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Anyone ever learned to sing?

mrcockburn

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I've always wanted to learn. I love singing, and I have an excellent pitch and sense of melody, and I can reach very high notes, but I don't have natural talent. I don't have a full rich voice, it sounds too thin and blah.

Have any of you ever taken singing lessons? Did you start off from scratch (that is, sucking balls) or were you born talented? How much did you improve?

I'm even too afraid to sing in my apartment lest an angry fat man throws a boot at my window. :D
 

Kingfisher

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i love to sing, i sing a lot throughout the day. i like to sing when i am doing things, when i am doing the dishes, or cooking, or walking to the store... i like to sing a lot when i am hanging out with people, it seems like it loosens people up.

but i never learned how to properly sing.
i think lots of practice makes you more comfortable and relaxed, and more skillful.
it would be cool to take voice lessons.
 

SecondBest

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I was kind of in a similar position you are, mrcockburn (if that's your real name), when I first started singing. It was my first week of college when I auditioned for the glee club and I barely got in. I learned as much as I could as quickly as I could, and by the end of my freshman year, I was able to join several different singing groups on campus, including, eventually, a barbershop quartet. I absolutely loved it. When I look back on my college years, easily, my happiest memories are of when I was singing. There's no purer way of expressing yourself musically, imo. My college experience could be summed up in two words: study and sing. And I also never took any voice training lessons.

If you love it, just do it and work at it. The singing ability and any technical knowledge pertaining to it will follow naturally.
 

CuriousFeeling

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I have tried the self-taught method, and while the tone of voice is good, the pitch and breath control isn't that great. If I were to get serious about singing, I would need voice lessons.
 

mrcockburn

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I have tried the self-taught method, and while the tone of voice is good, the pitch and breath control isn't that great. If I were to get serious about singing, I would need voice lessons.

Breath control's the hardest! Every time I breathe, it's my chest that expands, not my belly. Every time I force it to be my belly, I feel like I'm kind of starved of real breath. :-/

You're lucky to have a nice tone though. I think that's what's most important in being a good singer. I don't have such a full tone.
 

Such Irony

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I enjoyed singing as a child but I never got any positive reinforcement for it. I guess I was pretty lousy. My dad told me my pitch wasn't very good and my mom told me I was often off key. Eventually I just gave up on signing entirely. This person only wants to do things she feels competent at and doesn't like making a fool of myself. Now I have anxiety about singing, even when I'm all alone.

I wish my parents took the time and patience to show me how to sing properly rather than just telling me to stop. One of these days when I can afford it, I'm going to take singing lessons to show my parents that I am capable of singing.
 

SecondBest

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I enjoyed singing as a child but I never got any positive reinforcement for it. I guess I was pretty lousy. My dad told me my pitch wasn't very good and my mom told me I was often off key. Eventually I just gave up on signing entirely. This person only wants to do things she feels competent at and doesn't like making a fool of myself. Now I have anxiety about singing, even when I'm all alone.

This is the kind of thing that angers me to no end.


I wish my parents took the time and patience to show me how to sing properly rather than just telling me to stop. One of these days when I can afford it, I'm going to take singing lessons to show my parents that I am capable of singing.

YES! I fully support this! If you love to do it and you're willing to work, you can do it well. And lessons will definitely help. Just try to make sure you avoid the shitty teachers. Good luck! :)
 

mrcockburn

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I enjoyed singing as a child but I never got any positive reinforcement for it. I guess I was pretty lousy. My dad told me my pitch wasn't very good and my mom told me I was often off key. Eventually I just gave up on signing entirely. This person only wants to do things she feels competent at and doesn't like making a fool of myself. Now I have anxiety about singing, even when I'm all alone.

I wish my parents took the time and patience to show me how to sing properly rather than just telling me to stop. One of these days when I can afford it, I'm going to take singing lessons to show my parents that I am capable of singing.

Ugh I hear you about not liking to sing when alone. I'm always paranoid that neighbors outside will hear me, or passersby. (And that they'll laugh or worse, record it and put it on youtube LOL)

Do it in your car!! That's what I do. :newwink:
 

CuriousFeeling

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Breath control's the hardest! Every time I breathe, it's my chest that expands, not my belly. Every time I force it to be my belly, I feel like I'm kind of starved of real breath. :-/

You're lucky to have a nice tone though. I think that's what's most important in being a good singer. I don't have such a full tone.

Full tone usually comes from having proper breathing. Took me ages to get that idea across. When I was younger, my tone had a lot to be desired, I sounded like your typical kid that would sing off-key. I got told by a classmate that I should learn how to sing. When I was in high school, I practiced like crazy. It wasn't until college that I did a couple vocal performances... small sized ones here and there. I got positive feedback from people, which was reassuring. I have been told that my singing sounds better when I go for softer songs. I'm kind of soft-spoken in general, so the loud stuff doesn't come naturally for me. No screamo songs for me!
 

Xenon

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I've kinda had an on-and-off fantasy about learning to sing myself. I took choral music in high school, and the teacher liked my voice. She told me I was a very good alto with a nice rich and full sound. Didn't teach anything about technique though really, just kept telling us to "open your mouth and throat". The parts were pretty simple; I can't exactly sing something you'd hear on the radio and sound good.

I'm wondering what singing lessons are actually like. How do you get started? Are you given exercises, do you select songs? How quickly do you notice improvement?
 

Tiltyred

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You call up a teacher and make an appointment. The teacher usually sits at a piano and plays things for you to imitate or sing back to her. She will test your range and give you exercises to find out if you have breaks and whatever your issues are, and then give you homework. It's like learning and practicing any other instrument. You learn basic technique and you learn technique specific to your voice. The teacher selects songs for you but you may also get to pick things you want to sing. Usually, the more you practice, the better you get.
 
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