Correcting a bad habit

[TurkishFarmer]

So I've never had any formal training, but in the last few years I've occasionally tried to get better at singing by learning tips online and doing exercises and whatnot. While I have noticed some improvements, I still don't sound that "good". Recently I think I figured out my problem. When I sing a low to high interval in a song, I often initially jump up to a slightly lower note than the target note, then quickly (less than a half a second) raise up to the correct note. I think I originally did this because jumping a large interval and landing on the correct pitch was difficult, and it made it easier to land on a note close to it, then move up the smaller interval.

It's similar to "grace notes" (I think?), and I know artists sometimes do this kind of thing stylistically. But the note that I raise up from is usually not on pitch, and even though I'm only on it for a quarter of a second, it makes my singing sound sloppy and overall just not that good. Right now I'm capable of singing without doing this, but it's so hard for me to do just because it's a bad habit I've had for so long. Does anybody know of a good way to correct this habit?

Also, please don't just tell me to get a vocal coach, because I'm a broke college student and I can't afford it.

[Khassera]

Staccatos.

[Felipe Carvalho]

Prepare the note before beginning the phrase. Do a imaginary slide to pitch. Then attack. Practice that and alternate between a direct attack, and "mental slide" attack.

To let go of the habit you will have to fight it for a while, no other way...

[D.Starr]

Anything you do, give it 21 days. It takes 21 days to break and relearn a new habit.

You MUST do it everyday or it doesn't work.

[Khassera]

Anything you do, give it 21 days. It takes 21 days to break and relearn a new habit.

You MUST do it everyday or it doesn't work.

Haha, I'd normally chalk this down to lifehacking hippie crap (being a lifehacker hippie meself) but it's the goddamned truth. Anything, any skill at all, if broken down to a basic enough level, is learnable within 21 days. It can be 20, or 19, or 23, but 21 just sounds good. Three weeks. Not bad.

I've started doing "micro-skills," that is, stuff I do the same every single time, and I'm giving them a month before I either incorporate it into my routine or abandon it.

Right now I'm doing a stint of staccato stuff with ees and oos. I can hear it working. I'm already relying on my headvoice more than ever, and feeling a sort of "lean" towards mix/head whenever I do a phrase. A sort of "yearning."

Another hack is stair lunges and donkey calf raises, but that's a different topic.

[D.Starr]

I've started doing "micro-skills," that is, stuff I do the same every single time, and I'm giving them a month before I either incorporate it into my routine or abandon it.

Right now I'm doing a stint of staccato stuff with ees and oos. I can hear it working. I'm already relying on my headvoice more than ever, and feeling a sort of "lean" towards mix/head whenever I do a phrase. A sort of "yearning."

 

 

Interesting about the staccato stuff, might have to have a mess around with them

[Elvis]

Interesting about the staccato stuff, might have to have a mess around with them

 

I embraced "Khasseras (In)Famous Staccato Method" and i can guarantee it has its merits. Even if they are just squeeks. I often find myself doing some stacatto burst on higher notes and tryin to hold the last one a bit longer, even conecting them to my lower range and it really has its benefits.

 

Im mainly following 4 pillars of singing but i try to experiment with all the tip from forum for a while to see if they have any merit.

 

#KhasseraUltimateVocalCoachViking

[Khassera]

I actually have a book coming out. And a DVD. And some sports socks 'cause shirts were a bit too expensive. And a poo.

D, I do the staccatos like SS/MM teaches them, sound like a squeaking tire while focusing on keeping tension to a minimum.

[Real]

Anything you do, give it 21 days. It takes 21 days to break and relearn a new habit.

You MUST do it everyday or it doesn't work.

 

Not to nitpick or undermine you in anyway, but for OP's sake, I want to stress that what he/she wants will likely take more than 21 days due to human nature.

 

A few weeks is plenty of time to form a habit, IF one doesn't have a previous issue that conflicts with the new habit...

 

Instead of conceptualizing the goal as -- (bad habit + 3 weeks of conscious effort = permanent good habit) -- OP should conceptualize 2 goals.

(bad habit + at least 3-4 weeks of conscious effort = bad habit no longer automatic) and (good habit + at least 3-4 weeks of conscious effort = it becomes automatic).

The reason why I say this is, if you've conditioned yourself one way, conditioning towards something else doesn't necessarily decondition the existing conditioning.

