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Do You Sing?

FFF

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I'm not talking about sounding as bad as nails scraping on a chalk board in your car or in the shower, but do you do any serious vocal music making? I'm a long time guitar player that's trying to learn how to sing. I still don't know what I'm doing with this thing, and it's my own body.
 

Amargith

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Dunno what you mean with serious vocal music making, but as a kid I got singing lessons in the music academy and got pretty good grades. I stopped during high school (it was considered attention whoring), but recently overcame my stagefright developped in high school to sing with some of my friends on occasion. My goal is to eventually overcome my fear of the stage and be able to rock a karaoke bar ;)

Edit: I'm a soprano
 

bronte

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I sing in a community choir - i started a couple of years ago on a whim -always enjoyed singing in the shower and car. i sing alto and I would never be good enough for a solo but love it. It is really difficult to get right, totally absorbing and wonderful for stress management. Its also quite physical and feels like a release - we sing just about anything but i like the spiritual and classical stuff the best
 

runvardh

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Baritone, when I'm in shape I can go from from the E under the staff, to the E just above middle C.
 

StoryOfMyLife

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I sing, though don't do it so much anymore. For a while during high school I was in with a small group of friends trying to start a band. I wrote some songs and dabbled on keyboard while we all sought out the right vocal parts for each of us. Needless to say, it didn't work out. We dilly-dallied too much and never really got anywhere. I was a high-soprano in my high school choir. Never did any stage solo work, but on occasion would be pushed into doing a solo bit in class while we practiced songs. I'm not too bad, and I still love to belt it out every now and again, but only if I'm alone. I've noticed that I won't take my singing voice seriously if I feel self-conscious and purposely will not sing to my fullest potential. Guess I think I'd be showing off or I'd just make an ass out of myself :blush:

Practice scales. Warm up your voice and learn to breathe through your diaphragm. It was all stuff we did in choir [and we were number one in our state regional competition :)]. The basic 'do re mi' scaled do work and if you warm up for about ten minutes or so before actually trying to sing, your voice will cooperate with you more than if you don't warm up. To keep those vocal cords from getting scratchy, drink water and hot tea with a spoonful or two of honey to soothe them. Also, pay close attention if you're singing along to songs on the radio to what your range is. What you can comfortably sing, what you absolutely cannot reach pitch/tone, and what you could achieve with a bit of practice.

:)
 

Jack Flak

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I sing, though don't do it so much anymore. For a while during high school I was in with a small group of friends trying to start a band. I wrote some songs and dabbled on keyboard while we all sought out the right vocal parts for each of us. Needless to say, it didn't work out. We dilly-dallied too much and never really got anywhere. I was a high-soprano in my high school choir. Never did any stage solo work, but on occasion would be pushed into doing a solo bit in class while we practiced songs. I'm not too bad, and I still love to belt it out every now and again, but only if I'm alone. I've noticed that I won't take my singing voice seriously if I feel self-conscious and purposely will not sing to my fullest potential. Guess I think I'd be showing off or I'd just make an ass out of myself :blush:

Practice scales. Warm up your voice and learn to breathe through your diaphragm. It was all stuff we did in choir [and we were number one in our state regional competition :)]. The basic 'do re mi' scaled do work and if you warm up for about ten minutes or so before actually trying to sing, your voice will cooperate with you more than if you don't warm up. To keep those vocal cords from getting scratchy, drink water and hot tea with a spoonful or two of honey to soothe them. Also, pay close attention if you're singing along to songs on the radio to what your range is. What you can comfortably sing, what you absolutely cannot reach pitch/tone, and what you could achieve with a bit of practice.

:)
WHYD'YA HAVE TO GO AND MAKE THINGS SO COMPLICATED?!
 

FFF

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I can hit the F more than an octave below middle C, and I can get an octave above middle C in falsetto. I'm not sure what that makes me... I should check.

Dunno what you mean with serious vocal music making, but as a kid I got singing lessons in the music academy and got pretty good grades. I stopped during high school (it was considered attention whoring), but recently overcame my stagefright developped in high school to sing with some of my friends on occasion. My goal is to eventually overcome my fear of the stage and be able to rock a karaoke bar ;)

As in singing seriously, I mean basically that you want to try sing, so that people actually think you sound good whether you're singing for a few friends or in front of hundreds of people.
 

Walking Tourist

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I sing in a community chorus and also in a church choir. In the past, I was in opera choruses... until the "artistic director" of the local opera company decided that he would take care of the finances, too. He bounced a few too many checks, the opera company went out of business, and he equipped himself with a one-way ticket to a warm-weather foreign island country. I suppose that check didn't bounce. The operas were fun. I've also been part of choral groups that sang with the local philharmonic orchestra.
I took voice lessons for a number of years. I started taking them because I thought that something was wrong with my voice. I was singing alto and was becoming more and more incapable of producing any low notes. After a while of taking lessons, I noticed that I was still incapable of producing low notes, even though I was developing a strong upper register. My voice teacher told me that the reason that I couldn't produce the low notes was that I was a soprano. She also told me to stop singing alto. So I did. I like singing harmony, though, so I sing second soprano.
I'm not really motivated to be a soloist although I have sung by myself in a fair number of recitals.
I like to sing classical and folk (especially Celtic) the best. Opera is always fun, too. It is so dramatic!!!
 

phoenix13

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I sing reasonably well. My claim to fame is one year of voice lessons (opera) and I play flute (breath control principles are identical).

