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Singing with volume

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(@andeh)
Active Member
Joined: 18 years ago
Posts: 3
Topic starter  

I started teaching myself guitar about a year ago now and it was a natural progession to attempt singing.

My first attempts were rather terrible but from listening to my own recordings and such i think im getting better :D

Unfortunatly im in a house with parents and a brother next door and so ive got into a habbit of singing at a volume more suited to thumb strumming than a pick (more out of embaressment than concern for their ears :twisted: )

when i have the house to myself, i play with a pick and try to raise my voice so it can at least be heard but i feel it doesnt keep the same quality as my quieter voice

does anyone have similar experience or any suggestions? Im thinking it might just need more practise so i can get used to it like i have with my regular bedroom singing :)


   
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 geoo
(@geoo)
Famed Member
Joined: 19 years ago
Posts: 2801
 

Welcome to GN Andeh. I am reverse. I started teaching myself singing when I was in my teens and recently started guitar. But I only started taking vocal lessons recently so take my advice for what its worth.

My guess is that when you are trying to sing with volume you are using more of your head and nasal areas instead of filling your diaphram up with air and controlling the airflow using the diaphram muscles. We use different muscles for different ranges in both volume and in octaves.

Really work on filling the muscles just below your rib cage with air and controlling how that air comes out.

Hope that is helpful.

Geoo

“The hardest thing in life is to know which bridge to cross and which to burn” - David Russell (Scottish classical Guitarist. b.1942)


   
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(@tim_madsen)
Prominent Member
Joined: 20 years ago
Posts: 724
 

geoo is on to something. Most people when they first start singing only use the upper half of their lungs. Volume comes from your diaphram. No matter what type of singing you do, you need to fill you whole lung with air. In order to do that you need to expand your ribcage and diaphram (area just beneath you ribcage) outward not upward. If your raising your shoulders when you take a breath your doing it wrong, your only filling the top half of your lungs. Think about joining a church choir or local chorus. Just as there's nothing like playing guitar with good guitarists, to improve your playing. There's nothing like singing with good singers to improve your singing. Although I play and sing mostly Bluegrass type music, singing in my church choir has vastly improved the quality of my voice. And sing as much as you can, I sing in the car, at work, at home and just about anywhere I can. Got to keep those muscles exercised.

Tim Madsen
Nobody cares how much you know,
until they know how much you care.

"What you keep to yourself you lose, what you give away you keep forever." -Axel Munthe


   
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(@andeh)
Active Member
Joined: 18 years ago
Posts: 3
Topic starter  

Thanks guys, i'll keep those things in mind for next time :D


   
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(@last-day-living)
Active Member
Joined: 18 years ago
Posts: 12
 

Welcome to GN Andeh. I am reverse. I started teaching myself singing when I was in my teens and recently started guitar. But I only started taking vocal lessons recently so take my advice for what its worth.

My guess is that when you are trying to sing with volume you are using more of your head and nasal areas instead of filling your diaphram up with air and controlling the airflow using the diaphram muscles. We use different muscles for different ranges in both volume and in octaves.

Really work on filling the muscles just below your rib cage with air and controlling how that air comes out.

Hope that is helpful.

Geoo

So. Are you saying more lots and lots of air support?


   
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(@saber)
Reputable Member
Joined: 18 years ago
Posts: 350
 

I havn't got much of that technical stuff to say, but I'm in a similair situation. I took chorus in jr high and learned the basics of voice control in there, but our choir instructure never let us get above a certain volume, in what she would call "yelling."

So at low volume I have pretty good control, but at higher levels I start to loose that control. I can get it, but it takes quite a bit longer. I believe it's all just learning though. So keep at it.

"Like the coldest winter chill. Heaven beside you. Hell within." -Jerry Cantrell


   
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(@wes-inman)
Illustrious Member
Joined: 20 years ago
Posts: 5582
 

Lots of good advice here.

Volume comes from practice and good breathing habits as was said. One important technique is not to "push" when you sing. The proper technique is to completely fill your lungs as was said, and then let the natural internal pressure of your lungs allow the air to flow out. It has been compared to a balloon. You do not have to press on a balloon for the air to flow out. No, the internal pressure will force the air out naturally. So, this is how you sing as well. It takes a little practice to learn how to breathe deeply like this.

And sometimes you just have to allow volume to develop over time. So don't worry too much. With practice you will see a natural increase in volume.

Here is a great site with many free lessons and even tools for singing. Great site, you can learn a lot.

Vocalist.Org

I also like what Tim said about practicing with a choir. Many great singers started out in church, such as Aretha Franklin and Whitney Houston. I even read on the Aerosmith website, that Steven Tyler said he first learned to sing in his church's choir when he was young. Great place to learn.

If you know something better than Rock and Roll, I'd like to hear it - Jerry Lee Lewis


   
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(@paul-donnelly)
Noble Member
Joined: 21 years ago
Posts: 1066
 

An important part of singing loudly (or yelling loudly, for that matter) is getting the shape of your mouth right. Just "singing harder" won't work, but if your vocal tract resonates in the right way you can get much louder.


   
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