The Aspiring Singer

Wow! GREAT voice! I love the flip into falsetto at 1:17. I watched a few of your vocal training videos. I like the exercises that you offer, the clear explanations and the demonstrations of what to do vs. what not to do. I followed you on Twitter. I want to talk with you about possibly doing a Skype or Google Hangouts coaching session with my men's chorus.

I noticed that in this song, like your other post, there are times when you flip into falsetto. While I think I think you do a good job of negotiating between the two different ranges, ultimately, flipping into falsetto is going to be a crutch that you'll need to try to overcome. Instead of flipping into falsetto, try singing those notes in your modal voice (or chest/head voice). When you go for those notes, really go for them with power. You can try shouting them as an experiment, just to get to know the sensation. I don't recommend sing/shouting as a general rule for actual performance, but it's just an experiment to get you to understand how high you can really sing without flipping into falsetto. The tone does still sound a little breathy. Part of it is the range of the song, just like Lucca said. So finding another song that has a higher tessitura will be good for you overall. Not trying to be condescending here, but just in case you don't know what tessitura is, tessitura is the area of your range where the song spends the most time. The range of the song is how high and how low does it go. This song has a fairly low tessitura in the beginning. It moves to a higher tessitura at the chorus. Try to find a song that is more in that part of your range. Again, you're doing good work. So keep it up!:)

I agree with the other comments about staying in the center of the pitch. That kind of thing comes with time. You can try to slow it down, really concentrating only on the pitch to make sure you're right on. Otherwise, the more you sing the song, the more your vocal cords get the coordination of what they're supposed to do and the better on pitch you will be. Other than that, I thought that you really started to sing with a good tone right around 2:00. That's when your sound was more focused and clear. Everything before that was a little airy and a little breathy. Try singing the opening with the same kind of focused sound, even though it's softer. Nice work! :)

I noticed that you're singing the song an octave lower than the original. Are you able to take it up the octave? Or is there another song in a higher part of your range that you have a sample of? You're matching pitch on the song, so it doesn't sound bad. You're just singing an octave down. The reason why I ask is because it's a little difficult to give a good assessment of your singing voice. I suspect that the way you are singing this song is closer to your speaking range.

I really like the video that Lucca shared. Yes, vibrato is a natural function of good fundamental singing technique. It would be hard to practice all of those solid fundamentals on the song that you selected because your song is very note-y and wordy. I think the shakiness of your voice (or the false kind of vibrato sound) is due to lack of breath management. And it is also apparent in the breathiness of your voice. The breathiness almost sounded like a choice, to perhaps fit the genre or your interpretation of the tone that you should be using for this sing. To help with your breath management, just like the video suggested, you will want to control the release of air and make it steady. One way that I like to think about it is that when you breathe in, you should get fat. Your abdomen, lower back and lower ribs should expand. If you let yourself exhale naturally, without trying to control it, you will feel everything get skinny again. In order to maintain a better breath management, resist the sensation of getting skinny again and, instead, feel the abdomen, lower back and lower ribs continue to expand as you exhale. Try this way of breathing and suspending the breath as you sing. Try not to let any tension creep into your throat as you are trying to suspend your exhale. It's really easy for tension to start transferring into other parts of your body when you're trying to control your breathing, so just make sure your shoulders stay relaxed and down and that you feel no tension in your throat. You should start to notice right away that your tone is going to be less breathy. The natural vibrato may take more time as you start to understand the coordination of all the different physical aspects of singing. Once you get really good at all those physical aspects, you won't have to think about it so much and the vibrato will come naturally. I hope that makes sense! :)

