Beginner looking for guidance..

[zach454]

Hey All!

I'm looking for a little guidance on my singing. I know I'm not the greatest, but what I want to accomplish is to be able to play guitar and sing well enough that people won't mind listening! We have a lot of campfires and I would like to play around the fire.

My problem is, I don't know how to improve my voice and I don't even know if I'm in the right key or pitch.

On a scale of 1-10 (1 being the worst) where do I sit with my voice on this song?

What should I be doing different to make it better?

The song is Drink a Beer- Luke Bryan in the Key of G I believe.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks,

-Zach

[ronws]

I won't rate your voice on a scale. I like the song and I like how you were trying to sing without local accent which is still affecting you. Because the vowel sounds are slightly off, which makes it sound like a pitch problem when, really, just cleaning the vowels will clear it up. What do I mean by that?

The way you sing "drink" in the chorus. That is the right kind of "ee" sound. Do that on other words that have an ee sound. not eh or ih, but ee. Trust me, I am still cleaning up my vowels, too. Which brings me to my next point. Don't linger on L or R sound. They should be momentary flicks of the tip of the tongue. I used to do the same thing.

If you sing a word like "love", sing it either as L ah v or as L oo v. Because, especially if you are american, the spoken uh sound has the effect of pulling the tongue too low and detuning the note. And that's not just me saying that. American opera singer Debra Lynn has also found that to be true and steers her students away from that.

"Drink a beer" should be "dr-eenk ah b -ee-r". I am constantly on guard for myself to not fall back into speach pronunciations while singing. Singing is different than speaking, even with the same organs.

Also, you can use a vowel form as a formant or "shape" while singing. Sing the word love while thinking oo, if that makes sense.

[bluesguy63]

zach

I'm exactly where you are in terms of goals. I know I'm not the next american idol....I just want to be comfortable around a campfire or even an open mic. the folks on here have been a big help and the advice i got was to find a good vocal coach which I finally did...wish I done that sooner. To my laymen ears, I think you sound just fine and would fit in around any campfire jam session i've ever been in attendance. Your guitar is good and you have a nice tone.Keep at it.

[Jim Brewster]

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!

[zach454]

These were all very god comments, and I will definitly start working on my vowels. I can hear the difference already. Thanks for the support!!