Source: (otherwise useless) Degree in Behavioral Sciences .

[Elvis]

Not to nitpick or undermine you in anyway, but for OP's sake, I want to stress that what he/she wants will likely take more than 21 days due to human nature.

A few weeks is plenty of time to form a habit, IF one doesn't have a previous issue that conflicts with the new habit...

Instead of conceptualizing the goal as -- (bad habit + 3 weeks of conscious effort = permanent good habit) -- OP should conceptualize 2 goals.

(bad habit + at least 3-4 weeks of conscious effort = bad habit no longer automatic) and (good habit + at least 3-4 weeks of conscious effort = it becomes automatic).

The reason why I say this is, if you've conditioned yourself one way, conditioning towards something else doesn't necessarily decondition the existing conditioning.

Source: (otherwise useless) Degree in Behavioral Sciences .

Thats correct. But in this case there is no middle grOund. If u break the bad habit you are placed in a good habit automaticaly. There is no middle ground here, there is no going from bad to "neutral" to good. I understand what you are saying but even with good habit you sometimes lapse into some bad ones. Ao focus is always needed.

In othet words you rehabituate from point A to point B. The middle ground would be in between where you are working toward a good habit but you dont have it down yet. And i would guess that can be achieved in 3-4 weeks.

At least thats how i see it.

[Real]

@Elvis If there is no middle ground, I agree with everything you're saying. I think there is some grey area, though .

 

OP says they don't sound accurate because they're sliding from an out of tune position... but one can slide while in tune, and one can also be out of tune without sliding.

 

All I'm saying is, be thorough. Focus on negating the tendency to slide AND focus being in-tune, in favor of expecting them to come together.

 

tuh-may-toh    toh-mah-to

[TurkishFarmer]

D, I do the staccatos like SS/MM teaches them, sound like a squeaking tire while focusing on keeping tension to a minimum.

Could You point me in the direction of where to find these staccato excercises?

[Khassera]

Could You point me in the direction of where to find these staccato excercises?

 

Just do a scale of your choice, whatever, 3-tone, 5-tone, octave, 5th, whatever, and instead of the usual may may may or me me me or la la la or whatever you do, do a squeaking tire sound (usually uh or ee). Have a little edge to it, so don't worry if it goes into a vocal fry type of sound, or flips, just don't force it.

 

I can't find the video I was looking for, but haha, here's one that's even better from Dan:

 

>http://youtube.com/cBGOQhsWT0w?t=4m6s

 

What I would add to it, though, is the tip from the other video I couldn't find. You wanna put your fingers up against the soft below your chin and make sure that while you're doing the staccatos the muscles below your chin don't tense up. If they do, press into them to relax them and try to resume the exercise. It's a pretty foolproof way of checking that you're doing the exercise correctly.

 

Just do that. Do that over and over until you feel literally nothing in the throat while you cross from chest to head, start soft, add a little edge once you get the hang of it. And keep that sensation and do a couple of phrases from a song. Pay attention to how it feels. It will be a bitch to tame if you're used to screaming and yelling to get to the top.

[ronws]

Not to nitpick or undermine you in anyway, but for OP's sake, I want to stress that what he/she wants will likely take more than 21 days due to human nature.

 

A few weeks is plenty of time to form a habit, IF one doesn't have a previous issue that conflicts with the new habit...

 

Instead of conceptualizing the goal as -- (bad habit + 3 weeks of conscious effort = permanent good habit) -- OP should conceptualize 2 goals.

(bad habit + at least 3-4 weeks of conscious effort = bad habit no longer automatic) and (good habit + at least 3-4 weeks of conscious effort = it becomes automatic).

The reason why I say this is, if you've conditioned yourself one way, conditioning towards something else doesn't necessarily decondition the existing conditioning.

Source: (otherwise useless) Degree in Behavioral Sciences .

Cool post and you could have thrown some operant conditioning in there. As the good habit becomes developed and the results are found to be pleasing, that is also a reward that helps to reinforcement the better thing.

 

What I got from what you said is that developing a good habit does not erase the bad habit. But, eventually, the bad habit can reduce and diminish from lack of reinforcing behavior for that old habit. When I was learning operant conditioning, it was described as a bad habit self-extinguishing from lack of use in the presence of a reward for the desired or better thing.