How’s Your Singing?

i've been trying to voice my vocal abilities into some sort of shape. I've raised them from an F- to about an F right now so i'm making progress.

Hi all,

Thanks to everybody who voted or replied. :D

Interesting responses from everybody. I think that there are a lot more of us who could actually singmuch better than we realise, if we were just prepared to put in a bit of time each day. Same as guitar.

My downfall is usually that I get very enthusiastic in the early stages, and then I drift off track before I get a good solid routine going. It's annoying, because I'm pretty organised and disciplined in most other areas of life. :?

So I'm hoping that posting this will make me more determined not to prove myself to be a 'five day wonder'.

Thanks for all your comments and stories. 8)

Chris

I sang as a little kid. then as a teen in a band. my voice was higher then.
then 30 years of cigarettes pretty much took my wind. after a year and a half smoke free my voice is returning.
I have a much lower register now and I am getting used to it.
one thing i want to do better is sing harmony. a friend tells me, when we sing together, that I have to decide what part and stick to it.
I guess I switch unconsciously. how does one choose the harmonic melody.
any rules or secret handshakes?

Let me put it this way: My singing makes Bob Dylan sound like a singer

I'm cursed with a very good ear and a very bad voice. I can not stand to hear myself sing . . . I am never on key. I'm usually pretty close, but I don't have the training to stay where I need to be.

Most other people say I have an ok voice, but I'm my own worst critic on this one.

I could probably be a half-way decent singer if I worked at it, but I don't have the patience or desire to do that.

My wife has remarked on numerous occaissions "How can someone who can play all those instruments not sing one note?" :lol:

I can't sing but I'm practicing. And even if it never works out then who cares, I like to sing. Ain't forcing people to listen to it or anything. ;)

one thing i want to do better is sing harmony. a friend tells me, when we sing together, that I have to decide what part and stick to it.
I guess I switch unconsciously. how does one choose the harmonic melody.
any rules or secret handshakes?

I've watched several singers try to work through this, and there seems to be a pattern:

1) Everyone starts off singing the melody
2) One singer decides to explore a higher harmony
3) The third singer looks for a middle harmony
4) The high harmony singer loses the reference (the middle singer is too loud) and returns to the melody
5) The middle harmony no longer works without the high harmony, and starts searching for a new line
6) Someone realizes that it's all a jumble, and stops

The above is meant to be humorous, but true.

With any arrangement, you have to decide who is going to play/sing what. And yes, everyone needs to stick with their part (high, middle, close harmony, or melody). It's OK to have more than one person singing the melody (a chorus), but whoever is responsible for the melody can't leave without prior permission. Combinations and variations can get quite complex - such as barbershop quartets.

Ocassionally, two people will discover that they naturally sing well together, just as two guitarists can find synergy.

Beware of advice from a non-singer... 8)

I can't sing but I'm practicing. And even if it never works out then who cares, I like to sing. Ain't forcing people to listen to it or anything. ;)

That's the spirit !

Every non singer can take some words of encouragement from our very multi-talented musician. 8)

one thing i want to do better is sing harmony. a friend tells me, when we sing together, that I have to decide what part and stick to it.
I guess I switch unconsciously. how does one choose the harmonic melody.
any rules or secret handshakes?

I've watched several singers try to work through this, and there seems to be a pattern:

1) Everyone starts off singing the melody
2) One singer decides to explore a higher harmony
3) The third singer looks for a middle harmony
4) The high harmony singer loses the reference (the middle singer is too loud) and returns to the melody
5) The middle harmony no longer works without the high harmony, and starts searching for a new line
6) Someone realizes that it's all a jumble, and stops

The above is meant to be humorous, but true.

With any arrangement, you have to decide who is going to play/sing what. And yes, everyone needs to stick with their part (high, middle, close harmony, or melody). It's OK to have more than one person singing the melody (a chorus), but whoever is responsible for the melody can't leave without prior permission. Combinations and variations can get quite complex - such as barbershop quartets.

Ocassionally, two people will discover that they naturally sing well together, just as two guitarists can find synergy.

Beware of advice from a non-singer... 8)

humorous but sooo very true. I need more experience with harmony. or I should say more disciple to stay on the mode I start with.
I am guilty guilty guil;ty of what you say.

I can't sing but I'm practicing. And even if it never works out then who cares, I like to sing. Ain't forcing people to listen to it or anything. ;)

That's the spirit !

Every non singer can take some words of encouragement from our very multi-talented musician. 8)

+1 to that Rahul. :)

Singing is one of those natural forms of expression that little kids do without embarrassment, and without needing to be pushed into it. And they seem to understand the joy of it. But somewhere along the line too many of us get told (or decide for ourselves) that we're not that great, so we get inhibited and stop.

It's a pity, because singing can be a real pleasure, at pretty much any level. And you can do it for free.... 8)

Cheers,

Chris

I am probably the greatest singer you'll ever see driving by you at 75 miles per hour.

I mostly sing in the car to cheer my children up, although they invariably tell me to please stop :)
Since we watched the Producers the other week I've been having a go at singing musicals singalong - for a few bars it sounds good and then trails off into offtuneness.
THe Course sounds good Chris, good luck with it :)

well I definitely can't sing..well I think a better description is I have a horrible tone to my voice and almost no range.

Plus I probably can't stay in key very much either. But I do enjoy singing although I try and limit it to when I am alone.

I sang as a little kid. then as a teen in a band. my voice was higher then.
then 30 years of cigarettes pretty much took my wind. after a year and a half smoke free my voice is returning.
I have a much lower register now and I am getting used to it.

I had a higher voice when I was younger - cigarettes just made it more gruff, and took the very top end of my range. Only the last five years or so when I still smoked did it really deteriorate - believe it or not, when "Unchained Melody" was re-released about 1990 or so (when it was popularised in the film "Ghost") I could hit and hold that really high note near the end, and hold it too. That was about the time when Karaoke became popular - the funny thing is, though, I could do the other Righteous Brothers' hit, "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'" almost note-perfect, even though it's a much lower register.

When I quit smoking, originally 1st Jan 2006, my voice improved almost immediately - I started again about May, but didn't smoke nearly as heavily - about 10 a day instead of 30 or so. I quit (hopefully for good this time - hey it's been six months!) again, 1st January this year, and again I've seen an improvement - it's been noticed by others as well - in my singing. It's still a little rough around the edges, although I LIKE that particular tone, and my voice has gone deeper. Where I used to write a lot of songs in C or D, now I'm writing them - or changing them - to G or A. I could never sing a blues in E - either too low or too high. Now I can manage E just fine - lower end of my range, but that's OK, I can do it without straining too much.

Voices do change with age though - I like to think mine's got a more mellow tone, I used to think it was more nasal. I just wish I'd packed in those ciggies a long time ago - or better still, never started at all!

:D :D :D

Vic