Singing Tips?

[John Brashears]

Does anybody have some tips for improving your vocals? When it comes to singing i'm absolutely dreadful, though I'd really like to implement vocals into my music. Here's a link to show you how rubbish I am.

 

http://files.filefront.com/The+Scientist+Coverwav/;13506855;/fileinfo.html

 

(I'm the one playing the piano, oh and i'm 13 if you're wondering why I sound like a 9 yr old girl.)

 

Clearly beyond salvation, but if you guys have any tips i'd surely appreciate them. :confused:

[Pseudonym]

My advice (and this is not to sound mean or anything) is vocal lessons. You have a very good sound to your voice, and some professional help can give you skills and confidence quickly. I have been taking vocal lessons for a few months and can say it has strongly improved my vocal range, power of my voice, and most important of all, my confidence singing. I could not any higher recommend professional lessons. You would be amazed at the results.

[John Brashears]

You falsely presume I have money.

 

I've heard vocal lessons are good, though.

[Mig-El]

hey there, you actually beat me hahha I was about to make the exact same thread

I don't have a good voice, I'd like it to be softer but well the thing is that I wanna sing in a contest of my school in like 2 months, I just want some simple simple tips to practice a little and sing decently or not that horribly that day or maybe something like "drink just water" or "don't do this or that" so that I can make it. anything helps, I don't wanna improve my vocals that much.

[Eagle131]

I'm not a singer, but I've had a little bit of very basic experience. You should draw in air from your diaphragm rather than your lungs. So essentially, instead of breathing where your chest expands and shoulders move up and down, you're breathing from your stomach and making your stomach "fill with air." You can practice that to avoid "singing from your head" where you'll probably get pretty dizzy and end up seasick. My highschool music teacher also recommended drinking water and/or hot tea. Hope it helps.

[Pseudonym]

^To add to that, breathe all in your stomach. When you are laying down you don't breathe with your shoulders at all, it's all in your belly. Train yourself while singing to breathe through the stomach.

 

Also, keep your head level. The worst habit of ANYONE trying to sing is to reach their head up or forward trying to hit certain notes. That actually restricts your air flow and makes it harder. Again, TRAIN yourself to keep your head and jaw level and sing completely from your voice and don't use your face or neck muscles in the process. This doesn't mean to close up your mouth though. Open your mouth nice and wide at all time, just keep it relaxed while open, don't tense up.

 

Stand up straight, but keep your knees slightly bent, much like an athlete position. Most of all, sing out and loud with confidence. You will sound much stronger and smoother if you sing out well, restraining yourself in fear will only worsen your sound.

[andytallman]

can't put enough emphasis on proper warm up and cooldown techniques.. Make sure to spend a bunch of time warming up and not try to sing high and loud right away.. this will lead to damage..

 

Blowing Bubbles (similar to Motorboat) is a good way to warm up.. Start at a low note and work your way up.. (may also work with Girlfriend..hahaha)

maybe go 5 tones up and then back down. Then do the entire thing one tone higher.

 

Also doing a "siren" Wooooooo starting at a low tone and then going as high as you can.. can clear up your range... Make sure you're somewhat warmed up first though.l.

[Mig-El]

wow thanks that sounds good info, more tips welcome.

BTW how is it that you breath with your stomach instead of doing it with your lungs, how do you do that???

[Eagle131]

I'm sure you've done it before without ever really noticing it. I don't know if its physically possible to actually breathe by filling your stomach with air, but when you inhale, don't make your upper torso expand, make your lower torso expand.

[Pseudonym]

Try lying down and relaxing and watch how you breathe. It's mostly your belly going in and out, very little if any shoulder moment. Just try to make breathing relaxed and not a whole body effort.

[Mig-El]

I got it thanks, there's an actual difference. :)

[StephenG]

Right theres a fair few things to.

 

Break the song down, know the high notes, know the long notes, know where to take a breath and know where to take a bigger breath.

 

Know how to smoothly hit each part of the song, don't worry about things like sounding like the singer you'r doing, fake American accents for example don't work ever.

 

Find your range, find where you can comfortably sing from and too and then don't extend yourself too much. Avoid the falsetto (that thing you use to pull of high notes if you totally overshoot and just create a horrible buzzing high note or find you can't substain it)

 

Make sure you breath from your diaphram, don't sing from your nose as its terrible, I don't even know how you can sing from your nose but a lot of people seem to do it.

 

But really picture the song in your head and think of it like a karoke machine. Hit the words while thinking about the note you want to reach and you'll reach the note.

[mc_squared]

Or alternatively, find someone who can actually sing.:rolleyes:

[PianoRocker]

For men only one tip for reaching high notes: Get rid of youre balls! :laugh3:

[Pseudonym]

^perhaps the two most useful and insightful posts ever

[Mig-El]

actually they are but the first is pointless and the second is just totally imposible haha

[Pseudonym]

actually they are but the first is pointless and the second is just totally imposible haha

well...not impossible...:thinking:

 

 

 

 

:sick:

[mc_squared]

For men only one tip for reaching high notes: Get rid of youre balls! :laugh3:

 

They used to do that with certain male singers in bygone centuries. They sang "Castrato".:rolleyes:

You therefore have to wonder about the likes of Freddie Mercury, Jimmy Sommerville and Justin Squawkins............................. :lol:

[_Broken_Doll_]

I remember hearing castrati voices in history class...ouf !

 

But like everyone said, just breathe from your stomach. In choir, our teacher uses the term "breathing through the hole in your back", and for the proper jaw when singing is just to drop it.

 

And to know if your jaw is dropped, put your fingers right in front of your ears (where that little part covers the ear), and just drop your jaw. When you feel a hole there (in front of the ear), you know that your jaw is dropped comfortably.

[_Broken_Doll_]

Oh, and for high notes, don't think of them as being above your head (when singing). When you sing high notes, imagine you're aiming for something far ahead (like if you're singing in your room, don't aim the note towards the ceiling, aim it for the window).

[dkizzy]

ok, here's a tip. When singing, keep the sound concentrated in the front of your mouth, right at your two front teeth.

[Cobalt]

That doesn't even make any sense or sound actually possible to do

[mc_squared]

That doesn't even make any sense or sound actually possible to do

 

Which probably explains why you're not a singer!!:P

[Mig-El]

well...not impossible...:thinking:

well not that it's imposible to do, it's imposible to me to agrre to do that

 

heheh I liked the castrato thing hahha