Vocal cover of Superman - Five for Fighting

[Gneetapp]

Hey guys, as I'm practicing my lighter vocals, I'm posting a cover of Superman (Five for Fighting), a song I really like. I hope you enjoy it, and please give me some feedbacks (good or bad). Cheers!

[Gneetapp]

C'mon guys, is it that bad?

[MDEW]

Patience.... Sounded pretty good over all. there were a few places that sounded odd. 1:41 and 2:00. I am not that familier with the song but I do like your tone.

I get impatient too when I post a song. The last one took two or three days and I thought the post died a slow and horrible death and then I got like 5 comments in a day. Sometimes we just don't get a chance to listen to everything.

[ronws]

Don't worry, Gneetapp, it happens. When I first posted "Angel in Blue" a few years ago, there was not a single comment. Good, bad, whatever. Nothing, nada, only the sound of chirpping crickets. Some may have listened to it but none felt like commenting on it. Most likely because they did not know the song and therefore, could not compare to the original. What's the use of critiquing someone if you cannot point out how they differed from the original singer, right?

Anyway, a few pitchy spots that can be fixed by sticking to one vowel, rather than letting the dipthong happen.

And it was a different interpretation than what I was expecting. The original is almost falsetto in the high parts and you were doing clean full voice. So, that was a good idea, for you. And I think this is an excellent match of song and voice. You have the right voice for this song.

Clean vowel, you ask? Rather than allowing the dipthong of ah-ee, for example, just use one of the vowels, such as ah.

[The Aspiring Singer]

Great song for your voice! It starts out very well. Great first verse. You start to lose intonation in the chorus when it gets higher in your range. I'm guessing this is where you are working on the lighter vocals.

This could be a great song for developing your lighter vocals. I'd be interested to hear your stronger vocals. It sounds like the intonation issues are from a weaker breath support. Usually, when we attempt to sing lighter, we weaken the breath support, which is why I'm interested in hearing your stronger vocals. If your songs with stronger vocals have better intonation, then you are definitely weakening the breath support in this song. I can also hear some tension in your sound, which would stem from the weaker breath support.

A few tips:

1. Watch yourself in the mirror when you sing. Are you craning your neck forward or raising your chin up as you sing? That's a definite sign of tension and a very typical crutch when trying to hit higher notes. Those notes are definitely in your range, so you shouldn't be experiencing this kind of tension. Work to keep your shoulders down and your chin level.

2. The tension can be helped mostly with better breath management. Breathe low and keep the lower part of your breathing mechanism engaged as you sing.

3. When you go for the higher notes in the chorus, one exercise for keeping the breath low while keeping tension out of the throat is to think of a downward motion. When you sing "I'm more than a bird," physically point down to the ground on the word "bird." Don't just point. Use a strong physical gesture where your hand starts high near your head on the word "I'm" and moves strongly down towards the ground as you sing the whole phrase ending with your finger all the way down on the word "bird." This exercise helps to remind you to keep the lower breathing mechanism engaged and to keep the larynx relaxed and down.

4. Support the end of each phrase. When the ends of the phrases are weak or lose intonation, that's another sign of weak breath management. If you sing each phrase intending to finish the phrase strong, then you'll have better breath management throughout the whole phrase. Think of each little phrase as like running a marathon. You're not going to slow down as you near the finish line. Instead, you want to run as fast as you can as you near the finish line. Caveat: I'm not talking about finishing the ends of the phrases louder. I'm just saying to sustain the energy throughout the completion of the phrase.

I hope this helps! :)

[Gneetapp]

Patience.... Sounded pretty good over all. there were a few places that sounded odd. 1:41 and 2:00. I am not that familier with the song but I do like your tone.

I get impatient too when I post a song. The last one took two or three days and I thought the post died a slow and horrible death and then I got like 5 comments in a day. Sometimes we just don't get a chance to listen to everything.

Hey MDEW, many thanks for listening, comments, and word of wisdom!

Yeah, patience is the one thing I lack the most! eh eh

Regarding the part between 1:41-2:00, I agree with you, I think it even sounds falsettoish, and the few pitchy spots, I'm still working on the song as a whole, but I need to pay more attention, be more focused, and be in control in the whole time. But that is practice, practice, practice...

Thanks again MDEW for taking the time, it means a lot to me.

[Gneetapp]

Don't worry, Gneetapp, it happens. When I first posted "Angel in Blue" a few years ago, there was not a single comment. Good, bad, whatever. Nothing, nada, only the sound of chirpping crickets. Some may have listened to it but none felt like commenting on it. Most likely because they did not know the song and therefore, could not compare to the original. What's the use of critiquing someone if you cannot point out how they differed from the original singer, right?

Anyway, a few pitchy spots that can be fixed by sticking to one vowel, rather than letting the dipthong happen.

And it was a different interpretation than what I was expecting. The original is almost falsetto in the high parts and you were doing clean full voice. So, that was a good idea, for you. And I think this is an excellent match of song and voice. You have the right voice for this song.

Clean vowel, you ask? Rather than allowing the dipthong of ah-ee, for example, just use one of the vowels, such as ah.

Hey Ronws, thanks a lot for taking the time, man! It really means a lot to me. Yeah, as MDEW mentioned, I need to work more on my patience

As I have posted just a few covers until now, I had no experience of waiting that long for any comments. You are right with the falsetto/very light pure head voice the original singer uses, I think it suits his voice and style, but as a rock singer, I need more bang, but I didn't go belting throughout the song cause it is a very light intimate piece. I'm glad you liked my take on it. Regarding the pitch, yeah, still lots of work to do to be more in control. The major problem is that the notes are not even high in my range, but they sit right in the middle of my shift in resonance (a.k.a. passaggio) eh eh eh.

