Minnie Ripperton - Lovin' You

[jiggly]

Hey guys!

I've always loved to sing but only started to kinda like my own voice a few months ago. I'm anything near perfect and there's LOTS of cringeworthy moments but it's fun and doesn't hurt anybody (though I never asked my neighbors about their ears).

Since I found out I can do whistle notes (sometimes, don't have a lot of control yet) I started getting into the subject of singing, with voice types, notes, etc. I'm at the very beginning and never want it to be anything more than a hobby but would like to get some opinions on it, anyway. (and I'm too scared to ask the neighbors )

So here's me siniging Minnie Ripperton's "Lovin' You": http://picosong.com/euvh

Please don't be too harsh but honest and maybe give some thought on my voice type! Are songs like this one too high for my voice?

Thanks guys! :)

[Blameitonthevodka]

Sounds like there's a lot of tension in your voice trying to sing in that key and it's affecting your pitch.

[Jim Brewster]

The whistle tones sound awesome! Kind of wish I could do that, but might be a bit freakish coming from an old man like me! Maybe that's why I play flutes and pennywhistles...

You do have pitch issues in the rest of the song. It's impossible for me to tell if it's tension, lack of support, or hearing and matching the pitches that the biggest issue. Are you singing with a Karaoke track here? You might try singing along with Minnie, and let her pitch be a guide. Also certainly any good teacher would be able to help you.

You have a beautiful voice, so go with it and take any criticism as a chance to learn and grow; certainly not as a reason to stop singing! Whatever your voice type, it suits this style of music just fine!

[jiggly]

thank you both for replying!

and thank you, Jim, for liking my whistles and my voice haha

i don't really feel a tension when singing that song (probably doesn't mean it isn't there), but i do tend to sound way better singing with singers instead of with Karaoke tracks. my whistling's bad today so maybe i'll try tomorrow to sing along with Minnie and then upload it here. i'm afraid i don't have a lot of musical talent and therefor don't really know what notes to sing when singing to music, which leads to the pitch being off. doesn't mean it's that much better sinigng along!

but thank you, i really appreciate you taking the time to listening and replying :)

[Jim Brewster]

The thing with Minne Ripperton is that she was pretty relaxed with pitch. She had a jazzy style and tended to swoop and slide a lot, but she hit them long enough to establish a coherent melodic line. It can be a fine and subtle distinction with that style. More precise singers might be easier to follow.

And very few of us have musical talent that doesn't take work to develop and refine.

[ronws]

It's not tension I hear but lack of controlled expiration. That can cause some of the note crashes. You do best on the la-la-la's because then you are singing, instead of trying to speak lyrics. Treat the rest of the song that way. Think of your voice, whistle notes and all, as a musical instrument. Do not recite the lyrics, do not pronounce the words as you would do in speaking because that is throwing you off. Instead, sing the words, with clean italian vowels. ah, eh, ee, oh, oo.

That will clear up a lot of stuff. And listen again to the song and pick out the vocal line that you want to run. A few times you go off pitch because you don't know where you want to go. Well, pick a direction.

As for hurting neighbors ears, I have been doing that for decades and no one's made me stop. Then, again, I am big and tall and scary-looking.