You are definitely being hypercritical! Let's see if I can be more specific about what you're doing naturally well.... You occasionally fall into a beautifully free vibrato that is NOT controlled, and that's a good thing. There are other times where your voice is straight tone, and I suspect you're not doing straight tone on purpose. In those times, you are controlling the sound, possibly in your attempts to improvise or find the "blue note," as you described. Improvising, believe it or not, actually takes practice. Learning how to hear those bluesy scales/riffs/tones and then applying them is not something that comes naturally to most people. You already have a good grasp of what it should sound like, but it will just take some more time in learning how to control it, and then even more time learning how to let it go. Does that make sense? I agree with your piano guy. "Sweet and innocent quality" to your voice is a good way to describe it. That doesn't mean that you don't have that "mama" sound in you somewhere. I hear echoes of her and I believe that with good coaching and good practice, you'll have some serious versatility in your range of songs. One of my favorite artists is Eva Cassidy. Listen to these two songs and how they contrast. Sweet and innocent in one. Wailing, bluesy mama in the other. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZGwDYBWEDSc (mama sound around 2:00)

In addition to everything that ronws and MDEW have said, which I completely agree with, "fixing" your tone will require more than just breath energy. Breath support is just the beginning. And learning how to control and manage the breath is going to be a lifelong pursuit in singing. Every singer has struggled with breath support, and will continue to work on it for the entire length of their singing careers. Then, on top of breath support, there are physical coordinations that have to happen with the larynx, throat, tongue, pharynx, soft palate, etc. Don't get overwhelmed. You don't have to necessarily think of it in such technical terms (yet). Just understand that there are many elements to creating a great sound. And I agree that one exercise is not going to fix much. It's just a demonstration and an experimentation in experiencing different sensations with your singing voice. (That's a lot of "tions" in one sentence.) Good vocal technique will come with practicing a variety of vocalises, scales, and, of course, songs. Do you have a repertoire of vocal exercises to help you get started?

Sorry for the delayed response. One great way to strengthen the bridge and to give it power (give it that belting sound without actually bringing your chest voice up) is to modify your vowels. In general, the shape of your vowels in chest voice and head voice should be more round and open. In going through the bridge, you'll want to narrow the shape of your mouth and make the vowel tall and narrow. Think of an hour glass. The sound will be more pointed and focused and will sound very powerful, but without nearly the effort and tension of belting. An exercise to try: First experiment with feeling the difference between an "ee" vowel and an "ih" vowel. Sing a five note up and down on an "ee" vowel. 1-2-3-4-5-4-3-2-1, or do-re-mi-fa-sol-fa-mi-re-do. Start in your chest voice with a round, open "ee" vowel. As you peak to the top of the scale, modify the vowel to be more "ih". This narrows the space and creates more breath pressure behind the sound, but it shouldn't add tension. It's like putting your thumb over the top of a water hose. You get more power and more forward projection. You can try the concept of vowel modification on different vowels. In the section we talked about, leading up to "emotion," try to get the placement higher and more focused into the masque without bringing tension up. You create this sound quite well on "emotion." Try to isolate what adjustment you are making on that note and bring it into the section leading up to it. Let me know if that makes sense. Cheers! :)

Beautiful voice! Smooth and easy. Definitely a good song choice for you. I think technically, you're doing a lot of great things. You do many things so naturally. I do think that some of your stylizing (which you do a great job of) gets in the way of your voice being free. It's like your voice is trying to free itself and relax, but the music is getting in the way. Sorry, I can't think of a better way to describe it right now. I think a vocal coach rather than a voice teacher would probably be a better fit for you right now, particularly if you stick with songs in this range and genre. Definitely go get some coaching. You have great potential! :)

