Cover of 'Fever' by the Black Keys.

[DavidWebb526]

Hello. I'm trying to build up a repertoire of songs to play solo at restaurants, bars, etc. I'm actually a guitar player and have very little singing experience except for a few months of vocal lessons hear and there. Right now I'm just trying to figure out how far I am from getting my vocals to a performance level point.

Any tips on exercises and techniques are much appreciated.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uhB0J_aAGbY&list=UUrA2HN0L_71gpu6OMNWZD-g

[thomaskrasnuik]

I think that you would be ready to play this at a pub or an acoustic venue. Your tone is pleasing and your phrasing is done well. One thing to remember live is try not to oversing your songs. Oversinging will often result in an inability to perform the embellishments ect. So try not to "push too hard" as you get excited. I sing twangy music so one exercise I do is meowing the scales up and down my range and it works well for me. Another good exercise is to find where the money notes are in your song, highlight them, and when you get to that VOWEL in your practice...go into super slow motion and sustain it...try to get some vibrato on the vowel, even if your style of music does not call for it, because then you will know that you have decent support.

Thanks,

[DavidWebb526]

Thank you very much for your feedback. I was starting to think no one noticed, lol. I completely agree with your "holding the vowel sounds for support" tip. I noticed I was loosing air at the end of the song which may have been a result of not keeping a regular practice routine. I was concerned when I doing the earlier takes that I wasn't really engaging my diaphragm so I made it a point to flex it through out the video. This probably resulted in that "oversinging" you were referring to. There's probably a balancing act I will have to work on to achieve that subtly. Thanks again. You definitely hit it on the nose.

[ronws]

I don't think you were oversinging. Keep doing what you are doing. Though, if you want greater comedic effect, use the intro "Take five thousand seven hundred and fort-two [pause] and a half."