any advice on how to improve ur voice and all the vocalist stuff

[Malcolm]

hey im 15 and i love to sing, so u guys have advice on how i start, do i take lessons or what,how do i start to get a good voice?

[Captain P?l]

hey im 15 and i love to sing, so u guys have advice on how i start, do i take lessons or what,how do i start to get a good voice?

well, sing to cd's... sing along with axl... i love doing that... that really is all the training i do, but i dont really know if im a kick ass singer, my mom tells me, though: ok:

i guess singer lessons is smart, just as anyother instrument you would use...

[Malcolm]

thanks man any other advice from u guys

[Oddy]

my advice to you (even though i dont sing...at all).

get a chromatic guitar tuner, one with a microphone in it (usually for tuning accoustics).

next get a song with a really strong melody, that you have the sheet music for the vocals. Beatles songs are good.

This will only work if you can read music, but if you cant its still good to do anyway.

Sing the song slowly into the guitar tuner, and see what notes your hitting, see if you hitting the right notes, correct your voice if your not until you are reaching them. Singing's all about being in tune, anyone can sound half decent if they are in tune. And the guitar tuner does not lie.

You can try something simpler if you want, like Mary had a little lamb or something, (C D E).....but yeah lot of people think they sing songs just fine, but when you sing into a guitar tuner and see that ur hitting a note that doesnt even exist when you should be hitting an A.....you realize u need to sing it properly.........well u get the idea.

thats my input.  

[Captain P?l]

one more thing you could do. hold you finger over one ear while singing! it makes you hear yourself way better!

and the guitartuner thing was smart  

[Malcolm]

thanks man
what works better one ear or two ears

[Captain P?l]

thanks man
what works better one ear or two ears

hehe.. well, if you would like to hear the music you are singing to, 1 ear are fine...
if you wanna isolate the brain from  everything around, both  


do this while singing to a song. hold over one ear and you will hear yourself much much much clearer. its very useful! when you think you are out of tune, just hold over your ear, if you got good ears for notes, you should be able to hear if you are singing clean or dirrrty  

[TheOtherMember]

One thing you can do is - if you have a guitar - play notes on it around your range. Hold them, and try to sing them. You'll hear when you're in tune and when you're not. Play around with different notes until you can sing them quite well.

Next step - think of a note - try to sing it, and then play the note on the guitar (or whatever instrument) and see how you compare.

I can't sing for shit, but this is one way someone tried to teach me. Good luck!

[gypsy eyes]

One thing you can do is - if you have a guitar - play notes on it around your range. Hold them, and try to sing them. You'll hear when you're in tune and when you're not. Play around with different notes until you can sing them quite well.

Next step - think of a note - try to sing it, and then play the note on the guitar (or whatever instrument) and see how you compare.

I can't sing for shit, but this is one way someone tried to teach me. Good luck!

best advice too, the guitar tuner is a good idea but I'd say get something that tunes more instruments, I mean, a guitar tuner is made for those tones only and not for the sound of the human voice, I had one for guitar only and my friends that play other instruments could tune a little but it wasn't precice...at all!!! now I got one that can tune a whole fuckin orchestra lol and that does work on their instruments too, if you use it for guitar just put the thing on guitarsound and it works for guitar too so that's very practical. But if you don't have one I don't recomend you to go buy one cause those things aren't very cheap

Another idea is to get a friend involved cause you always hear your own voice different than how the rest of the world hears it. But don't go asking your mummy or your lover how your voice sound cause you do want an honest reply someone else can also compare your voice with the tone of e.g. a guitar better than yourself. A piano or a guitar are the best instruments for helping you tune, maybe a piano is even better!

If you got a tape recorder or whatever tape your own voice, again, you always hear yourself differently...listen to it and be HONEST about yourself, you can only improve if you know WHAT you ahev to change!

Next breath is VERY important, make sure you got a good breath, and I don't mean chewing gum or pepermints here
Go exercise, work out, swimming is great cause you can really test how long you can stay under water without fresh air, diving, running,... Breath through your nose, it's healthier and better for your voice, and if you breath in don't do it through your chest like most people but through your stomach, that's better for your longues and will help you keep your tone longer, it's one thing to hit the right tone, keeping it is another thing

And if you wonder if 'm just being a smartass: nope I actually do know what I'm talking about, I am a singer, fairly I'll never be on top of the world but the pubs are good enough lol and it's fun to do


ooh I remeber, to "determine" the sound of your voice: you can trick it a little, sure you can't relly change your voice but a little bit can help: for a raspy voice the obvious stuff: smoke (not good for your longues though ) and whiskey, vidka, shit like that, if you wanna keep it a bit healthy try coco...don't laugh at me, it's proven that frequently drinking chocolatemilk in the long term (not rightaway of course) ruins your voice so it may take a while but if you drink enough you'll sound rawer than Kurdt Cobain by the time you're 50
If you want a pure voice, drink lots of water to clear your airways, at least 1,5 liter per day (that sounds like a lot but it really isn't!) and suck on dryed grapes, especially raisins are very good for that...don't ask me how the hell that effects your voice but it does!

so I hope this help you a little?