I actually kind of like the "falsetto-ish" sound because it's a strong sound and it feels more natural than the section leading up to it. Regarding what MDEW is saying, I completely agree. Maybe I can talk myself through this and try to explain. Not that I'm all knowing. I'm just thinking out loud and working it out as I go... "Til now" at 2:07 - Spot on! Great tone. Great support. And then it loses a lot right after that. The intonation definitely suffers. I do think that it is slightly under pitch after "Til now", and the placement of the tone and vowels compound the issue. Try isolating the vowel and placement that you use on the word "now." Then try singing the whole section from "Til now" all the way to "chills me to the" on that same vowel. The vowel that you have on the word "now" sounds like "nah" to me. So sing the whole section on "Nah nah.... nah nah nah nah nah nah nah...." As you get higher and higher on "I always got by" (but still on the "nah" vowel), keep the "nah vowel consistent but bring the placement up into a more nasal resonance. Remember to keep the throat relaxed (as much as possible ) and keep the support going lower and lower. I think that "bone" is a slightly cooler tone, but I don't think it sticks out too much. All of that being said, it sounds a little percussive on the word emphasis. You may think that musical phrasing doesn't matter at this point, but I think it could actually help you with the energy that it takes to sustain the high notes for such a long time. If you focus on the horizontal phrasing instead of nailing each note, it may help you relax the right part of the vocal mechanism (throat) and strengthen the support underneath it. For instance, instead of singing "HOW! DO! I! GET! YOU! A!-LONE!", try "HOW do i GET you a-LONE." The cadence feels more natural as if you were speaking it. You can even add a physical gesture to reinforce the support of the horizontal phrase. Maybe a circular motion with your hands with the heaviest notes having the strongest downward motion of your hands. Bear in mind, this is not for emoting during a performance. This is just for practice, getting a kinesthetic application of the physical motion of your hand gesture transferring into musical motion. You should always keep motion in the music. Even rock music! There should be a feeling of going somewhere. Does that make sense? I hope that's helpful! :)

Wow, really great work! Nice work on all of the vocals including the background, and nice work with the mixing too. Great balance between the lead and background. I even detect a difference in timbre between the background and lead too. Really fine work here. I'm reaching for feedback because everything was done so well. I wonder if you might have felt a little tension right around 2:06? I heard the same kind of thing when you sang this same section earlier in the song, so it might be that particular part of your range that could use some work. It just sounds a little like the chest voice is being pulled up too high when you might be better off strengthening the bridge of your voice. You sound great right at 2:18 on the big, high, wailing, long note. I think it was on the "tion" part of "emotion." Nice technique on that particular note. It might be good to bring that tone down into the section leading up to it. Let me know if you want specific tips on how to strengthen the bridge. Good work, especially for someone who has never had a lesson. ! I look forward to hearing more! :)

Nice work! How long have you been working on the song? To me, it seems like it just needs some more time on your voice. At first, I thought it was going to be just a half or whole step too high, but there are some really nice moments when you sing the highest note where it really seems like it's in a sweet spot. There are other times when you are approaching that same note where it doesn't seem so "sweet." Right around :34, the word "hiding" sounds great. The word "beating" right afterwards is just not quite on the pitch. There are a few places where the intonation is suffers, like the first time you sing "you don't know me." You're a little bit sharp on that phrase. Most of the time, you're spot on. Sometimes you're a little flat, sometimes a little sharp. I think that a lot of these issues will fix themselves with time and practice. And the more you spend time with the song, the more you'll find your own voice in the song and it the more it will become a unique cover. I listened to a little bit of Michael Buble, Norah Jones and Ray Charles doing their covers, and obviously their covers are done with their signature sounds. I don't know your signature sound. (I'm struggling a little to explain my thoughts on this.) Your version is not bad... it's just okay. I feel like that sounds harsh and I'm not trying to be overly critical. I assume that since you post here regularly and that you're asking for feedback, that you're looking to improve. One way to improve is to find your own original voice so that when you do covers, it's compelling to the listener. It takes a familiar song and draws us in because it's unique enough while still maintaining the integrity of the song. The only way to find that original voice within a song is to spend some time with it. I found this Facebook post by Ben Folds a few weeks back and I think he explains it far more eloquently than my weak attempt here. I hope that's helpful. If not, I won't be offended if you disregard my commentary! :)

