So my brothers says I can't sing at all :=) (Papa Roach SCARS)

[Oliver]

I think I'm not bad, I definitely wanna take a lot of singing lessons to get good. First gotta get a job to pay for them. I have been practicing singing at home for the last 3 months and about a year ago I made a few rather funny youtube videos. So this is my first one here, honestly I'm jus hoping you guys will tell me I got potential and could be nice If I take profesional singing lessons. I hope you like it at all and any constructive criticism is welcome. I think my flaws are singing airy / breathy, pronounciation, not the best volume and I can't hit the highest notes. I hopefully get to work on that soon with a teacher.

Also the audio is rather bad, I got a Shure PG48 microphone. And it survived the last year new eyes party. So what more can I say, hope you support me a little, if you don't like it of course you are free to say so. Thank you I hope I get a few comments.

I'm 24 years old, from Europe, Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Right now I give myself a 4/10 and I want to get to a 7/10 in a year and a few months with the help of singing lessons. 4/10 for my general singing abilitie, but I'm kinda good with this song so for this take I'd give myself a 6/10, hope that doesn't come of cocky, but I sang this song already a 50 to 100 times maybe.

1 is let's say some funny people singing on youtube getting 70 % dislikes, 10 are Katty Perry or Stacie Orrico.

If you want to you can rate me, you can of course give me low numbers but it would be nice if you say that I can improve with work. Cause my friends and family claim one cna not learn to sing it's an inborn talent. I agree that some are more talented for singing but my believe is that anyone can become decent with dedicated work. Of course not everyone will sing like Mariah Carey or Usher but i believe that +95 % of people with work can become pretty good.

http://soundcloud.com/linkinpark87/papa-roach-scars

Hope the link works and I'm happy I found a site about singing. Please coment no matter what your opinion is I'd love some feedbackCheers

I'm driving myself a little crazy in wait fro a response so I decided to do another take of the same song, this time I tried to sing more out of the chest but it's kinda rough as in not fine enough. My brothers and mother made fun of my singing again (not in a evil way of course), I'm starting to believe them that I'm not good but I won't give up until I had at least 50 singing lessons .

Here's the second take, I tried to sing with mroe volume also made it unintentionaly sound more breathy.

http://soundcloud.com/linkinpark87/scars-2

[Chavie]

You have a good vocal tone, and that its self is a great start...

with 3-6 months training with the right program, i could see you doing pretty well

Right now i can see you need a lot of work, with Support( thats me as well)

You need to learn to sing from the Diaphragm.

Look at yourself in the mirror and take a deep breath, if your shoulders rise, your doing it wrong

you want your lower stomech and back, along with your sides to expand as you breath in (pretend you're filling up an inner tube wrapped around your waist)

but ill leave the experts explain more lol........

Your pitch is off in quite a few places.

But that can be an easy fix, singing along with scales over time

[ronws]

Hey Oliver, you are trying to sing like speak. And it sounds like you are speaking, when you should be singing. Your second version was not more "chest." It was just louder, possibly being closer to the mic. What you could do as an experiment is sing it softer on your vocal attack but give a more fluid breath flow. And feel the note behind your nose. It will not sound nasal, even if you feel like it is. Right now, you are singing from the throat, which is okay for a certain style or feel. But if you want this song to flow, get the note out of your throat and into your head.

How do you do that, to begin with? Smile a little or lift your cheeks, whichever is more comfortable. These actions move the soft palate and allow the note to resonate where it is supposed to resonate. If you follow the resonance, your breath management will follow.

You will be surprised to find that the singing is easier than you thought it was. But you do have a good tone and you were on pitch. You are more than halfway to where you want to be.

And respect to you for picking such a difficult song to work on. It is a tricky melody to master, crossing the first passaggio a few times.

Good luck and bless you in your journey.

[Oliver]

Oh thank you guys a lot for your coments. I fully agree, I know next to nothing about technique of singing, and I will get lessons so someone in eprson will explain to me how to do it better. And yes the second version just sound slouder. Maybe I have a hard time singing out of my diaphragm cause I actualy have pectus excavatum, a dent in my chest, it's I owuld say medium not too deep but I have it, it's not just super little. However I know most of it is lack of knowledge of technique. In my town there are not really singing lessons to be taken it's only 6000 people, but in a town next to us there is a musical school so I might be able ot get some lessons there. My goal is to be solid a 7/10 so I can sing all these songs that I have writen. I'm pretty sure I can't get signed cause o my voice even with 5 years of lessons unless I have crazy luck but if I'm good enough to sing my own songs then I think I can get some attention. Yeah the verses kind of are like I am speaking maybe I felt that's how they should be done but you're probably right that I should ahve sung them more then "talked". I will put up more songs ehre cause I sing like everyday recently for 40 minutes to 1 hour and it's fun. Thanks agian for helping me guys, I will take lessons as soon as possible. It's jsut a little weird taking lessons in a small town cause of what people might say and I gotta check how much they cost, but well if one wants it he will find a way or if you don't want it enough you will find an excuse.