[Captain P?l]

yeah... encourage people to smoke.... thats good!    
the whiskey thing i can agree with!  

one way to get an honest reply on your voice: KARAOKE!!! might just wanna ask an, almost, sober guy.. and they sell whiskey at the bar  

[gypsy eyes]

yeah... encourage people to smoke.... thats good!    

lol I was just joking
Of course I'm not saying you have to smoke or drink lol but I am serious about the coco stuff!!!

I don't smoke or drink...ok sometimes I smoke :angel:  but I do want a raw voice so...you have to know what you're doing too!!

[Captain P?l]

that coco thing is real? i actualy drank choclatmilk every day a couple of months ago.. its darn good!  
but instead i just got more hooked on coke.. (the drink.. drugs are fucked up anyway)..


coke dont raspy up the old voice... thats sad.. it just damagdes my teeth  

[D]

practice practice practice

i sing along to my fav vocalist

i use to sing like shit now i can hit almost every note low and high

before i sing i warm up by singin up scales

then i make sure i drink plenty of water

i drink about 10oz of pink lemonaide and then drink about 20 ounces or water takin a big drink of water between every song

after every 5th song ill take a big gulp of pink lemonaide followed directly by 2 gulps of water

keeps vocals loose and strong

[Captain P?l]

huhuhuhuh... gulp is a funy word!

you really do all that? watching consert's most singers dont drink between the songs!
Jhonny Solinger didnt drink water, only 1/2 bottle of beer.... and his voice was just as strong though the whole show...

and axl didnt drink after every songs, far from it...

[D]

its not an exact science

my throat probably would remain strong but i dont risk it

besides it only takes like 5 seconds to take a drink

[Jesse James]

well I believe that training your ear is maybe the most important thing.
If u know what u hear then u know what to sing
Secondly, water is really important. I did the major mistake not to have a bottle of water with me at my first live. My mouth-throat went dry and the rest is (sad) history...

[Jesse James]

huhuhuhuh... gulp is a funy word!

you really do all that? watching consert's most singers dont drink between the songs!
Jhonny Solinger didnt drink water, only 1/2 bottle of beer.... and his voice was just as strong though the whole show...

and axl didnt drink after every songs, far from it...

thats truth but when Axl is onstage he's far more cool and comfortable than you me or anyone else . Being anxious and stressed onstage is a problem that dries your neck and water is a good solution I think

[Christine]

lots of breathing from the gut.  Sing from the stomach.  Let it out, like when you shout and are mad.  Big stomach OUTS......  don't forget to breathe in between you breaks.  Be confident and don't give up.  You'll only get better as it goes.  Lots of water and practice in front of the mirror:)

BE YOURSELF.

[Jessica]

TECHNIQUE IS OF EXTREME IMPORTANCE !!!

If you like singing more than your own life, don't go screwing your vocal chords..learn how to use them by getting a singing teacher and learn how to use your solar plexus.

Use your tummy, don't chest sing all the time because it ends up sounding crap ( one needs to be capable to control the voice, for emotions), don't throat sing or you'll end up " mute", don't lift your chin up too high, you're spoiling your air coming out of your lungs, breathe in and out a lot, make sure you have plenty of good tummy muscles because you'll need these to push the sound out, especially on high notes, articulate well, it will also improve your singing, make sure your put more emphasis on the words that count in the song, the emotions will sound different and more important :

Don't just sing it, interpret it. Imagine you wrote the song and feel it.

One of the best thing one can do before even humming a song is to walk it through talking and marking rythms that way. Talk it as if you talked normally to someone and look for where you put emphasis on the words. See how you feel the words when you hear yourself aloud, talking.

If your natural voice has a rasp ( see Bonnie Tyler, Rod Stewart), then, the stomach will not change a thing to it's sound.

But if you faked having a rasp and throat sung instead, i'm affraid that it would go, and not only this, but if you didn't stop, your chords could devellop nodules and your entire voice ( singing and talking) could end up going.

There are ways to keep a rock and roll feel while singing, but this " rasp" is something natural to very few people.

All the others have either pushed on their voices, either drunk and smoked for too long.
The above damage the voice and can also be potential problems to general health later on in life.

Your old days and bones, not mine.

Meaning : your choice.

IMPORTANT : Tobbaco, drugs, alcohol, coffee, tea, coca cola, too much beef, not enough sleep, not enough water, not enough exercise do damage the vocal chords for many reasons.

NEVER go in front of an audience without warming your vocal chords for AT LEAST 30 minutes and warming your body up with exercises.

To keep a singing voice for years, you need to take care of it.
Mine is damaged because i did not respect those hygiene rules.

If you want a career, not only do you owe an audience the best of your voice, but you owe it to yourself.

Singing is JUST like story telling, never forget that.

You're telling a story to an audience.

It's your job to make them laugh or to make them cry.

If you do it well, the audience will be emotionned and you'll know you did good.

THAT WILL BE 150 DOLLARS, THANK YOU...

( JOkiiing)  

[Butch Français]

beer seems to do the trick for me!