You've Got The Love (Florence + The Machine Cover Version)

[aitcheson]

http://www.box.com/s/vs0sgp6uxn37dn5bzxhj

So this is You've Got The Love, originally by a band called The Source but a famous cover version is out now by Florence + The Machine.

Anyway looking for help with improving my voice obviously so tell me what I need to work on.

Just me singing over an instrumental track trying to remember the melody on the third love.

Thanks :)

[KillerKu]

You sound a bit like you're on the beginning of the journey which is a familiar sound to me. I remember the feeling, don't worry about it not being quite together yet as it will come.

I'll tell you the absolute beginner tips that worked great for me for me getting out the gate. If I had only continued following these tips and not a lot of 'other' tips, I could likely still have my voice:

1. You know the feeling you get at the very beginning of a yawn? A full yawn would be bad to sing on (too many muscles activate), but just the very beginning stages of relaxation there is good where things open up a tad. Maybe 10 percent of a yawn. Just enough to make you feel loose and opened rather than closed and rigid.

2. You'll hear this a whole lot, but breath support is very important. You're not in any danger with your current sound there, but as you start pushing into more and more sung sounds with more range and such, it will become more and more important. It's kind of hard for people to describe other than you feel it sink pretty deep down into your diaphragm and your shoulders do not raise. You'll eventually learn to meter this air out bit by bit in a more controlled manner.

3. The yawn sensation might help you do this naturally, but people have a thing called a soft palate towards the back of their mouth, that if raised just a little, you can get a nice resonance and more of a 'sung' sound instead of a talk sound. It's kind of hard for people to visualize where it is, but basically like if you go to the doctor and say 'aaaaaahhh' the back of your mouth will open up a bit more in a relaxed way.

Keep in mind, most of singing is subtle, you basically need to get an idea of what you're doing, and then maybe go for like 10 percent, not 100 percent. It should always feel comfortable.

For me, those three things were grade A advice that worked tremendously well and got me a long way towards the sound I was looking for with regular practice. Later, I took advice that I shouldn't have and may have paid for it dearly. So hey, take care of yourself and be careful. Start with some basics, you know getting relaxed and a bit more open, breathing good. You should probably get some lessons, either now, or they will become increasingly more and more important the further you push past the basics into more and more advanced things, right?

The things with pitch and all of that, it will help if you work on interval training, and sing along with an instrument, scales, those kinds of things, but getting the breath support and a bit more of a sung sound to start with will likely help the most at this stage.

Above all take care, you're going to get there.

[aitcheson]

Thank you so much, I think I went overboard and tried far too hard today (despite knowing I should never push) so now my voice is a little sore but thanks for all the info I will try my best to follow it in the future. :D

[KillerKu]

Thank you so much, I think I went overboard and tried far too hard today (despite knowing I should never push) so now my voice is a little sore but thanks for all the info I will try my best to follow it in the future.

No problem I love seeing people starting up and getting passionate. A big part of it is just going to be getting a bit more relaxed and getting the breath support. The more relaxed you can get, and the better you can manage your breath, the less likely you'll be going sore like that. You wanna get a feeling in your body like the breath is shooting 'up and out.'

I wish there was a great way to describe breath support, because people tend to use analogies or visualizations that are 'kind of right' but can mislead a lot, most are more likely better descriptions of how the person feels than what is actually happening. Like I've heard a lot of people describe it like you're 'holding air back.' Sure it kind of feels like that, but at the same time someone might hear that and go 'damn I need to hold my breath more apparently!' The thing is, (literally) holding your breath is about the worst thing you can do, so if you think you've got it bad now you'd in trouble!

Other people describe breath support like you're having a sensation of sucking inwards towards your belly while exhaling freely? For me that analogy matches the sensation more, but you know, it still sounds mysterious, contradictory and bizarre. In the back of my mind, I'm still worried some kid out there might be trying to suck and blow literally at the same time when they hear it.

Above all, you really want to trust what feels comfortable, smooth, and free for you and pursue those things. There's no rush, and chances are we won't have magic words that will just 'work' on the spot for every step of the way. If you can get a teacher or someone that can show you and correct you and guide you towards it, you'll be a lot safer and better off, right?

In the meantime, baby steps, relaxation, and learning more about breathing will probably stop the soreness.

[aitcheson]

Yes, unfortunately I have no way of getting a real teacher anywhere in the near future. So I have been relying on Vocal Exercise videos mostly and I have definitively made improvement from where I was 4 or 5 months ago, but its seems like when I get ready to sing or record something I find myself constantly changing the way I sing and I think it's because I get a little uptight about being safe (the result being unsafe singing ironically). So I definitely think I need to just trust what feels conformable and try to relax like you said.

[KillerKu]

Yes, unfortunately I have no way of getting a real teacher anywhere in the near future. So I have been relying on Vocal Exercise videos mostly and I have definitively made improvement from where I was 4 or 5 months ago, but its seems like when I get ready to sing or record something I find myself constantly changing the way I sing and I think it's because I get a little uptight about being safe (the result being unsafe singing ironically). So I definitely think I need to just trust what feels conformable and try to relax like you said.

Those are really good observations to be having and I'm glad you're paying attention. One thing about the internet, is there is so much information, you could scour the net for hours looking for new 'techniques' and find yourself stuck in a cycle of constantly changing how you sing. Part of what happened to me is likely related to this, and if you are a self learner, like I was, you'll have a huge leg up if you're going to pay attention and tell yourself 'no that's a bad idea, I need to maintain a solid foundation, I don't need to try everything under the sun.'

I honestly believe a lot of the more advanced techniques work with specific, diligent practice from a stable voice foundation in the first place? But in order to have some stability, your voice needs to be first habituated into a comfortable state, where there is some regularity to what you're telling the voice to do comfortably. If you try to make your voice do a different thing every day, that's not going to be how you'll get where you want to be and it puts you at risk.

Not to mention some of the exercises you find online are just not good exercises, there are a few that are dangerous so it's kind of a gamble. Me, I lost this gamble in the long run, though in the short run I ended up singing much better and comfortably because some of the first advice I ever found was very good. But even still, I kept rolling the dice on new things, and at some point it's likely these new things caused me way more problems than just pursuing what works and feels good for me.

What you want is a good foundation to start with. You want comfort, you want stamina, you want breath support, you want relaxation. Some of those ideas I gave you there, will not only get a pretty good sound and likely a decent range (likely up to two octaves of a fuller voice if you practice), but most importantly you'll probably have a stability that feels good and comfortable. Now it's possible to build from that, but if it's shakey or feels uncomfortable to start with, those more advanced techniques can do more harm than good, and many of those advanced techniques would likely be best left to a teacher.

Anyway, I think you're really starting to understand, and I'm very glad you've thought of this before it could become a problem. I know how it feels to be self taught and it's kind of a precarious place to be. If you can just settle down and focus on getting a very comfortable, 'free' feeling voice, I think you'll gain a lot more out of this than if you focus on range or trying every new exercise you find to get the 'ultimate technique' (whatever that is). A lot of the exercises out there, even the good ones, if done incorrectly can encourage constriction. If you don't have a solid foundation to return too, that makes it all for the worse.

I think you'll be ok there, I'm not trying to scare you off from singing. I believe in you, but take care and stay comfortable. Try to keep that your number one goal. Everything else can come after that is achieved.

[aitcheson]

Thank you for so much great advice! :)