Jim Brewster

My only pet peeve is mix-related. On the first song at least, you need to bring your vocal forward and the guitar back. Other than that, magnifico!

OK, so now I'm going a little out of the comfort zone. Here is some messing with mix in the car. Whether you call it mix, or pulling chest, these G4's feel pretty effortless (no matter how they sound :/ ), which should be the point, right? In the middle I think I'm compressing too much or starting to push, so it starts to distort. Guess I'm a little impatient to add volume! And notice how easily I flip into a yodel on the "EE" vowel toward the end. Might not sound like much, but this is progress for an entrenched bass-baritone like me! Thanks to Phil for helping me out! And another for the list of visualizations. This coordination and sound reminds me of Jerry Seinfeld in his old sitcom, yelling in surprise or outrage at one of his friends. Say "Elaine!" in a high crying tone! :D

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.

This sort of post always makes me wonder, "what's really going on here." Is it because of comments on this post? http://themodernvocalist.punbb-hosting.com/viewtopic.php?id=9063 Don't get discouraged by that, get motivated. Otherwise you're never going to stretch and grow. Even Felipe, in his terse way, said "study," not "pack it in." I don't think there's too many "naturally gifted" singers on this forum, who never had to put in some long and hard effort to develop their vocal talents. If they were, why would they be here in the first place?

Good voice, and nice melodic line--interesting but timeless. Could fit into a variety of genres depending on how you dress it up.

Nice job! I can tell you've got a natural feel for the music, and you convey the emotion well. It sounds like maybe you're damping your larynx a bit much, maybe to try to sound like Johnny, but too much and it strains the throat makes it harder to hit the higher pitches. You did seem to relax into it more by the middle of the songs. A little more relaxed and natural in the throat, and a little more open in the mouth would be my only suggestions.

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!

Try this link. Seems the '#' broke it: Sounds good. Not Lou, but you! As it should be!

Here's one I've been playing for a few years. It's a cover from my good friend and musical co-conspirator Steve Strauss. Didn't want to give a way too many of his clever lyrics though. Range for the lead is B2-B3, for the bass B1-E3. Key of Em. Sorry for the unintended rasp in a few places due to morning clams.

Well you are a little airy on the low notes, but you are hitting the pitches. I don't know how old you are. If you are in your mid teens or thereabouts your vocal anatomy is still growing, so the bottom end of your range should naturally expand. Just keep at it, but don't push. Quiet and in tune is better than loud and way off the mark! If you are older than your early twenties, I would guess you might have smaller than average vocal folds. In that case you can still expand your range a bit at the low end, but your strongest potential will be in the higher octaves. You might be a lyric tenor, but that's only really knowable, and only really relevant, in a classical context.

I concur with the above comments. Sounds great! You've got some weight/color to your voice, but I think that is a good thing, and yeah, you can do country, rock, rnb, whatever you want. As far as belting vs mixing the high notes, you're doing what comes naturally, and it's perfectly normal for your untrained voice. My top-end belt note that can sound decent in the right context is around E4. Well of course you don't want to hurt yourself, and you want to keep it in context. In this song it sounds good, but wouldn't it be great to have control over the volume and tone of that note? All the gradations between a bellow and a squeak? That's the stuff I'm working on, currently in the slow self-study mode, but I'm looking into taking some lessons to speed up and smooth out the process. And you won't find a better batch of coaches for that purpose than right here on this forum!

You might be playing in G with a capo on 1 or an over-tuned guitar, but the key you're singing is G# (or A-flat). No matter, it sounds pretty good to me. ronws's advice on the vowels is good, and is icing on the cake. Lots of artists in the folk/alternative/singer-songwriter realms rely more on stagecraft than technique, but since this is a vocal technique forum, might as well lay on the icing!

That really depends on how musically literate you are. You might think singing into a tuner would be easiest, but matching pitch with an instrument or pitch pipe (acoustic or electronic doesn't matter) is probably easier for most beginners because tuners can pick up harmonics and give a false note value, or be jumpy and hard to read, especially if your pitch is unsteady. Once you match a pitch, say an A, try matching it in lower and higher octaves. Then find your range by matching the lowest and highest notes you can sing. For reference, your song clip is within the range of Ab3 to F4. If none of this make sense, since you mention taking lessons, I'd suggest asking your teacher for help. If they can't help you, find another one, and in the meantime ask one of your musical friends for help.

Sounds good. Nice and relaxed and in your comfort zone (which sounds pretty close to mine). Makes me want to hear the whole song...

Or do both. Singing with a band is a great teacher!