Great control in your upper head voice. I think you occasionally tap into a really great resonance in your upper head voice. I'm not talking about falsetto. I'm talking about your true head voice. There are a few times when you achieve a really nice "ping." Right around 0:26 on the word "try" is a good example. I think it would be beneficial for you to try to tap into the physical sensations that you are feeling when you sing that phrase. There are other words on similar "ah" vowels and on the same pitch where you don't achieve that same resonant ping. When you sing "boundaries" just a few seconds before, the sound isn't the same. I think your goal should be to aim for the sound that you achieve on the word "try." One way that you can do this is through vowel modification. The vowel on "try" and "bound" of "boundaries" is essentially the same vowel. It's an "ah" vowel. In order to achieve the right kind of sound and the right kind of resonance, you want your vowel to be taller and skinnier on the inside. Experiment with the "ah" vowel and see how many variations you can achieve with "ah." You can make it dark and cavernous, or bright and nasal, and every where in between. You'll want to try to get a brighter and more nasal sound. Notice that when you sound dark, you'll get a yawning sensation and everything in the back of your mouth goes very round. Notice that when you sound bright, the back of the tongue placement will be a little higher and the back of the mouth will be a little skinnier. This the desired goal. Ultimately, achieving this kind of coordination will help you bridge the big jump from the highest falsetto note on "now" at 1:01 into the notes that follow afterwards. With each repetition of the chorus, it sounds like you're not sure when to break from falsetto back into your modal voice. The goal is that we want that break to be almost imperceptible. You'll want to smooth out the transition from top to bottom. You can do this by strengthening the bridge that happens between the modal voice and the falsetto voice by using vowel modification exercises. You'll want to practice bringing the chest voice up into the bridge, and also practice bringing the head voice down into the bridge. Separately from all of that, I'm guessing that English is a second language for you. The reason that I say that is because there are some tongue issues I hear. Mostly in the front placement of your tongue. It sounds like you draw the tongue back from your teeth, and that may be a language pattern. Try practicing some scales with your tongue hanging out of your mouth. I mean really stretch your tongue out of your mouth. Try to let the tip of your tongue touch your chin. This will just help to pull the sound out of your mouth a little bit more. Let me know if any of this helps or if you have other questions. Great singing!

I really like the sound of your voice, especially in the lower part of your range. Yes, definitely good enough for a pub, small venue type band. I think song choice would be important for you to consider while you are working on your upper chest voice range. I don't think that this song would be the best to showcase your ability right now, though it's not beyond your ability. If I were you, I would work on a set list that stays in the lower part of your range and only occasionally stretches you up. That will probably give you the best results in the short term. Then, while you are working on performing those songs, you can be working on this song to get your upper chest voice in good shape for those exposed parts. In my opinion, this song exposes your head voice too much for the genre. It sounds like this song hangs out in your bridge quite a bit. I think you could probably work on bringing some more chest resonance into your bridge to help strengthen the bridge. By doing so, you'll smooth out the transition from chest into head, and then this song would begin to fit more into your ability. I hope that makes sense...

It sounded to me like you were trying to emulate Elvis's sound, which made it sound unnatural. The vibrato sounded a little forced and wobbly. In the opening, when you sang "can't help falling in love with you," is when you sounded most natural. It sounded free and unforced. It did not sound like you were trying to copy Elvis. Maybe we got a true glimpse of your real voice? If you're used to singing hard rock, this could easily be a good song for you to mix it up. I had to smile when you first started singing because it's such a classic. I'm all in favor of adding a little surprise to your set of songs, especially with this kind of song. Since it's a classic song, and a very sweet song, it can endear you to your audience and convert your listeners (especially female listeners) into fans. :)

I would like to offer some really good tips for you here, but it's hard to hear your voice. I realize you were recording on your iPhone. Is there a way for you to record with the phone closer to your mouth? The guitar was overpowering your singing. It seems like people get more responses for feedback when the recording quality is better.

I really love the color of your voice. Nice clarity and kind of a chocolatey sound. Are you open to some feedback?

