Singing expectations?

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theabsurdman

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Recorded myself today doing "Everybody loves somebody"; not expecting to sound like Dean Martin, but ... Eck! You don't really know until you hear it played back.

I need to find some way (or some thing) I can sing or I'll have to restrict myself to just instrumentals or accompanying others.

Ain't life unkind?
 
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That's a great song to sing to ... I am learning jazz standards as well.

I just don't understand your comment ... what are you looking for? Suggestions or what people are doing?
 
You might take a few singing lessons. I did just that, and I was surprised at how well I could sing with a little coaching. It wasn't a long term thing either. Four lessons, and I improved dramatically.
 
Lessons are good. Joining a choral group is good. My only singing 'lessons' were in a long-ago high-school class of Choral Speaking. I learned much about phrasing, breathing, inflection, relative pitch, coordination, etc, and never had to actually carry a melody. (I learned that elsewhere.) Of course, if it turns out that you really can NOT sing, there's always the Rex Harrison approach: fake it.
 
Just keep singing. In 2+ years of doing almost weekly recordings for Seasons of the Ukulele, I find that my confidence in my voice has grown immensely, and that has made my singing better. You stop 'trying' to sing and learn to recognize what works for your voice, and that's key. IMHO.
 
greenie44 said:
Just keep singing. In 2+ years of doing almost weekly recordings for Seasons of the Ukulele, I find that my confidence in my voice has grown immensely, and that has made my singing better. You stop 'trying' to sing and learn to recognize what works for your voice, and that's key. IMHO.
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Very good advise. My singing instructor, or coach, as he refers to himself, told me not to try to sing like someone else.
 
Rllink said:
Very good advise. My singing instructor, or coach, as he refers to himself, told me not to try to sing like someone else.
Click to expand...

That's great advice. Maybe the problem is that I'm trying to make myself sound like Dino. Which is never going to happen. I'll try doing my own interpretation.
 
Just keep singing. My voice has made tremendous improvement over the last year or so. I've had two people I've played with comment that my voice is really quite nice. But not when I began.

Try humming when you play. And then just sing around the house when you're doing whatever. You will improve. Oh and do some youtube voice warmups. They will help.

You don't have to have a great voice to have a lot of fun singing. Confidence helps and also not caring what others think. If you got those you'll make something happen.

Oh yeah and pay attention when you sing. Don't just throw it out but wrap your voice around each word with attention.
 
Icelander53 said:
Oh yeah and pay attention when you sing. Don't just throw it out but wrap your voice around each word with attention.
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Maybe. I was going to suggest that you should feel free to not listen to your singing, or pay attention to the output. Pay attention to how you feel as you sing - the connection to your heart. That will make you into the singer you are born to be. Once you make that connection, go back to seeing what you have to do to keep that connection and strengthen it.

Icelander is absolutely right about paying attention to every word, but it may be too soon to go to that level yet. Establish the connection, then come back and clean it up. That last part never ends, as each new song presents its own challenge.

IMHO. YMMV.
 
It doesn't have to be something major. In the beginning just remind yourself that you are singing with intent. By that I mean just pay attention. I actually like to get into a song emotionally. That's when I really focus in to the best of my abilities. It's just a little attention. Over time of course you can get more complex with the notion.
 
I've been playing and singing with my ukulele group for almost two years. I thought I could carry a tune OK and improved in the time I've been there, but not long ago I started recording audio of our rehearsals (84 so far) put up on a web site for all the members (90 so far) to use for practice at home. When I heard what I sound like, I decided I'm only going to lip sync, I'm much worse than I thought. Almost fifty years of playing guitar, and now ukulele and bass has apparently not helped.
 
Rllink said:
When it comes to playing my uke, or singing, or anything for that matter, if I waited until I was good enough, I wouldn't ever do anything.
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I have to agree. "good enough" can be a relative term. I'm not a great singer, but as a music teacher in elementary schools, I had to belt out a lot of tunes with the kids. Now that I've played ukulele for 2 1/2 years and have been singing songs for me, I find that my ear is better and my voice seems a little easier to control and shape. Some people have a lot of natural talent, but any level of natural talent can be improved upon.
 
"Use the talents you possess, for the woods would be very quiet if no birds sang except the best"

I liken my voice to Bob Dylan with a bad head cold, but it's the only voice I have and I've stopped trying to sound like anyone but who I am. I do try to improve on timing and staying in tune, but the rest is just me and my God given vocal cords, for better or worse.

Here's an example to make you feel better about yours:

http://soundclick.com/share.cfm?id=12422495
 
Eyeguy said:
"Use the talents you possess, for the woods would be very quiet if no birds sang except the best"

I liken my voice to Bob Dylan with a bad head cold, but it's the only voice I have and I've stopped trying to sound like anyone but who I am. I do try to improve on timing and staying in tune, but the rest is just me and my God given vocal cords, for better or worse.

Here's an example to make you feel better about yours:

http://soundclick.com/share.cfm?id=12422495
Click to expand...
I was watching an old documentary about the anti war music in the sixties and seventies. They were interviewing Pete Seeger, and he said that the first time he heard Bob Dylan perform, he told everyone that Bob was the worst singer and guitar player that he had ever heard. Seeger said that two months later, everyone was trying to sing like Bob Dylan. There is often times more to it than hitting all the right notes at just the right time.
 
Life's two most confronting occurences

1. your teenage daughter gets her first boyfriend.

2. you hear yourself sing for the first time
 
What i try to do is play the song in a room with reasonably loud but not too loud speakers , make sure you an still hear yourself. and try to hit the same notes as the original song.
 
Although I am quite used to hearing my voice, I don't really like the sound of it. I was just trying to find a sound sample for a pitch for a spot at a local festival and I found myself not really liking the sound of most of my recordings because I was unhappy about my voice. I wasn't over impressed by my playing either as it happens yet I do get quite a lot of positive feedback on my You Tube videos.

Funny how someone who talks too much is said to "like the sound of his own voice" because most of us don't like what we hear when we first hear a recording of our voices.
 
theabsurdman said:
Recorded myself today doing "Everybody loves somebody"; not expecting to sound like Dean Martin, but ... Eck! You don't really know until you hear it played back.

I need to find some way (or some thing) I can sing or I'll have to restrict myself to just instrumentals or accompanying others.

Ain't life unkind?
Click to expand...

If you sound better than this, then you'll be fine...

 
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