharing my singing on the internet 🙏
tks
What I did when I was learning to sing was play A440 standard pitches within my vocal range, on a keyboard, and attempt to hit each one, gliding in to it if I had to. A bit of glide to reach pitch is not a bad thing IMO, it's characterful I think. Or it can be. I never learned breath technique or any such thing. I suppose these days I'd use some website or a DAW or something.
Bear in mind, I'm just some bum who's a self taught multi instrumentalist (lol, overselling much) who sings a bit. I'm currently rehearsing a set for mum's 80th birthday in 2 weeks, which is still a year awa... HOLY HECK IT'S NEXT WEEK
Another tip would be to sing what you enjoy. Might sound obvious but I've spent too much time playing and singing things I didn't care all that much for
What's it mean to play A440 standard pitches in your vocal range? Sorry, my musical knowledge is limited and I couldn't quite find an answer through Google. All I found was that 440 Hz is a frequency that a standardized pitch correlates to. My understanding is to play the 440 Hz pitch and try to match it using my voice?
Good point! I definitely could get caught up in the technical aspects and forget to simply enjoy singing to songs that I like. For right now, The Night We Met is a song I enjoy singing along to. It just happens to be comfortably within my vocal range and has aspects where I can practice and develop parts of my voice :)
Sorry, it's just the notes you'd find on a piano , white notes, CDEFGABC, the do rey mi scale :)
You might find your range expands or changes as A) you get better and B) you get older, which we all do. Mine's certainly changed since I was gigging aged 17, and I'm the broad side of 50 now , lol
I wish I could offer something concrete, but as I say, I'm just a self taught hack (apart from Keyboard and Harp where I had formal training), but certainly self taught on the uke, guitar, flute and vocal.
Used to KJ a Karaoke after we discovered it was more profitable than being a duo. That was a depressing realisation. More venues would pay us more money to host a Karaoke event than would pay to hear us play instruments and sing. Oh well :)
Oohhh, I see. Okay that clears things up a bit, thanks!
Very good!
I think the breath support is a key takeaway. Some people are suggesting ways to access more range, but I think frankly the breath support would open up the range you want as well. It might mean standing up straight, shoulders relaxed, chest supported; it might be a deeper breath, and longer phrases before taking another one; and it might mean singing out like you're trying to knock a paper plate off a windowsill across the room. I think the emotional soul of the lyrics and the lilt in the melodic phrasing makes this super memorable and sweet and cerebral. Quiet, breathy singing might be the style, but that kind of singing still requires a full breath! Breathe!!!!
I have a music ed degree in k-12 band, so I'm not a choir teacher. But I hope you keep making music, you sound great!!!!
Yeah I do worry that OP will hear "sing out" and go a little too hard and hurt their voice. I thought about saying the same since it seemed like she was really trying to keep quiet/soft and that can be very difficult to support if you don't have much experience singing - IMO singing quietly but staying consistent and keeping pitch is harder than singing loudly.
Right - but there is a good reason to work on singing out in the ways I described, eg. to work on clarity, build muscle and reduce fatigue, hone an ear for tone quality, build confidence in own instrument capabilities, etc.
I was a young musician once who made things for friends to listen to, but I also recorded them in my closet and sang quiet enough for my parents to not be able to hear. This might not be the exact case, but I think what I want to add is you are worthy and capable of signing out and being proud of what you have! Don't feel like you have to be quiet and make your instrument smaller in order to express yourself!
But yes, of course, singing quietly (and doing it well) is much harder than singing out loudly (and doing it well). But long tones and breath support are the bread and butter that will supercharge either of those
Hmm, okay noted. I'll hopefully gain more confidence over time to sing out a bit more without (hopefully) straining my voice too much
Haha, okay I will remember to breathe! Thank you for the feedback and the imagery of singing out to knock a paper plate off a windowsill is very helpful. I'll keep working on that breath support though. That seems to be one that's been brought up multiple times.
Awe thank you! That means a lot; who knows, maybe I'll post updates along the way and see how my singing progresses >_<
Happy for you on your singing journey, I hope you have fun with it, I believe that's the most important thing with music :)
The bandcamp link didn't work for me with no account but I was able to listen to the video you shared.
This isn't an easy song, so you've done well in generally following the timing and melody.
You struggle with hitting the pitch in some places, most noticeably in the lower range (for example around 0:31 in the word "debt"), so it's possible that this song's in a key that's a bit too low for your range, and you could try singing it in a higher key. I found a couple of covers of this song that you could try singing along to to check if a higher key would be more comfortable for your range:
The Night We Met cover by Mary Williams
The Night We Met cover by Drew Ryn & Thunderstorm Artis
Tip #1: Study covers of the song you want to sing. Especially covers that change the key or style of the original, or covers by singers who have a similar range/style to yours. Learn how other singers are able to transform a song and make it their own. For example, Aurora's cover of Rasputin is so ethereal and folksy compared to the original.