Regarding the choice of vowels, could you give me an example with words?

Many thanks again man!

[Gneetapp]

Great song for your voice! It starts out very well. Great first verse. You start to lose intonation in the chorus when it gets higher in your range. I'm guessing this is where you are working on the lighter vocals.

This could be a great song for developing your lighter vocals. I'd be interested to hear your stronger vocals. It sounds like the intonation issues are from a weaker breath support. Usually, when we attempt to sing lighter, we weaken the breath support, which is why I'm interested in hearing your stronger vocals. If your songs with stronger vocals have better intonation, then you are definitely weakening the breath support in this song. I can also hear some tension in your sound, which would stem from the weaker breath support.

A few tips:

1. Watch yourself in the mirror when you sing. Are you craning your neck forward or raising your chin up as you sing? That's a definite sign of tension and a very typical crutch when trying to hit higher notes. Those notes are definitely in your range, so you shouldn't be experiencing this kind of tension. Work to keep your shoulders down and your chin level.

2. The tension can be helped mostly with better breath management. Breathe low and keep the lower part of your breathing mechanism engaged as you sing.

3. When you go for the higher notes in the chorus, one exercise for keeping the breath low while keeping tension out of the throat is to think of a downward motion. When you sing "I'm more than a bird," physically point down to the ground on the word "bird." Don't just point. Use a strong physical gesture where your hand starts high near your head on the word "I'm" and moves strongly down towards the ground as you sing the whole phrase ending with your finger all the way down on the word "bird." This exercise helps to remind you to keep the lower breathing mechanism engaged and to keep the larynx relaxed and down.

4. Support the end of each phrase. When the ends of the phrases are weak or lose intonation, that's another sign of weak breath management. If you sing each phrase intending to finish the phrase strong, then you'll have better breath management throughout the whole phrase. Think of each little phrase as like running a marathon. You're not going to slow down as you near the finish line. Instead, you want to run as fast as you can as you near the finish line. Caveat: I'm not talking about finishing the ends of the phrases louder. I'm just saying to sustain the energy throughout the completion of the phrase.

I hope this helps!

Wow! First of all, thank you so much for taking the time to listen, and even more for the detailed analysis.

As I said, this are my light vocals. So, fortunately, I'm not putting my neck forward or raising my chin, but definitely am losing support, as you noticed. I recorded the song sitting down on my chair, so I was probably too relaxed with no support.

I will try the exercise you taught me to remind myself of keeping the abs engaged in the whole song, and even in the end of each phrase.

Many thanks again for taking the time and especially for such a thorough review.

[The Aspiring Singer]

You're welcome! Glad it was helpful.

[ronws]

For example, "find" is a dipthong of ah and ee. Keep it on ah. "Plane" is a dipthong of eh and ee. Keep it on eh.

The one word where a dipthong works is "naive." And that really should be ah then ee.

Things like that, basically, simplifying the singing.

[Gneetapp]

For example, "find" is a dipthong of ah and ee. Keep it on ah. "Plane" is a dipthong of eh and ee. Keep it on eh.

The one word where a dipthong works is "naive." And that really should be ah then ee.

Things like that, basically, simplifying the singing.

Thanks a lot Rowns! In my next practice I'll start paying more attention to this, and try to get it right.

Cheers!

[Gneetapp]

Great song for your voice! It starts out very well. Great first verse. You start to lose intonation in the chorus when it gets higher in your range. I'm guessing this is where you are working on the lighter vocals.

This could be a great song for developing your lighter vocals. I'd be interested to hear your stronger vocals.

I hope this helps!

Feel free to check this cover practice http://themodernvocalist.punbb-hosting.com/viewtopic.php?id=10099

Even though it is a rock ballad, I do some belting in the chorus contrasting to the lighter lower pitched verses.

Many thanks again for the input.

[The Aspiring Singer]

I hear some of the same issues in your stronger vocals that I heard in the lighter vocals, which means that breath support is a consistent issue. That's no surprise because breath support is the nemesis of every singer. It's what all of us are always working on.

It's interesting that when you sing the first part of the chorus "Miles away," you are slightly under pitch. But then you sing "Miles away" again with the big jump on "A - way" and you sing the high note on the big jump beautifully. Your sound on the highest note is free, much more open, much better in tune and a much better sound. It's probably because you have a different approach to that high note. You know it's high and so you give it more effort. Your breath support is stronger and your vowel is more open.

The intonation issues on the first part of the chorus sounds like it's partially an issue with the diphthong on the vowel of "way," just like ronws was talking about before. When you sing "way" of "away," the diphthong occurs on the 2nd syllable. The diphthong of "way" is made up of the vowels "eh" and "ee." I suggest that you open up the "eh" vowel more. Put more space between your top and bottom molars. And make sure to sustain the "eh" vowel. Give the "way" an overall better energy boost. Give it stronger and lower support and give it more energy inside your mouth. Just like I talked about before, hold the energy to the end of the note. It's a longer note, so make sure that you're sustaining both the vowel and the tone with energy.

Thanks for sharing!

[Gneetapp]

Hey Aspiring Singer, I replied to your comments on the original post. Many many thanks for all your help.

Cheers