Am I stuck with a nasal voice?

The nasality is not the major problem, as you are not hitting and holding pitch reliably. I would start by really studying the melody--if you can, play the single-note melody (not chords) on a piano or guitar and sing along with it using a comfortable vowel or syllable sound. I'm partial to the word "one"--it's a free and easy sound for me, and when I have to study a melody I usually sing the difficult passages (sometimes entire songs, multiple times! :shock: ) using only that word. "La" also works, of course, as does "no" "ma," etc. You have to find the right one for you, but "la" may be your best bet as it had no "n" of "m" sound, which encourage nasality. Work on this for a while and gradually you'll feel your pitch stabilizing.

The question about nasality really needs to be directed toward an ENT doctor. But try this: When you sing you should be able to squeeze your nostrils closed without altering the sound. If the sound changes noticeably, you're too nasal. You can work on projecting your sound outward--visualize it streaming out of your mouth. The trick is to find the place where the sound doesn't change when you squeeze your nostrils shut.

Good luck. And don't get discouraged. Singing is something you learn and I see no reason why you couldn't develop into a fine singer.

Thanks for the advice!

I know I'm way off as far as hitting pitches... I've been practicing trying to hit them with both my guitar and a tuner but those notes are at the top end of my range so it's hard. I don't mind putting in the hard work, I just wanted to make sure that I wasn't putting in the hard work for no reason...

I'm afraid that even if I can hit the pitches in the future that I'll still sound terribly and nasally.

do you warm up when you sing and work up to the higher notes?

Well, sort of. I'm an extreme beginner so I'm trying to focus on the basics right now. I spend about 15-30 minutes a day practicing and it goes a little something like this:

Ear Training / Pitch Recognition - Play a note on the guitar, then mute the note and try to sing it. Play another note on the guitar and do the same. Go back and forth for a little while. Walk down, walk up according to some scale pattern.

Usually by that time I'm frustrated enough to where I have to stop.

do more fun stuff. hum, sing songs you like, stuff like that. no need to make yourself suffer. if the exercises get frustrating, only do them for a couple minutes.

First of all, thanks for the advice Jason I really appreciate it!

Hmm. I do really enjoy singing even though I can't stand the sound of my own voice recorded. Even outside of the fact that I can't carry a tune in a bucket, my voice just sounds irritable. Why does it have to sound so different on the recording than what I hear!?!?

As far as singing tunes for practice goes, I'm not sure I can make much progress like that. I simply have no pitch recognition skills at the moment. I can reliably tune my guitar by ear once my low E is tuned, but that's about the extent of it.

What's wrong with having a nasal voice? Tom Petty has done pretty well with one. As has any number of country and bluegrass singers. I'd suggest you look up the term solfège, learn how to do it and use it in your practice.