MDEW

I recorded this again, keeping in mind some of the suggestions. I changed the chord progression. It is not as easy as it seems to transpose a piano arrangement to guitar and had a few chords wrong. I left a little more room between lines in the second half of the song. It may match a little better than the beginning. Let me know which gives a better feel. if any........ Thanks.

Thanks Draven, You are spot on with my R sounds. My Tongue flips up and my bottom lip curls in with the top teeth resting on bottom lip. I have been aware of the problems for a while but knowing the problems doesn't always lead to a direction to fix them. In those times when I think that I am adding flare or excitement more of the accent kicks in and everything starts heading towards an "Ih" center. I like the Idea of using movie and cartoon characters as a reference to sounds.( I had to look up the priest from Princess Bride) When I was told too many times that I sang through my nose with a raised larynx (After getting the advice that there should be nothing in the throat, resonance in the head and movement in the abs) Everything should be free and easy......I decided to be an ass and present the same song with the most constricted and manipulated low larynx sound I could think of.....A combination of Bullwinkle and Grandpa Simpson......The responce from the forum was "Whatever you are doing right or wrong keep doing it.". My conclusion was that the definition of Free and Easy is something different from "Free and Easy". I do not try to use that sound all the time. Maybe a little of it at times. The result may need to sound free and easy but there is manipulation involved, even if the manipulation is suppressing movements rather than initiating them.

Thanks for listening. You are spot on with the groove thing. Elton plays this a tad slower.. I have not been able to lose this accent, It pulls me sharp on the Ah's and Flat on the Uh's. I have been thinking of vacationing in Minnesota for a while, maybe that will subdue this accent. Maybe that is a bad idea..

No, It is a pitch issue. Singing in tune is staying on pitch. If sing a note too low or too high you are off pitch.

Hello Gedas, One of the problems is that you are not singing in tune with the music. The music sounds pretty good and because you wrote the music I would I would assume that you can hear when instruments are out of tune or that a Bass line or piano part does not fit with the rest of the music. If I were you I would play the sung melody on the piano and then practice singing to match the pitch of the piano.

I thought I would have a go at another Elton John song. Let me know what you think.

Just to be straight, do you want tips BEFORE you practice with the band? Kicking it with the band is the best way to go first. You and the band need to be in sync. Not you and your imagination or you and Karaoke. Record the band with you singing and without so you can practice at home with the recording. Or is the band not even going to work on it if they think you cannot sing it? Changing key is also an option if it is too high for you at the moment. What you presented here does sound like a solid starting point.

Great to see you are back. One thing though, you forgot to link.the video.

It has been a while since I have posted anything. If you have any comment good or bad let me know. Thanks.

Singing is hard to write about, especially when it is about tone. I do not really hear anything wrong with the tone, but then again it all depends on what style of music is behind the singing. In these examples you are singing word for word with distinct stops between each word, like each word is a separate note. In some styles that is good but with others it is bad. Think of singing in terms of phrasing. There is not a hard stop between words but a continuous flow, unless of course if the song calls for that. The voice is another instrument. When you are playing a lead on the guitar do you stop each note before you play another? or are you playing four or five notes in succession with some of the notes sustaining? At the same time you are also expressing an emotion with your voice. Using dynamics to express the feeling. When you are happy and expressing love for someone do you yell at them like you are mad? Not if you want them to return the feeling. You use a soft tone when expressing love and a Harsh tone when expressing Pain or anger. Phrasing can be thought about like that also. Slow and melodic for expressing love and quick and blunt for anger or pain. These are just guides to give you a different way of thinking about singing.

In a recent thread you were asking about TONE or TIMBRE, A change in tone or timbre will require other changes to your singing. Before, you were allowing your voice to do what was needed to get the pitch without being conscious of the tone.

Sounding good Javastorm. Nothing to say as far as tips go except to keep singing this and add it to your set list when performing for an audience.

Sounds good Jeremy, I have to agree with everything Robert said. Just use a single vocal line(unles adding harmonies of course). The character thing he was talking about is adding prosody or rather when the lyrics are making a statement sing it like you are making a statement and when the lyrics form a question sing it like you are asking a question. Add emotional content to the singing. In a song like this you are telling a story AND acting out the lyrics with voice. Vocal technique is only part of singing and performing. Keep up the good work. I really like your singing. Add this one to your list. Soon you will have enough to perform two or three sets in public...........then the fun really starts.