My advice (to be taken with a grain of salt): Scales are your key to vocal control. They're the most efficient way to gain control and improve. Get a piano/keyboard/guitar and sing scales while playing along. This will help you hear whether or not you are in tune.
- Sing scales slowly without vibratto to practice things like breath control, beauty of tone, and intonation
- Sing scales fast for agility (be careful to stay in tune)
- Sing scales in thirds (do, mi, re, fa, etc.) and other intervals

Stuff to watch out for:
1) RELAX!!! :alttongue: You can't sing with a tight throat. You want to feel like you're yawning, not squeezing.
2) When you're tired, you will probably go flat. Being flat sounds worse than being sharp, so try to be sharp when you're tired. (in case you don't know: when discussing errors of intonation, "sharp" = pitch slightly higher than it should be. "flat" = pitch slightly lower)
3) Learn to breathe. If you're breathing into your upper chest and raising your shoulders, you're probably doing it wrong. Use your diaphragm. To find out how, lie down on the floor and take a deep breath. Your lower belly should expand. When you forcefully exhale, your lower belly should feel like it's trying to expand (abs are engaged). I hope that made sense...
4) Always start with a warm up. Your voice is a muscle. If you don't stretch it, your chances of damaging it are much higher. You can stretch your chords by warming up with scales.

I STRONGLY recommend taking 3 or 4 voice lessons if you're serious about singing... just so you can get the basics down. Happy singing to you!
 

StoryOfMyLife

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I sing reasonably well. My claim to fame is one year of voice lessons (opera) and I play flute (breath control principles are identical).

My advice (to be taken with a grain of salt): Scales are your key to vocal control. They're the most efficient way to gain control and improve. Get a piano/keyboard/guitar and sing scales while playing along. This will help you hear whether or not you are in tune.
- Sing scales slowly without vibratto to practice things like breath control, beauty of tone, and intonation
- Sing scales fast for agility (be careful to stay in tune)
- Sing scales in thirds (do, mi, re, fa, etc.) and other intervals

Stuff to watch out for:
1) RELAX!!! :alttongue: You can't sing with a tight throat. You want to feel like you're yawning, not squeezing.
2) When you're tired, you will probably go flat. Being flat sounds worse than being sharp, so try to be sharp when you're tired. (in case you don't know: when discussing errors of intonation, "sharp" = pitch slightly higher than it should be. "flat" = pitch slightly lower)
3) Learn to breathe. If you're breathing into your upper chest and raising your shoulders, you're probably doing it wrong. Use your diaphragm. To find out how, lie down on the floor and take a deep breath. Your lower belly should expand. When you forcefully exhale, your lower belly should feel like it's trying to expand (abs are engaged). I hope that made sense...

I STRONGLY recommend taking 3 or 4 voice lessons if you're serious about singing... just so you can get the basics down. Happy singing to you!


:nice: Good advice. I think you explained it better than I did. It didn't occur to me to maybe explain what breathing through the diaphragm meant until I read your post. [good save, good save... lol]
 

ZiL

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Yes. I was in chorus and various ensembles for years, and had solos in musicals and sang the national anthem at my graduation. Now that I've ego'd out my cred....

One piece of advice for staying in tune that I tend to keep in mind, is to always try to sing on the "higher end" of the note. Always think a little higher. Not too much, obviously, but the tendency among most is to go flat. Especially when you're tired, like phoenix said.

And definitely practice a lot. It's amazing how wide your range can get with practice. And how much you can improve your air capacity/use.
 

sleeptowin

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Yes. Though I'm still kinda working on that.

Try singing along to simple riffs you make up on your guitar, after a while you should find your comfortable vocal range. That worked for me at least... good luck!
 

runvardh

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I can hit the F more than an octave below middle C, and I can get an octave above middle C in falsetto. I'm not sure what that makes me... I should check.

Are you sure it's falsetto and not your real voice? You should check. Also, is that F the one just below the staff or up more? The difference in your answers will make you either a Tenor or a Baritone.
 

Usehername

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I don't sing well, but my sister (who is in university for a music degree specializing in vocal) consistently has the hugest range any conductor has ever seen.

She could sing lower than any tenor in her high school choir even though she was in charge of all the ultra-high soprano solos. And she's got gorgeous tone. I'm very jealous.
 

alcea rosea

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I like to sing along songs but I'm not very good at it.
I mostly sing by myself in a car when driving. :D
It's best that not many people hear me when singing. :newwink:
 

dyspraxion

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I can sing okay. I don't know exactly what notes my range covers, but if I've warmed up it's more than 3 octaves. The main thing I've worked on with my music teacher is having the confidence to sing in front of others. She asks if I have perfect pitch almost every time I see her... which I don't; I can't tell between a C or a G# just from hearing a note.
 
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