Been Singing Seriously for Two Months

[iwillbecomeagoodsinger]

here is a short little clip that I recorded earlier today. Let me know what you think.. I'm not that great of a singer at the moment (I will be one day though), I've only been doing this seriously for a good two months, but the progress I have made thus far has been immense!

Here is the link:

http://picosong.com/3BST/

As I said before, it's not very good, but it's a hell of a lot better then when I first started, any feedback would be appreciated!

(I am the first male singer, not the second female vocalist)

[Keith]

Your pitch sounds better, but still singing with a weak tone and with way too much air. If you don't have a coach or teacher, you should make yourself some kind of workout and do it religiously. For instance: lip bubbles on a 5 tone scale through your range (10 minutes), then gug, may, ng, all those things on scales . Sing along with songs is good, but songs will not work every note in your range, so it's important to do both. Maybe you can hit up Robert or Dan for a Skype lesson and get some better answers.

[Sound26]

It sounds like you're embarassed by your voice and are deliberately (maybe sub consciously) holding back.

Listen to Keith, he knows what he's about.

[iwillbecomeagoodsinger]

Hey guys, thanks for the feedback, and I'm not embarrassed by my voice at all. I guess shouldn't have said "it's not very good" multiple times even though I actually think its good. To be honest I'm pretty proud of this recording as well as my most recent ones because it really shows how much I have improved in such a short amount of time. And regarding the airy vocals, I was going for something a bit more airy, but I agree that its too airy sounding at times. And I'm doing Brett Manning's Singing Success at the moment as well as singing to the piano and guitar, and so far I'm really happy with the results. Thanks for the advice though Keith.

edit: Next time I post my vocals I'll be more honest in my OP.. (and they will also sound a lot better then because I will have improved! ) I can only get better guys!! :cool:

[Keith]

Be aware, the biggest complaint I hear from SLS students is that their voices sound weak. This is not because it's a bad program, rather people buy the program, then don't follow the program up with some lessons. If I were you, I'd schedule at least one lesson with an SLS coach - it is easier to correct bad habits at the start, rather than a year or two later. Just a thought.

[napoleonboot]

Please don't start a topic post by lining up the excuses first - just give it your best shot and let us hear what you've got

As for the singing, I think you are holding back, as if you didnt want the person in the next room to hear you. Sing out!

George

[iwillbecomeagoodsinger]

Please don't start a topic post by lining up the excuses first - just give it your best shot and let us hear what you've got

As for the singing, I think you are holding back, as if you didnt want the person in the next room to hear you. Sing out!

George

Thanks George, but I was giving it everything I got and my mom was in the room next to me sleeping, lol. I thought I was going to get a lot of negative comments so I posted a disclaimer saying that it's not that good. I actually think the recording was decent and I'm noticing a lot of improvement, and that's what counts! thanks for the comment

[ronws]

We like to fancy ourselves with having a descriminating ear. More often than not, we are just as likely to perceive it was okay as not.

Here's an example. I put up a cover of "Heaven and Hell." And someone liked the raspy high notes I did. I gave no explanations or excuses, to begin with.

After the comment, I pointed out that I was recovering from some self-induced partial laryngitis. I was doing okay to just get the notes and the rasp that one hears was from folds that had not finished healing. I said, "with more attention to what I do, I will not be able to do that again."

Whereas, if I started out with excuses, I set up the expectation of failure. And if you tell people to expect failure, they will certainly find it for you. Especially in a critique forum, where we post things and others think there must be something wrong and, by golly, we will find something wrong, one way or another.

I get it, you are afraid of criticism. Get over it. A critique should be viewed by you as a comment on a sound that you made. And that you need to remember that most people are commenting from a perspective or sound ideal of their own.

Some people like airy sounds, others don't. But a bad pitch is a bad pitch. So, worry about pitch control, first, in whatever you do. Just like a guitar play worries about the guitar being in tune, with one exception. Joe Perry consistently played with an out-of-tune guitar, which would drive Steven Tyler batty. And Joe Perry has to always play louder in decibels than that of a jetliner at take-off speed.

And you will need to sing loud, at times. Which means you can't sing when someone is sleeping. Unless they can sleep through loud noises. I don't know how to help you fix that scenario. You are probably quite young and don't have much choice in where you practice or sing. However, people your age are often quite inventive. With most of them finding ways to get into trouble. Just use your skill and smarts to find ways to sing.

And here's the hard part. And it could take months, it could take decades. You're going to need to sing without fear. And here's why. You could do everything right for your voice. You could be on pitch with great intensity and varying levels of intensity all the way through. And someone will still "find something" to nitpick. Either a valid comment or just the need to feel important in their own right. Or simply judging from their own perspective, their own sound ideal what is or is not a valid sound. But, for me, thanks to others, my only nitpicking thing is pitch control.

Anyway, you will then have to learn to accept that not everyone is a fan. And here's the really hard part. Learn to not be defensive. That was the hard part, for me. It's taken me decades to get any improvement in how I react to people. So, I really am preaching from experience. Aside from working on my pitch control was to learn how I perceive and most importantly, REACT, to others' criticisms.

And to respond to others' critiques graciously and gratefully. And either apply it, or not, without drama. For me, that's harder than getting better pitch control or any of the technical and aesthetic things we talk about, here. Although, sometimes, I may not understand a point in a criticism and will ask for clarification. Sometimes, I will get some, sometimes, not.

And live to sing another day.

So, accept a criticism as a comment on a sound that you made, not on your worthiness as a human being.

Start singing louder, like you expect someone across the room to hear you, which means singing at times where you don't fear waking someone up. And I totally understand wanting to not disturb a parental unit. I was a kid, once. May God have mercy on your soul if you woke my mom up. Bad things happened, then.

But then, I was blessed. During waking hours, during the day, if chores and homework were done, she had no problem with me sitting in my bedroom playing guitar and singing. Because I was not out on the streets, getting in trouble. Of course, singing was only meant to be a hobby. But at least it was not expressly forbidden.

[Foreinger]

For 2 months of serious singing it sounds good.

[OldPainless]

For 2 months of serious singing it sounds good.

I agree, I quite liked it :)