Experiences from a beginners level

[FinnArild]

A couple of years ago I didn't really know how to sing. I sang and my range wasn't all that bad, but it was strong only in a small range and I was a bit wobbly on the tone. I decided that something had to be done, so I bought a couple of books on the subject (I've always been a book-study con going to courses).

The book I got the most out of was The Contemporary Singer - I can recommend this book if you're serious about singing. I bought another book "Vocal Technique: a guide to finding...." in a so-called "bundle" (a trick Amazon uses to get you to buy more books) which didn't give me any additional value.

If you just want to go ahead and try a bit, I've set up a midi file with some scales on my homepage server. This midi file is set up for my range (pushing it a couple of notes). You should set it up for your own range and add a couple of notes in the bottom and top to have something to stretch for. There should be 4 tracks in this midi file. Mute the ones you don't use.

Track 1: Warming up - Aaaah

Track 2: Working out - Oooh - Eeeh alternally two notes

Track 3: Working out between the bottom registers A-i-a-i-a-i ....

Track 4: Speednoting (my own scale). I started at 85 bpm, let's race.

There is a couple of things you should watch out for when you sing:

- The start of the note shouldn't be with closed vocal cords; "apple". This is tiring for the vocal cords Try to start it with a silent "h" in front; "(h)apple".

Whispering, coughing and "rinsing the voice" also tires the vocal cords. Try to avoid this, or do it very carefully.

You should practise regularly, but not too much or too often. I try to practise every other day (actually: mon,wed,fri) and about an hour every time. Sometimes more, sometimes less.

I experienced that training the voice isn't all like working out where you very quickly get the initial results (at least it wasn't like that for me). I did get a slight improvement at once, but I only felt the confidence and the big range adjustments after half a year of practise. I've practised for over a year now and my range and power have really improved.

[Alistair]

Great post, Finn.

I'll have to learn to sing sometime!

[hariossa]

My throat can't stand 15 minutes singing, then I cannot speak... I may last longer if I sing at a low register, bit if I try higher grounds is really painful.

and I must find a place to practice. can't do that at home..

any ideas why my throat is that bad?, I must be doing something wrong.

thanks for the info!.

[FinnArild]

My throat can't stand 15 minutes singing, then I cannot speak... I may last longer if I sing at a low register, bit if I try higher grounds is really painful.

and I must find a place to practice. can't do that at home..

any ideas why my throat is that bad?, I must be doing something wrong.

thanks for the info!.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

First of all; practise - but do not push your voice very much in the beginning. Also look at how you use your voice. Try not to start off notes with closed vocal cords - this can be hard to de-learn, but very important.

Another important thing: if it hurts; stop at once. You don't want to develop laryngitis.

Why can't you practise at home? I live in an apartment with people all around and have had no complaints - and believe me - when I try to hit the highest notes, it's not particularly beautiful.

Smoking, drinking and coffee doesn't help either. When I decided to be serious about singing, I stopped smoking (I had been smoking for 16 years).

[john]

Great stuff Finn.

Do I detect an interest in writing about Music? I could swear that looks like an article in the making;)

Cheers

John

[FinnArild]

Do I detect an interest in writing about Music? I could swear that looks like an article in the making;)

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

It's been on my mind, yes. First an english article for posting on my webpage (you know how google likes content) and which I would be happy to post here for you. Then there's a Norwegian musicians magazine which yet hasn't had a single article about singing. I thought of translating it back to Norwegian and post it there too. The money's good.

[Alistair]

Sounds like a win-win!

[hariossa]

Ok, I started to sing at a very low volume and just notes in my octave, and it feels good!, I can sing longer this way, so I'll practice just like this for some time untill I found a place where I can make more noise. In my place you can hear the neighbours farts and snores at night, so you can imagine...

Hey Finn, did you read This Book? If you don't give it a try, I read the 2003 version and it has a lot of information.

Thanks for all!

[FinnArild]

Ok, I started to sing at a very low volume and just notes in my octave, and it feels good!, I can sing longer this way, so I'll practice just like this for some time untill I found a place where I can make more noise. In my place you can hear the neighbours farts and snores at night, so you can imagine...

Hey Finn, did you read This Book? If you don't give it a try, I read the 2003 version and it has a lot of information.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

It looks interesting. Hmm ... should we have a "bookshelfstuff" ?

[euphoriamorning]

in hindsight.. its definitely took me years to really learn and be confident with my singing voice - for me - i started with speech level singing, a good way of learning to control your voice clearly and discover your true range - without resorting to falsetto. i definitely recommend looking up some literature on this practice, as it also teaches you not to strain the outer larynx muscles that aren't always required for singing - most singers do tend to strain these muscles unnecessarily - anyways thats what helped me learn articulation and control.

understanding ones vocal registers and singing through passage areas is also worth getting to know - as everyone has places where the voice jams up, suddenly shifts in quality, or even breaks - ain't nothing more discouraging!

i must admit .. i smoke like a demon though man.. but alas - rough as sandpaper vocals work for me!, ain't done me wrong.. some warmup scales and to hell i screeeeeam!