First, most importantly, you have a great voice! More on that in a moment. Aside, let me say that it's pretty crappy that someone spammed your post with stuff about pet insurance. That's lame. Now, back to your voice. I'm not familiar with any of the songs, so I don't really know their genres. I wouldn't be able to guide you at this point on your style because the style of the songs kind of sound the same to me. It's probably because you are incorporating your style into the songs. I'm curious about the types of songs and singers that you're used to dealing with in your choirs. The style that you sing with, in my opinion, is similar to styles that I hear my own students sing. Who are your favorite artists? You have kind of a Norah Jones thing in an Ingrid Michaelson kind of range. If I were you, I wouldn't worry so much about getting a handle on your style just yet. That emerges with practice and with time. Speaking of, what kind of time and practice do you put into your singing? The recordings that you posted are relatively short clips, so it's difficult to truly assess your ability. Most everybody can sing short bursts and sound good. The more complete picture of what you need to work on is only evident when we get a solid sample. Instead of five short clips, I suggest that you post one or (at the most) two complete songs. The reason why I asked about your time and practice is because it takes more time and practice to get a full song worked up enough for a good critique. You have a great foundation. Tone quality is beautiful. Stylization is quite nice. But good tone and nice style is only part of the picture. For you (whom I consider to be more advanced), you need to work on more advanced concepts. These are the types of advanced concepts I'm taking about: 1. Can you make musical phrases that make sense in the context of a whole piece of music? 2. Do you have the physical technique and stamina to make it through a whole song and be consistent in your technique throughout the whole song? 3. Can you add interest and variation throughout different verses and repetitions of the chorus? 4. Can you take us on the complete emotional journey of the song? Do you know the shades of emotion that are portrayed? I would encourage you to post a complete song for a better evaluation. And I would also encourage you to use a background track or someone playing accompaniment behind you so that we can get a better understanding of the whole piece. I look forward to hearing more of your stuff! I'll look out for you. :)

I have to agree with everyone else here. Your voice is higher centered. I don't know your speaking voice, but my guess is that the three samples you provided here are in your typical speaking range. This is normal for singers to start their singing journey in their speaking range. I think you should take it easy on yourself. You can match pitch, which is so much better than other beginners. (When I say "beginner," I'm not necessarily talking about ability level. I'm mostly talking about someone who is beginning to take an interest in improving his voice.) So at least you can match pitch. That's a great start! Don't take that for granted, because there are plenty of people who have a hard time matching pitch. Even better, you have a good concept of negotiating between your tonal voice and your falsetto. I have over 15 years of experience working with beginning male singers. The fact that you understand that you have change registers in order to match pitch in the higher parts of the song is a good sign. It puts you far ahead of a lot of beginners. So don't be so hard on yourself. To improve your tone, you're going to have to get some more power behind your sound. I think MDEW and ronws would agree with me that we can't really hear what your tone is. There's a lot of breathiness in your sound. Again, that's very typical of beginners. Learning how to sing better starts with learning how to control the outflow of air. Try this exercise: 1. Experiment in a large room. Stand at one end of the room and shout "HEY!" to the other end of the room. It's not an angry shout. It's just an attempt to get someone's attention. Put your hands on your belly and feel what happens when you shout like this. What do you feel? (Real question that requires a real answer.) 2. Do the same thing again, but this time, draw out your sound and hold "HEEEEEEEEEEYYYYYYYYY" for a longer time. You need to still be using the same type of energy that it takes to get someones attention across the room. And you need to still have your hands on your belly. If you are doing it correctly, then your true tone would come out. It would not be the same type of tone that you used when you recorded the songs. Hopefully, you like this tone better. Improving your singing starts with learning how to coordinate that pitch matching (which you already do) with the breath energy underneath the sound. To answer the second part of your concern, your range will improve drastically when you learn how to get the breath support down. Let me know what happened when you tried the exercises I suggested. :)

I'm so glad that you were able to notice an improvement when you changed your thinking! Good for you!

