derek_r

Yeah good job. Love CCR and I love the way JF sings. You've done a great job of nailing the style here.

Thanks for taking the time to reply, fellas. I appreciate it. I plan on taking some lessons, maybe investing in a course sometime soon, but as mentioned above at the moment I'm trying to get my breathing right. When I focus on proper breathing technique I do notice an improvement in my singing but I'm a long way from doing it automatically - and as many of my tunes have quite a complex (for me) guitar pattern I tend to focus on that rather than the breathing. Still, one step at a time :-)

This is the latest bit of guitar picking / singing: Merle Travis's Guitar Rag. http://soundclick.com/share.cfm?id=12639313 There really aren't many notes to sing in this tune (or indeed in any of the tunes I carefully select to sing) but nevertheless any comments are welcome. I'm working through a selection of books on singing at the moment but at sometime will want to dig a bit deeper with a more formalised course. I'm drawn to singer-songwriters - almost, but not quite, country singers - and have no desire to sing rock or metal. Big fan of the Beatles though :-) Anyway there it is. I know my breathing is pretty poor at the moment. I mean, generally my breathing is poor because of years of asthma and right now this 100 day cough that is going around, but I'm hoping that when all this damp weather goes I shall start to feel a little healthier! Kind regards Derek

Superb. Wish I had range and control like that. Super job.

Yes, good stuff. Nice arrangement, too. Not familiar with the song - is it one of yours? If so, well done on the writing as well as the vocals :-)

Nicely done. Always liked this song and this is a great version.

Been trying to get a few solo acoustic songs together. I was trying to find a nice acoustic arrangement but I'd welcome any comments about the vocals. Many thanks Derek

I don't mind singing in front of people if it's a song I have confidence in - which is very different thing to having confidence that it sounds good. But there are a few songs that I'm happy I've 'made my own' and what the listeners get is what they get... However, I've discovered I can't practice in front of people. Going back quite some time I was practicing daily with scales and mums and mooms and all sorts and I started to notice a difference. Then, for various reasons, it turns out there was always someone at home (basically the eldest went to uni, which meant two lectures a week and the rest of the time chilling at home). And I found I was just too self-conscious to make all these sounds and poor attempts at high notes whilst being watched/listened to. The good news is they've almost broken up for Christmas at the local uni and won't be going back until the end of Jan - and the eldest has got a job for this period of time. So I might well get back to mooming very soon.

Very enjoyable, George.

I was hoping to hear a Beatles cover in this thread :rolleyes:

Thanks Ronws. This tune always seems to go down well at gigs so we did a recording off the desk, the sound engineer man fooled around with it, and the result meant we had something to put on our website. We keep threatening to go into a proper studio but so far we've always gone down the pub instead!

I've been away a while - my laptop finally gave up the ghost after many years. Got a new one now Struggling to find any time and space to practice my singing at the moment. I like to do it when the house is empty, but we've got a houseful at the moment and there's always someone around. Might be a year or so before things are back to normal. Blame the recession. Anyway, here's a clip of me with the band. I don't think I posted this here before, forgive me if I have. This is T-Bone Walker's T-Bone Shuffle. We just have fun with it - kazoo's and what have you. http://www.soundclick.com/bands/page_songInfo.cfm?bandID=542700&songID=12236434 Comment welcome. Kind regards Derek

Love this song. I do it in my band in more of a rock style - the way Fogerty does it these days. It's a great song. I like your version, it's very laid back which is nice. Have a listen to Jeffrey Foucault's version - he's laid back, too. I think you'll like it.

Great stuff! Remember buying this on 45 many many years ago! Great version - both singing and backing track.

Good job! Can't offer any advice because I'm here seeking knowledge not imparting it But it certainly worked for me.

This is very good. Really enjoyed it Lyrics, playing, tune, everything. I haven't really got any constructive criticism I'm afaid because it's way beyond what I can do and is very different in style to anything I play or listen to, but I figured I'd let you know I'm giving it a big thumbs up!:cool:

Very good! Love the range in the vocals and it's a great song and arrangement. Cool guitar playing, too. Big thumbs up from me.

Thanks Ronws. You see right through me again, as you did with Ray Wylie Hubbard. Many years ago I used to do a Van Halen inspired version of Ice Cream Man in the band I was in at the time. Have also played a few Randy Travis songs over the years, too - What'll You Do About Me, springs to mind. I knew he'd been a hell raiser in his early days and had heard there'd been a bit of trouble recently but I didn't know what form it took. Kind regards, Derek

Here's another example. This is an original blues. Again, it's a kind of talking / story-telling type of singing but I'm still keen to improve range / technique / pitch accuracy / phrasing etc etc so any advice / comments remain welcome: Kind regards Derek

This one is typical of the story songs that I like to do. There are some really beautiful and moving versions of this tune on You Tube, whereas mine feels all gruff and growly and dark. I'm not sure if I'm singing the melody too low or if it's simply the tone of my voice that makes it feel so. Pancho & Lefty (Townes Van Zandt Cover) I just recorded it directly on an old digicam and then snuck in a second guitar via Audacity, just to try and distract the listener a little Again, any comments, advice, directions welcome. Kind regards, Derek

Thanks guys, I appreciate you taking the time to listen and comment. Ronws, you're spot on with the Ray Wylie Hubbard reference. I'm a huge fan of his (his concert video on Youtube is probably my favourite YT vid.) along with many of the other singer-songwriters from Kristofferson through Guy Clark, Steve Earle and so on. Also a good hit on the story-telling reference, too - many of my originals are story-based. All of which means I'm probably not looking to be able to scream or belt out rock songs (although the occasional Little Richard would come in handy with the band) but would still like to get more control and accuracy in my voice, better co-ordination between what I hear and what I can produce, nicer tone, improved tuning, the ability to sing more complicated and melodic melodies, and maybe even an extra note or to in range. Was messing about trying to sing in (I guess) head voice earlier - notes up there on the top E string of the guitar - E, F#, A etc - and it all sounded very much like a cat being strangled, no tone or weight or power. Be nice to get some resonance and control there, too. Anyway, early days and I appreciate the comments. Kind regards Derek

Just posted an introduction in the Welcome thread and figured I'd follow it up with a couple of examples of my singing. I've never felt that I can sing at all, but have sometimes had to make do in various bands over time. But I'd like to have a go at getting a little better over the next few years with a view to being able to play some solo acoustic gigs when I get too old to rock'n'roll! I don't believe I can carry a melody unless it's made up only of chord tones and even then am very pitchy. And I know my breathing leaves plenty to be desired. My range is very low (e2 to d4, if I'm using the nomenclature correctly - bottom E string of a guitar to the D on the third fret of the 2nd string in my language) . I've been goog, gugging and moon, mumming for several months now but other than feeling the benefit of warming up havien't noticed any difference/improvement. I like blues, rock'n'roll, soul, singer-songwriter stuff. Favourite singers would include Ray Charles, Frankie Miller, Lowell George, John Fogerty, John Lennon and so on. But with my range I usually end up singing Johnny Cash songs Anyway, here are a couple of clips. I'd welcome advice, and if people think there's any hope at this age then I'll invest in lessons, DVDs, programmes etc as required. Long Black Veil: An original: Thanks in advance Del