Great Job Ellise.

You are singing Y-ah-ee like Y-eye- ee. Do not do that. use something like M-eh do not add ee to the end of it.

Sometimes the meaning of words gets us confused. For your second song, consider it this way, You are crying out to some one across a field or to the back of the room. Even the lower notes are still cried out as if to get someones attention from far away. Not Yelling but Calling to someone.

I agree with Gneetap and Jonjon. In the second clip you said yourself you are singing without cry or support. You need to start off with support. Rather start of with enough Volume and Air pressure for the notes. Singing is very close to controlled yelling or Calling. Soft singing takes more support not less support because you still need the same amount of energy in the sound but holding back loudness at the same time.

They Do teach strengthening the voice. It is just that the students do not realize that is what they need to do. SLS will teach you how to get closure with Goo and Gee, then they will have you add mass by opening towards Ah or Oh. The student is supposed to see that you need more air and pressure to maintain the closure when adding mass. I do not think they come right out and express that. I guess the student is supposed to make that connection himself. What SOME of the SLS teachers fail to realize is that the student may fail to make that connection or maybe the teacher himself is just following the program. But what is expected is that you add volume and mass over time without using enough pressure to lose the connection.

Long story short. A hooty OO will get you into head resonance. You can do a Hooty OO like a baby owl thin and small or like a Giant owl Big and deep. Small sound is high larynx. Big sound is Dropped larynx or as Roberts puts it Dampened Larynx. With SLS's Goo's and Gee's you default to the Small Owl. With Roberts Formant tuning, Dampened Larynx, Lift up and Pull Back, you default to the Big Owl. The big owl will allow Volume and stability, The little owl will have you flip into falsetto.

SLS teaches you how to achieve cord closure but does not teach how to maintain that closure with a bigger sound. When singing for real, even when singing a lighter mass you are still using a bigger sound than Speech Level. At least do your Edit: Yes something odd is going on Here. Half of my post just got eaten.

I have to agree with that. SLS is not know for their support and energy work.

Dance. Or if you prefer Sway with the music. On most Normal Rock,country and Jazz songs Follow the drummer and Bass guitar. I do not know what to tell you if you listen those groups with the Machine Gun Drummers............They kill any rhythm. 1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and......or 1 and a 2 and a 3 and a 4 and a ........Bass drum, Hihat, snare Hihat, Bass drum, Hihat, snare, Hihat.......................

If you have ever been in a situation where you were pissed off but had to be quiet and calm you will understand. That is why I always suggest to read the lyrics and find out what the song is really about. Put yourself in that situation. Tell the story with the emotions. It is easier to remember the lyrics that way also. Dynamics are easier to control. Each verse or phrase May have it's own underlying emotion to it.

Hi Collin. Your voice sounds pretty good. I have found that confidence and some sort of emotional connection to the song helps. What I mean by that is, read the words and find out what sort of message it is supposed to present and present it with the emotion intended. Usually when expressing a strong emotion you feel the energy of the emotion even if the volume is quiet there is a force behind it. "For all the times that you rain on my parade And all the clubs you get in using my name You think you broke my heart, oh, girl for goodness' sake You think I'm crying on my own. Well, I ain't And I didn't wanna write a song 'Cause I didn't want anyone thinking I still care. I don't, But you still hit my phone up And, baby, I be movin' on And I think you should be somethin' I don't wanna hold back, Maybe you should know that" There is a lot of pent up emotion in this........ It seems this girl is using you and you know it. It gets kind of frustrating in that kind of situation........ Even if you don't get loud, there is usually an energy that you are trying to hold back so you don't get to loud. In a situation like this you would be Pissed off and holding yourself back from yelling..........Use that energy....... it will come through in the song and maybe even ground you for pitch stability also.

I wish I would have come up with the idea to make a living by lounging on the beach and singing party songs. There must be a downside to it somewhere. Can you really get tired of looking at beautiful women in bikinis on the beach? It would be a bummer if something like that got old and boring.