I posted this message in the other post that we've been conversing in. Just in case you didn't get it: I hear some of the same issues in your stronger vocals that I heard in the lighter vocals, which means that breath support is a consistent issue. That's no surprise because breath support is the nemesis of every singer. It's what all of us are always working on. It's interesting that when you sing the first part of the chorus "Miles away," you are slightly under pitch. But then you sing "Miles away" again with the big jump on "A - way" and you sing the high note on the big jump beautifully. Your sound on the highest note is free, much more open, much better in tune and a much better sound. It's probably because you have a different approach to that high note. You know it's high and so you give it more effort. Your breath support is stronger and your vowel is more open. The intonation issues on the first part of the chorus sounds like it's partially an issue with the diphthong on the vowel of "way," just like ronws was talking about before. When you sing "way" of "away," the diphthong occurs on the 2nd syllable. The diphthong of "way" is made up of the vowels "eh" and "ee." I suggest that you open up the "eh" vowel more. Put more space between your top and bottom molars. And make sure to sustain the "eh" vowel. Give the "way" an overall better energy boost. Give it stronger and lower support and give it more energy inside your mouth. Just like I talked about before, hold the energy to the end of the note. It's a longer note, so make sure that you're sustaining both the vowel and the tone with energy. Thanks for sharing!

I hear some of the same issues in your stronger vocals that I heard in the lighter vocals, which means that breath support is a consistent issue. That's no surprise because breath support is the nemesis of every singer. It's what all of us are always working on. It's interesting that when you sing the first part of the chorus "Miles away," you are slightly under pitch. But then you sing "Miles away" again with the big jump on "A - way" and you sing the high note on the big jump beautifully. Your sound on the highest note is free, much more open, much better in tune and a much better sound. It's probably because you have a different approach to that high note. You know it's high and so you give it more effort. Your breath support is stronger and your vowel is more open. The intonation issues on the first part of the chorus sounds like it's partially an issue with the diphthong on the vowel of "way," just like ronws was talking about before. When you sing "way" of "away," the diphthong occurs on the 2nd syllable. The diphthong of "way" is made up of the vowels "eh" and "ee." I suggest that you open up the "eh" vowel more. Put more space between your top and bottom molars. And make sure to sustain the "eh" vowel. Give the "way" an overall better energy boost. Give it stronger and lower support and give it more energy inside your mouth. Just like I talked about before, hold the energy to the end of the note. It's a longer note, so make sure that you're sustaining both the vowel and the tone with energy. Thanks for sharing!

You are definitely a tenor! One can hear that just by listening to the timbre of your voice and the ease with which you sing the notes in the range that you sing.

ronws - thanks for checking out my site! PM me if you have any feedback!

That was a pretty good rendition! You have a voice that's very similar to the original, and it is well within your range. I would say that the biggest thing to work on is getting the support lower. It seems like your breathing is shallow, engaging only the upper half of your lungs. This is evident throughout the sustained longer notes, when tension starts to creep into the sound. During the longer notes, keep the breath low. It is also really apparent when you get to the ad lib section towards the end of the song. Also related - while I appreciate your expressiveness and your ease in moving while you sing, sometimes it gets in the way of keeping your breathing mechanism engaged. As an experiment, try keeping your feet planted firmly into the ground. Think of digging your heels deep into the ground (but keep your knees relaxed) on phrases like "I wanna FEEL what love is" and really dig down on the word "feel." Try to keep the easiness of your posture without shifting your weight side to side. I would also lower the microphone. Its current height further encourages a shallower breathing. Maybe lower it to about chin level. Overall, you have a very easy way about your sound. It seems like it's effortless, which is a good thing. But it tends towards the "too easy" almost lazy side of your sound. (I hope that doesn't sound rude.) It needs more strength behind it, and that comes from good breath support. You don't want to swing too much to the other side and start getting tension, but you will have to work to find balance. To get more consistent just takes practice. Just make sure that you're practicing the right way. As it stands right now, with your current lack of support, more practice would probably lead to the bad kind of tension in your vocal cords and you would lose your voice more easily. If you sing with better support, you'll be able to sing for longer periods of time. Here is one of my blog posts in which I offer 7 tricks for better breath support: http://www.theaspiringsinger.com/betterbreathsupport/ I think you would really benefit by trying some of the exercises that I posted. Good luck and keep up the good work!