Want to get "more" out of my voice...i know it's in there :)

[khjavy8]

Hello, My name is Kelly, and I have been playing guitar and singing for about 19 years now with no real "training" on either...except for being lucky to have met really talented people along the way and picked up what I could when I could. Recently, I have been told by multiple people that...not that I have a bad vocal, but that they think there is another whole level they think I am capable of but that I just do not know how to get to it vocally. Now I know for a fact one of those people meant range like notes I can hit, but not sure if they meant tone as well. Anyways I was referred here by a very much trusted friend and thought I would give it a shot, so any pointers, criticisms, suggestions, help in the right direction I can get I will welcome gladly and thanks in advance for those of you who take the time to listen. I appreciate it My youtube page is in my signature down there and has all my stuff there and here is a link to a song directly that is one of my most recent originals that I wrote for my youngest son. Thanks again!

[ronws]

Excellent song. I like the way that you use the second capo to create an "open" tuning. I think your voice sounds fine and I like the country yodel feel to it. I don't know what "next" step there is unless it is to sound like someone already famous. I think you should sound like yourself. One thing you can do to brighten notes is smile while singing. It changes the charcteristics of your resonating space when you sing. It'sn't just to see you smile. Your singing was just fine but, I guess, you could experiment with different sound effects in your voice to see what happens.

[kalapoka]

Hey Kelly, welcome to TMV. checked your video and really liked it. Have you seen the number of views your video got and the number of comments? Means you are doing manny things right

Now 'the next level' might mean a number of things - but in my opinion, its important for you yourself to set what that is. You've been doing this for 19 years, surely there were many achievements along with few downfalls. Think about what is the logical next step now. Should you start taking vocal lessons? Maybe learn some new, difficult songs? May be write a few originals, make a demo and try to release an album? May be get signed by a label? Anything is possible. Your voice is very nice, I don't know the lyrics of the song but the song felt emotional. You were quite expressive with nice vocal licks and flips and dynamics. Is it time now to start performing more in public (assuming you are not doing that already, but i think you are). From the song you posted, in that genre i don't really think that there are higher 'levels' vocally, cuz its the singer - songwriter genre and that focuses more on the message of the song, rather than 'technical agility of the singer' as in the RnB/Diva genre (whitney, mariah) IMO.

I am still trying to figure out what your friends mean by saying 'next level'. There were just a few areas where you can may be still improve vocally, there were some abrupt changes in the tone and resonance of some notes. May be you can fix those, have a consistent, professional tone and attitude. I also felt you should smile more when performing, as someone commented in the youtube page, becuz you need to bond with the audience, make a connection with them, and nothing does that more than smiles. And since you are a beautiful woman already, it should an easy job for you.

Hope my rambling helped! lol!

[akarawd]

Hi Kelly,

I'll start off by saying that I liked your voice and approach a lot - in my humble opinion it suits the song perfectly. I'm pretty sure that if you sung sth that demanded more range and power you'd sound different.

Maybe try posting sth like that ? Exploring resonances would be one way to do sth different but quite frankly this particular song calls for what you did and not much more.

[Steven Fraser]

Kelly,

I agree with Ashique. While there are many 'other' things you could do with your voice, the things that would define a 'next level' come from your vocal and artistic goals... from your own musical value system, your aesthetic, the relationship of the text with the melody.... all of that.

So, this takes us around to clarifying questions:

What do you want to do next with your singing?

What are the things or characteristics you'd like to add to what you can do?

Or, what do you have that you'd like to improve or even remove?

[Rick Jones]

Hey, Kelly is my ex-girlfriend, a good friend and former jamming partner(on the porch!)....she has an awesome voice, I think she is just looking for things to work on to allow her more control over it, and maybe expand range a little as I remember her being frustrated by notes in some cover songs (Allison Krauss if I remember correctly).

We currently reside at opposite sides of the Atlantic, and I haven't heard her in person for years.

Hope you don't mind me posting that Kell!:)