voice exercises

take your guitar, and start on the lowest note your voice can hit. Sing the alphabet. work your way up to the highest.

try to use one breath for each note (entire alphabet) but don't push it too far. take a breath if you feel you're having a hard time carrying it.

record yourself, look for strong points and weak points.

breathe with your stomache

drink room-temperature water while singing.

read nick's article on singing in the lesson section.

Don't drink the water while your singing, unless u intend to gargle or choke ;)

i wouldnt use a guitar...

a keyboard, play three notes, and try to reproduce them with a whistle first, i mean not like a real metal whistle, a mouth blowing type whistle, once you can do that well, try humming it.. once you have that down then sing it, and do that about 30 mins a day, and i would say you would see noticeable difference in about a week.

What is "wrong" with your voice - the quality of sound it produces, or the ability of it to sing in key?

well mostly the picthing the range but also i dont like the way my voice sounds....but im not sure if it really isnt a nice sound because....its hard to tell how ur oown voice sounds...u always tend not to like it

Is it possible to improve the quality of your voice, like how nice it sounds? I was born with a bad sounding voice, is it possible for a person like me to somehow develop a nice sounding voice? Are there any great singers that did that, or were they all just born with a voice that people like to listen to? I've always wondered about that...

i have wondered that too...

sure it is, get thee to the voice teacher

I notice alot of time people are really interested in improving vocal range and tone, but never actually go to a teacher. Im one of those guys, I sing all the time and depend on a hit or miss process in my work. Id love to sound better but heres one thing to remember: Think about Pink Floyd, BB King and SRV. They all could sing, but in their own ways. I think everyone has the ability to create great sounding music, you just have to stick to what you know and what youre capable of. Not everyone will wail out Van Halen tunes or Muddy Waters tunes the way they did. Becuase it was them.

Get a teacher.

Get a teacher.

Kido

Yeah, but BB King, SRV, and Pink Floyd make up for vocals with pure musical talent. They're adequate, not particularly spectacular, but that doesn't really matter. Their music still sounded great.

I think a large portion of people can be passable as far as most guitar oriented music goes. But having sombody like a Robert Plant or Freddy Mercury doing your vocals can't hurt. :wink:

Yeah, I second (or third) the voice teacher suggestion. I started taking voice lessons a year ago, and my voice is more pleasant and my range is better. In lessons, you will learn how to use different resonators in your head, mouth, and throat/chest, and how to control them to produce different sounds. You'll also learn about breathing.

The voice is an instrument just like the guitar. With the guitar, you have to learn how to fret, pick, and strum before you start to sound good. The voice is the same way - there are several elements you have to learn to control. It's a lot more than just hitting the right note.

One of my favorite lessons was when everything was starting to come together, and I was able to place and blend resonances. We were going through some of the songs I had been practicing with over the past few months, and picking out what those singers were doing. Then we would pick one song, and sing it as if someone else was singing it. For instance, singing a Widespread Panic song like Trey Anastasio.

If anyone lives in Dallas and wants the # for my voice instructor, PM me. He's a great teacher.