Issues with hearing pitch when singing only?

[Albert Thomsen]

So, first, I'm quite new on this forum, so forgive me if this isn't quite the right place to put this. I've played piano on and off for quite a few years, and I've been quite actively learning guitar for a year and a half. By now, I'd say I'm sort of intermediate or at least average, and my listening skills in terms of pitch have increased significantly. There's only this one issue: I can't sing for ****. And I don't understand why. I love singing. In fact, when I sing, it rarely sounds /wrong/ so long as I try, and especially if there's blending music. Then it sounds almost perfect. Though, people have said that they hate my singing, that I can't sing, etc., and it's true! The moment I hear my voice played back, I really despise what's coming out. Not because of the natural displeasure you get from hearing your own voice played back, but by how awfully out of pitch it sounds suddenly. I don't understand it. Often, it helps a bit if I place a hand ten centimeters away from my face and have it reflect the sound back towards me, though I still find that the pitch sounds off? I'm 100% certain I'm not tone deaf; I've even taken multiple tests, easily scoring 100% on them. I can't play by ear, but I'm beginning to recognize chords and the sounds of certain notes as I hear them in songs, so I find this fact incredibly weird. Does anyone know why or how this could be? Any help would be much appreciated!

[Lisa Gates]

Hi Albert! Welcome! I'm thinking this is as good as place as any for your post. Feel free to post a little about you in "Introduce yourself board" as well. Members might not find you over here.

Do you want to be a singer? it sounds like your talented on the piano and guitar. Maybe stick with the instruments instead of the voice?

I'm not sure it's hearing the pitch as much as making the muscles hit the pitch you're hearing from what you describe.

If the pitch is off when cupping your had 10cm away, reflecting it back to your ear well then...you're not hitting the note you're hearing.

Have you ever considered singing lessons? Strengthening your vocal chords and using breath are so important to pitch. For example when an opera singer is on stage you rarely see them sit and cross their legs because they want their core to be upright so they can use their diaphragm to keep the breath supporting the notes.

This is just my quick take on what you've describe.

All the best,

Lisa

[Ed Driscoll]

I would highly recommend singing lessons, or at the least practicing arpeggios with your voice against a keyboard (a piano patch works great) -- or ideally both. It will quickly strengthen your intonation. Your voice is an instrument just like the  keyboard and guitar, and needs practice to improve hitting pitches dead on. Also when overdubbing vocals, I'm a big fan on the one headphone on, one headphone off approach so that I can hear my voice in the room. There are various methods you can read on the Internet for recording vocals with the music on speakers with minimal bleed into the mic, which might also be worth experimenting with to improve intonation.

[john]

The issue is probably the different ways we hear.... through the air (how we hear most things), and through the bone, which is responsible for some of what we hear of our own voice.

 

Sound travels far faster along bone than it does through air. This is because in air (a gas)  the particles are a lot further apart, than they are in bone and connecting tissue (solids). As a result sound in air is at one pitch while sound in bone is at a completely different pitch.

 

So when we hear extrernally occurring noises they only come through our ear. When we hear our own voice, it is a mix of sound through the air and sound through the bone. There are other possible causes of flat pitches, but this sounds more like general pitch perception... but only applying to your voice.

 

The issue specifically is if your brain’s pitch perception is dominated by through the bone sound, resulting in you paying too much attention to the incorrect vocal pitch.

 

The solution is ear training, but one specific to treating poor pitch perception.  You have probably seen singers doing this:

 

cup your fingers behind your ear, holding the heel of your hand towards your mouth. Hold your hand a little out from your face. This will amplify the sound coming through the sir. While holding your hand like that try these:

 

1. Start with single pitches, in the middle of your range. Move up a semi tone at a time. Go back to mid range and work down a semi tine.

2. Try major scale doing this.

3. Record a simple scale on your guitar. Then record yourself singing along without using your hand. 

4. Record yourself singing along with your hand in position

5 play them both back and notice the difference.

 

keep practising.

 

As time passes you can move the heel of your hand a little way away from your face (only if your with and without are sounding closer)

 

Practice a bunch of scales

 

Take some ear training. There is some software you can get that will help with a lot of measurement. Look up Mahesh on these boards. He’s a great vocalist and a singing teacher.

 

Good luck

 

I hope this helps