If you prefer to sing in the original key, that's ok too, you can still practice and stretch your range a bit, just don't strain/damage your voice. You'll get to know your range and personal style by trying out lots of different songs and styles, but feel free to focus on the songs that you feel personally drawn to. Here are some songs you might also want to try singing, might be in your style, based on similarities with The Night We Met. All have a slow tempo:
Strange by Celeste - soft raw emotional yearning, ethereal vibe
I Raise My Cup To Him by Anais Mitchell - soft folksy vibe, wistful
Can't Help Falling In Love cover by Kina Grannis - I would recommend this as your "warmup" karaoke song, it's easy and it's well-known, and the instrumental riff of The Night We Met sounds a lot like this too. I linked a cover by a singer whose range and style is probably more similar to yours compared to the original.
Tip #2: Know your range and personal style, and perform songs within your range and personal style. Change the key and style of the song if you have to. The song should serve your voice and not the other way around.
In the intro "oohs" portion as well you're not hitting the pitch sometimes, but I think you have the range for these high notes, you just need to memorize the melody in this portion better so you'll sing it with more confidence.
Tip #3: If you're having trouble with a particular line, sing it repeatedly until you've got it memorized. When I practice songs sometimes I'll repeat a specific line 5x or 10x when I'm trying to get it right. I'll slow it down if needed, until I'm confident I've matched the melody correctly.
Tip #4: Be very aware of how you shape your voice using your mouth, tongue, throat, chest, posture, etc.
Pay attention to where exactly you feel the sound resonating within you, like is it more towards the back of your throat? More towards the nose or forehead? With my own voice I notice this the most when I vocalize the same note using different vowels. My "ah" is near the back of my throat and my "ee" is more to the front of my face, behind my nose. My "ooh" is lower in my throat, somewhat in my chest too.
When you make a sound that you like, remember where you felt that resonance, and try to replicate that placement next time you want to make that sound again.
When I want to make a warmer, more resonant sound, I try to push my voice more towards the front of my face, towards my nose/forehead. I practice it by singing a line using "ee" vowels only, and then I try to sing it with words but with the same placement. It's a bit hard to explain without audio, so I recorded a short vocal sample to demonstrate. First, I sang the line "I am not the only traveller" as plain as possible, just hitting the notes without stylizing. Next, I sang the same melody using only "ahh" vowels. Next, using only "ee" vowels, which is where I feel stronger, warmer resonance. Next, I tried singing the line again, but tried to sing every note as close to my "ee" warm resonance as possible, to practice shaping the sound. Next, I only sprinkled that "ee" resonance in some parts. And lastly, I tried to keep that warm resonance sprinkled in some parts, but also tried to sing it with more emotion.
This is all super subjective and depends on your anatomy since we all have different shapes/sizes of skull, lung capacity, etc. So your vowels might sound different from mine, and where you feel resonance might be different from me, and your preferred resonance might be different too. The point of this kind of exercise is to just be aware of how your own body actually shapes sounds, then try to control it so you can sing in the way you want.
Lastly, when you're practicing, you'll be very in your head, thinking about all these ways of controlling your voice, hitting the pitch, etc... but the point of the practice is that you'll develop muscle memory, so by the time you're actually performing, it'll be on autopilot and you don't have to consciously think about all of these things, and you can just lean into the emotions of the song and have fun. Hope this helps! :)
I don’t know if you guys get notified on this post, but after a couple days of practicing I gave the song Satellite by Harry Styles a go. According to the singing app I’ve been using to learn it’s my best one so far— anyone have any thoughts or feedback on it? >_< (I know it’s only been a few days, but I want to make sure I’m headed in the right direction haha)
Tks in advance!
Hi there. This is your first song I hear so I can't speak of your progress but here's some first time advice. A big disclaimer first of all that I'm not any kind of certified professional who knows what he's talking about, so I apologize for the haphazard recommendations. I'm sure someone will tell me off in short order.
You have a nice voice but you are going a little off pitch sometimes. Have you been using scales for practicing? I think you might benefit from singing scales if you want to level up, going slowly at first. You don't have to try to deliberately push your range. Instead, focus on control: For each note, you want to sustain the same, correct pitch for a set duration (you can use online videos of learning platforms as a guide, or even just some kind of piano or synthesizer).
Think of it as trying to operate your voice as a musical instrument. Control the rate at which your lungs are forcing air up through your throat, and constrict your throat to modulate the pitch of your singing, holding these things to sustain a note. Don't be surprised when certain pitches exhaust your breath faster than others, and certain pitches require you to sing more quietly than others. Singing loudly and confidently is great, but if you have to choose, prefer control (unless that's deliberately not the vibe of the song, of course).
I was lucky enough to have a decent education in the basics of music (not singing!) when I was a kid attending school, and I think it worked quite well so I'm a big believer in basics. I sing scales all the time just for the heck of it.
(But also, don't stop singing songs!)
Some lifestyle habits can also help. Dairy apparently mucks up your throat, but I can swear for hot water and honey when singing. Also aerobic exercise improves your lung capacity!