How to sing?

spoofer

I would like to sing well. But I am embarrased to try.
What I would like to know is if there are any breathing exercises that will help me to sing better?

There is also the issue of embarrasment while singing in front of other people, but I believe that more confidence in my singing will help lessen this.
Has anyone been through this before?

commuterised

If you go to voice lessons they will teach you how to breathe properly to get the most from the voice you have and how to get more confident.
I don't know whereabouts you are but there are plenty of places you can get your voice trained. I could reccomend a few in the Wicklow/Dublin area if you are interested.

ozt9vdujny3srf

Voice training is the way to go for you

Look for someone who does voice training lessons if you wish to learn how to sing well.
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spoofer

I live in Dublin.
If you can give me names of good teachers it would be great.

All I want to do is learn to sing a few songs as well as my voice will allow. My 'turn' at parties won't be such a difficulty then.

the fnj

This thread will do better in Bands/ Musicians

spoofer

Fine by me.

I don't want people to think that this is for band work. A lot of people in bands have never had difficulty singing. I am just an ordinary Sean citizen trying to avoid further embarrasment.

the fnj

A lot of singers in bands are professionally trained too, so they would be able to give good advice, trust me you'll get better replies here.

Ronika

Hey,

I got my voice trained and its the best thing I ever did, I can actually sing now without my voice sounding like hell!!

Anywhoo I got mine done in The hollywood academy, formally Parnell school of music it was pretty good and cheap. Though I know they hired a new girl there a while back and she'd not very good but if Rachel and Hazel are still teaching I'd recommend them cos they let you sing what u want and are pretty good teachers. You dont have to sing the scales like a gobs**t

Antisocialiser

Can anyone learn to control their voice? Or do you have to be a half decent singer to start with? And if you sucked would the teacher be like there is no way i can train you to hold a note?

NeMiSiS

Im sure you would have to have some kind of musical inclination to be able to pick up pitch and tone..as in an ear for music..can you sing in key like? ..Can you pick out the key ? ..Can you tell the distance of notes apart in the scale (thats why do ray me fa so la ti was devoloped). I firmly believe there are some people in the world with absoloutly no musical ability whatsoever.

In summary : Any monkey cant sing,jesus just spend an hour in a bar where theres karoke (sp?) and those muppets who take it all relativly seriously get up and basically bite the testicles off their favourite song.

Tom

seamus

Originally posted by Antisocialiser
Can anyone learn to control their voice? Or do you have to be a half decent singer to start with? And if you sucked would the teacher be like there is no way i can train you to hold a note?

Most people who learn to play an instrument tend to get an ear for pitch, and can sing reasonably well.

IMO, what most people lack is confidence and concentration. For singing purposes, imagine you have two voices - your singing voice and your talking voice. Your talking voice is more-or-less monotone. There would be some variances in pitch for expression, but usually it sounds the same. You wouldn't sing like this. Your singing voice is the opposite. It varies in frequency and wavelength, and doesn't sound at all the same any of the time. You'd never use this voice to talk.
Your talking voice comes from your throat. Your singing voice has more power and control, which comes from your stomach (well, more like the bottom of your lungs).
Confidence is a tough one to gain. You'll always be your own worst critic. Even if you sound good, you'll detect times when you didn't do something the way you thought it should be done. If people tell you you were really good, you'll just think they were being nice. It's one of those things you just have to grin and bear. But without the confidence to put your energy into singing, it'll be harder to control, and you won't sing to your full potential.
Concentration is more when people are just kind of mumbling along, not thinking about what they are singing. If what you are singing isn't the focus, then you're obviously not going to do it properly. To sing in front of people, the distraction is nervousness. You have to block it all out and immerse.

When you get some time to yourself at home, turn a stereo up nice and loud (but not so loud you can't hear yourself), and sing your heart out. If there's no-one else in the house, then that's the confidence hurdle out of the way. Don't be doing anything else while you're singing - put everything into it. 3 or more sessions of 30 mins, per week, just singing what you want to, and soon you'll begin to gain more control over your voice. You'll also get more lung power, and probably a clearer throat. You'll soon hear yourself singing better. The important thing is the effort you put in though. A bit like physical excercise, you'll only get out what you put in.

But obviously, I'm only giving some rough pointers. A professional teacher will have better tried and tested methods. If you haven't a note in your head, it's very rare that a teacher will turn you away. Few people are completely tone deaf, and most can be taught to sing to some degree of accuracy. It also depends on what you want to do. Some teachers refuse to teahc anything but operatic technique, others are happy to train people so at least they sound good singing at parties, etc.

Incidentally, a gf of mine went to the Royal Irish Academy for voice training. She was already a fantastic singer (especially for a girl*), and this teacher wanted to get her singing operatically. But the teacher eventually gave up and refunded the cost of the entire course, saying she couldn't be trained. For the better IMO. The difference between singing and opera is all in the breathing, and I don't like opera.


*This is not a slur. It's estimated that for every man who can sing in key, at least 8 women can. So in order for a woman to do well in a proper singing career, she tends to need something particularly special. Any man who can bang out a tune though, has the potential to do well. Just look at Bono.

ferdi

i'm getting lessons at the waltons school of music, i did my first session last wednesday. its one on one, my teacher is sound.we did all these breathing excesises and excersises to help you open your jaw and throat properly. she told me to bring whatever music i want so i can pratice with stuff i'll actually use in band and such.

tip1: when you get up in the morning, dont talk first - hum. keep your tounge behind your teeth, tilt your head so its almost resting on your chest, open your mouth slightly and hum a few wee scales. this will clear your throat and wont feck up you voice, it will gently wake it up.

tip2: dont eat dairy products on the same day you plan to sing. cheese etc will leave a thin layer on you throat which will inhibit you hitting those high and low notes.