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Heart - Alone - vocal cover

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Songs I have sang for a decade or so and then, when I press record, I step on my own feet.

But you may have some red light syndrome. It is similar to stagefright but even more insular than being in front of a crowd.

I bet the price of lunch that if you sang it, again, right now, it would sound different.

Hey Ronws, I think I definitely have RLS...he he he :)

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people have covered the main problems - too heady and off pitch up there.

unfortunately the fix for that is not at all simple - in order to really benefit on a song this difficult for you you'll have to change the way you approach practicing it.

Singing it all the way through is not as effective as a million other modifications you can make to it to train special aspects of it, I'll just give you some examples:

-to fix the pitch issues, sing the chorus in a comfortably quiet and powerless head voice/falsetto just so you can focus ONLY on pitch

-to fix the power issues, lower the key so that you can actually access power in your voice

-if the above makes you push chest again, go back to the original key to regain finesse - you alternate this and the above in search of a balance

-alternate vocalizing and singing phrases to transfer over your good vocalizing habits

-work phrases in isolation and repeat them over and over making small tweaks until they are perfect then keep repeating them to remember what that feels and sounds like

-sing lyrics legato on one vowel

-change consonants to easier consonants

-use scales to launch certain difficult phrases

-sing phrases extremely slowly

-overmodify vowels at first then gradually bring them back to the original

And a great coach can give you the added benefit of guiding you on WHEN to use these crutches in your practice

The idea is you give yourself these crutches to teach you the right coordination and over time you gradually take them out. if you just sing the song over and over again and try to control everything mentally it will take a very long time to get better because you'll repeat a lot of bad habits.

I know it's hard to do without a coach, but even an attempt at picking apart the song more and fixing little details, would be better than just singing it over and over, at least for now.

A good idea could be to find the hardest phrase of the song and only work on picking that apart and fixing details until it sounds right in the original key. By the time you figure out that one phrase pretty good, the others will have a head start from everything you learned battling the toughest one.

Awesome post Owen. :)

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I just listened to it. Twice. I think that you are just not hitting the notes dead on. You sound like you are "fishing" for them sometimes. But yes, you have the range to sing then. Maybe you couldn't heart the backing track enough when you recorded it?

Hi Keith, you could be right about fishing for the notes. As this was the first time in my practice that I could sing those notes (or at least close enough), I was definitely not confident at all. I'm sure with practice it will get better. I am just recovering from a 2-week-no-singing because of work and a cold I caught. So, when I tried to sing yesterday it was awful. Today I'm having a better vocal-day. ;)

Many thanks for taking the time to listen and commenting. It really means a lot to me, as it helps me to improve. Hopefully, in a few weeks I can post a cover that is not from practice, but a performance cover. Cheers :cool:

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Hi Owen, WOW! How can I ever thank you and all these people enough for helping me? This "forum" really makes you feel welcome and worthy. I really liked all the tips man, and in fact, I have started practicing the songs line by line, as you and other people have suggested, and it really helps. This recording was the very first time I got to sing all the notes, or at least, close enough, of this song. So, my main concern was to get the high notes and keep chord closure all the way. It is evident that I am able to sing most of the high notes, I just need to work it. I can't wait to go back to my routine of practice, as I am recovering of a 2-no-singing-week due to work demands and a cold I caught. Today I was just fooling around singing some songs, and it felt much better. I will definitely try all your tips man, with exception of the coach, which I intend to do, but in due time. Many thanks again.

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Wow! You have a really nice voice. I really appreciate that slight fry that you have. About the hight notes, I think they are absolutely in your DNA, but I think you have just to 'make them yours' a little bit more to reach you full potential. Keep rockin'!

Hi Neko, many thanks for taking the time to listening and the kind words. This was the first time I could sing the whole song in my practice, so I just had to record it. Now thanks to all these people's comments and tips I'll be able to do it better with practice.

Cheers

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