I'll try to understand the advice given, I guess I always hear about singing from the diaphragm and then end up singing out of my throat instead of head. But I don't understand much of that right now but I'm willing to work on it, however on an forum writen it's a little hard to understand for me, but I'm sure a vocal coach can show me a lot. Also should I join the church chour in town ?

[ronws]

Here's a few things, Oliver. The shape of your ribcage has nothing to do with your singing. The breath support should come from your abdomen. The diaphragm is an automatic muscle that moves during inhalation or breathing in. What happens is you relax the abdomen which gives the diaphragm room to flex down and draw in air. You should exhale with your abdomen, not your chest or ribcage.

"Singing from the diaphragm" is a misuse of semantics and a misunderstanding of anatomy that has survived for so long. The action is in the stomach muscles and to some extent, the lower back muscles, not the ribcage and certainly not the diaphragm, which cannot be directly controlled.

And all resonance is in the head, even what people call "chest" voice. Your lungs are wet bags of spongy material that are deflating as you speak or sing. So, you don't actually resonate in a wet spongy bag that is losing air volume as you sing.

So, feel the motion in the bottom of your stomach, feel the sound in your head, and you should feel nothing in the throat.

Also, you can work on the adduction (close proximity) of your vocal folds by humming the "ng" sound and the "mm" sound. On higher pitches, you can also try squeaking like a door that has rusty hinges and needs to be oiled.

You can sing, you just need a guide into the right direction.

As for lessons, do what you can when you can. And, who cares what others think? It's your voice and your career that you are looking out for.

And another thing that will help, all around. Learn to speak as you would sing, rather than singing as you would speak. That is, even when speaking, breathe from the belly, speak the word as you feel it in your head. This also means don't try to talk low and "tough" as many imagine that men should sound like. This is a number one voice killer. Let the sound of your voice rise off the folds in the larynx and resonate where they need to resonate. This you can do any time, all day, every day.

[ronws]

Also, Oliver, plenty of people, including me are going to tell you that this will take time. And dedicated effort to retrain what your muscles and nerves do. Don't let that scare you. If you have the desire to pursue this, the dedication will be second nature.

The other hard part is to accept that you will make some funny or odd sounds at first. Others may laugh. You might even laugh, too. But then, the first time you hit a B4 or C5 (tenor C) with power and clarity, the laughing will stop. Accept that it will take a while and the hardest part is changing your mind to understand what the voice really is and how one makes a sound. Accept that what sounds girly or foolish at first will, with training, become powerful and strong. But that it will take a while to get there.

And experiment. Find out all of what your voice can do. Try silly voices (I do.) Try sounding different emotions.

Listen to your favorite singers and write down what you like about their voice. And, what you don't like.

Don't be afraid to learn, don't try to be "macho" or manly. A real man boldy goes forth, not caring what others think.

[Oliver]

I can understand what you are saying but I'm not knowlegdable enough to apply it on my own. However I see what you mean with feeling it in your stomach and head instead of what I tried with chest and thinking feeling it in the head is = head voice. Thank you so much. I think there might be classes after all in my town so if I take them I'll come back here regulary ot get your opinions to see if the teacher is legit. Ronws what is your standpoint in life on music right now ? Are you in a band or trying ot get signed or giving lessons or just do this is a hobby / love ? I also have to get braces soon cause I got a gap in my teeth so I pronounce stuff rather bad cause of it since I'm used to not show my upper teeth that much, lol I sound like a ugly mofo now :=) . Go to my facebook I look normal XD Oliver Rupčić I would love to be facebook friend swith you guys, I don't take face that serious and have like 150 friends I never met, I like making ocntacts and eventualy want to have +4500 friends to promote my music once I think I'm ready ot put it out. However we also can comunicate just trough here it's great in any scenario. I will sing some more make a new thread with 35songs os I get more feedback, in real life my friends and fam don't wanna listen to me lol. ANd I'm 0 afraid of practicing for years and learning and sounding bad sometimes it's jsut that people around me have this mindset that you're born with a awesome voice or you're jsut stupid for thinknig that oyu can learn to sing with which I don't agree and gladly peopel on the itnernet seem to think like that too. Genetics and talent play some role but msot things in life are a skill you learn and improve. I love this forum :S / didn't spell check yet

[ronws]

Oliver, I am a middle-aged hippie who works a regular job for a paycheck but I still have the dream of making music, writing my own stuff and having people like it. I have sang live in various venues, from a nightclub with no mic and just a guitar, to a karaoke, to a large party with mics and amps and guitars, to restaurants that have live entertainment, to singing around the campfire for others. Basically, any place they don't run me off. But, no, I have not sang in front of 20 to 80,000 people. I don't have an album out, no myspace or facebook page. The closest thing I have is my profile page on the Modern Vocalist website (search Ron Stone, if you want to hear what I have uplodaded, so far.)

I do not teach voice. I am an electrician, by trade and currently I am an office manager for an electrical company.

I have sang all of my life and I have played guitar since October 1974. And I was able to open up my upper range around 1988.

[Oliver]

Ok cool Ronws, good luck in your path. :D