Sore Throat

Relax relax relax. If you're doing the correctly then you are probably straining for higher notes. Check out the section in RL's book about the larynx and check to see if you are raising yours. Are you trying to sing with some rock 'Grit'...? If so leave that til you have got the basics down. And if you want more advice... record yourself and put it on here. We promise only to be constructive :).

Nath

Hi,

I'm a rank novice at singing but my guess is that you're trying too hard too fast. For instance, singers do voice warm ups just like athletes do for their muscles, they don't just blast straight into top gear.

This might be a bad analogy, but when you first start to learn to play guitar it hurts if you do too much in each session. Your fingers need to get used to the new demands (the muscles as well as the tips). Now I'm not saying that you need to build up calluses on your vocal chords, but I do think that you need to warm up gently and then do short sessions first. Apparently drinking lots of water is good too. Singing 'dry' is bad for the voice.

Good luck.

Chris

Relax relax relax. If you're doing the correctly then you are probably straining for higher notes. Check out the section in RL's book about the larynx and check to see if you are raising yours. Are you trying to sing with some rock 'Grit'...? If so leave that til you have got the basics down. And if you want more advice... record yourself and put it on here. We promise only to be constructive :).

Nath

I'm trying to sing Yesterday, so there's no grit there. I'll have to check out that section of the book. As for recording myself... http://soundclick.com/share?songid=6958416 .

Please be brutal.

You could be straining for volume too. Make sure your mic is turned up enough to hear yourself over the guitars, or turn the guitars down (cries of "no" from the crowd)

A :-)

Ok here's my honest opinion. You were quite flat, I would predict you have quiet a naturally low voice and you are simply singing how you would usually talk. You need to get properly acquainted with the basics, you're voice doesn't sound particularly well supported so try doing some of the diaphragmatic breathing exercises in the book; lie down with a pillow under your head and put one hand below your belly button and one hand above, the hand below the belly button should not be going up and down, but the hand below should, try and concentrate and getting this going.

After wards you will need to do some scales. You can do this along with your guitar doing major and minor scales, or just go through the keys... but also the scales on the books are very good to practice with.

After getting down the basics you can develop some character in your voice :).

I hope this helps, please do ask any questions if you have any... I'm not the greatest singing in the world by a long shot, but I will always help if I can :).

Nath

Hi,

I also experiencing a sore throat too.

I think the eating habit is the cause of all the vocal problem.
In fact, I'm eating too much ice scream 3 days ago. You know what... I end up waked up with the bad voice and bad..bad... sore throat. :lol:

I think I'm unable to sing for this whole week. :oops:

Ok here's my honest opinion. You were quite flat, I would predict you have quiet a naturally low voice and you are simply singing how you would usually talk. You need to get properly acquainted with the basics, you're voice doesn't sound particularly well supported so try doing some of the diaphragmatic breathing exercises in the book; lie down with a pillow under your head and put one hand below your belly button and one hand above, the hand below the belly button should not be going up and down, but the hand below should, try and concentrate and getting this going.

... snip snip ...

Nath

I know I am simply not a naturally gifted singer, but this explains a lot I think. I was under the impression that diaphragmatic breathing was filling your whole stomach with air like a balloon. But if I understand you correctly, you're really only supposed to "fill" the top half of your stomach (well, I'm calling everything between your ribs and your belly button the top half)?

Btw, I think you were too kind :D . My voice sounds very thin and awfully nasally. Eww.

I'm trying to sing Yesterday, so there's no grit there. I'll have to check out that section of the book. As for recording myself... http://soundclick.com/share?songid=6958416 .

Please be brutal.

OK. :mrgreen:

I thought that your voice wasn't too bad. The main problem seemed to be that the song you were singing wasn't the one that McCartney wrote. 'Close-ish' in spots, but no cigar, as they say. You weren't always on pitch, but often when you were close to a regular note then it wasn't the one in the song, you were improvising your own version. It may be not that easy a song for you to sing first off either.

I'd suggest tracking down and reading David Hodge's article here called Home on Your Range and working out what your natural voice range is. Then you can find songs in the right key, and which don't go too high or low for you. Also practice singing pitches (scales are good for that). Until you can hit the right note when you want it you'll find it hard to make progress.

Good luck. It's great when it does work. :)

...so try doing some of the diaphragmatic breathing exercises in the book; lie down with a pillow under your head and put one hand below your belly button and one hand above, the hand below the belly button should not be going up and down, but the hand below should, try and concentrate and getting this going.

Nath

Nath,

This sounds like a concrete, workable exercize. I suspect you mean that the upper stomach should rise, not the lower stomach, but you repeated BELOW on both sides. Is that correct--the upper should rise?

My voice instructor implied this to be the case, but he never explicitly told me that the lower stomach shouldn't also expand.

Thanks,
Jersey Jack

/doh :oops: Yeah JJ is right :)... I meant the upper hand should be rising and falling... Funny thing though. I book I ordered a while ago came today, 'Raise your voice' by Jamie Vendara and it speaks of, 'Maximum Breath Potential' which is the same technique as diaphragmatic breathing but it fills all of your lungs rather than 66% of it... I've not actually been able to try it out as I am Ill at the minute with Laryngitis but ill let you know how I get on.

Anyone read this book?

Yes, as I recall Jamie does endorse a rising of the chest after (or on top of) the normal diaphragmic breath that singers use. This challenges the orthodoxy that the chest should not rise, but it doesn't challenge the priority of breathing through the diaphragm.

I don't see any harm in this, but I've never had any use for it. Jamie appeals primarily to metal guys (or so it seems to me, based on the traffic on his Voice Council site) and I suspect that the extra air is designed to support that high-pitched, powerful metal style. Personally, I believe that the lower breathing technique supplies more than enough air for any type of singing. If it can support opera singers, it would seem sufficient for metal. Still, no harm no foul, and if it works for you go for it.

I've heard from other sources (a friend of mine who takes voice lessons, for instance), that your whole waist line is supposed to expand with proper diaphragmatic breathing. If that is true, it would seem to go against the idea of the bottom half of the stomach moving in and out?

Hi, guys

Thanks for your valuable opinions...

That's true... the wrong song selection may affect your singing quality too.

If you are getting a sore throat from singing that cannot be good at all. There is a product that sunrider makes called sunny fresh. I have used it when I am sick and my throat is sore. Check it out.