singing problems.....

[Lady_Poseidon]

i want to start singing as well as playing bass in my band but the only problem is:

1. i haven't got much confidence and dont even feel comfortable in front of the other band members and....

2. i dont think im any good anyways but i do want to try

has anyone got any tips to overcome this confidence problem??

[Bizarro]

Practice singing scales and record yourself (at home first). That's what I'm currently doing. I've moved past scales and I'll sing intervals and melodies. I'm hyper-critical about analyzing my mistakes so I know where I need to focus. I also put in songs which are in my range in my CD player in the car. I put in one ear plug so I can hear my voice really well and then I'll sing along. Practice! ;)

[rmuscat]

i obviously echo bizarro ...

on a more attitudinal point of view ... do not take yourself too seriously initially ... in the sense that if you make any mistakes etc and your mates laugh just laugh with them :D but make a mental note of the mistake ... it will make life much more easy and the process less frustrating!

this should help you handle the confidence problem.

[Malcolm]

During the gigs sing the chorus just under your breath, does several things:

To the audiance it looks like you are part of the band and enjoying yourself.
Helps you learn to sing and play at the same time.
As you get more experience let joyfull noices come from your mouth.

Been there and this is what I did.

[Los Boleros]

A little more of the same here:

Ring a low F on the bass and sing the scale from 1 to 5 and back down. F,G,A,Bb,C,Bb,A,F.
Then hit F# and do the same. move your way up the fret board until you reach you vocal limit. See how high you can go and gage yourself to see if you improve with time.

Learn a simple harmony line in your range and practice singing it with another singer in harmony.

80% of singing is confidence, If you believe you can do it, it will be a whole lot better than if you have a doubt. So what ever you sing, practice practice practice. If you can do it in the shower, you can do it in front of people too.

[sugarbee]

Yup lots of great advice here. The only thing I can really add is that there are sooooooo many people I have met who have told me they can't sing, and I always tell them that in reality, lots of self professed non-singers really underestimate themselves. You don't have to be the best singer in the world, but you need to find the level of proficiency that works for you. Voice is the same as any other instrument, ther are lots of things you can do to improve and lots of people with great ideas to help you, as we have already seen in the above posts. But since it is a sound that comes from you physically, i.e, directly from your own body lots of people have a hard time getting comfortable with their performance skills. Just find things you feel you can sing and work on that. When I was music director for a show in university and I had to audition singers I would ask them to sing happy birthday in addition to their other selections. That sounds silly, but, have you ever noticed how some people can sing that little ditty just fine until they reach the third birthday, the one that goes up an octave, and then they miss that octave and the whole thing goes out of tune? Switching between octaves takes practice sometimes and sometimes there's some sub conscious fear (I think) that you won't reach it, so people shoot lower and miss the note. There are lots of little ditties like this that you might not use to practice or dismiss their usefulness because they aren't "real" songs, but, we all know them (pretty much) so the first plus is you don't need someone to teach them to you, plus, you know what they should sound like, within reason, plus, there are always different arrangements of well known songs, so you can practice by imitation. Imitation is highly useful in this case, it has been one of the most valuable resources. try stuf like this and see what happens. Keep it simple if you have to and after a while you may be able to take it to another level!


bllaahhh..... that was a rant. Apologies to all, but smile...it's FRIDAY!:D

[IdViscous]

Beating confidence problems often tends to manifest in a complex, because someone always has a relationship with being worried about their output... The best way is to forget about it i think and just do it... but alot of complex's arise while seeing the confidence issue as an obstacle to be overcome... one could become cocky, self destructive, nihilistic, neurotic... and all these are exellent ways to flee one's problem of confidence stopping them completely and when the music reflects these attitudes interesting things happen... troubled musicians are often very ingenious musicians (but this is certainly not a necessity)... but basically confidence could be recified momentarily as an obstacle if you stop thinking about doing it and do it. Circomstances will always follow, but it is the moment of decision that authors whther your at east going to try.

[Channi]

If you are not in a hurry you may consider to join a small but ambitious choir. The choirmaster must take care of every voice or he will get the interesting effect of two people singing three-part ;-)
You will learn to listen and to control your body in order to hit the required notes exactly, to avoid to sing yourself hoarse and loads of useful stuff.
When you have mastered polyphonic music you have good reason to be confident about your voice.

[oRg]

There's an easier way to become singer in a band. What you should do is convince everyone in your bands to start playing death metal and then just totally thrash your vocals and sing really low and grunt kinda...lol...jk.

If only developing a good death metal voice was that simple. Singing death metal takes a certain amount of time, experience, and care. Alot of people think they can just start singing death metal from day one. Some people can but most can't. I've known many people who thought they could but ended up really messing up their voices. There was one guy who was getting full of himself and ended up coughing up blood...lol. I told him to drink some honey before he sang but he didn't listen. I actually developed mine about 7 years ago and have had help from a couple veteran death metal bands.

Figured I'd just add a post about death metal vocals since there doesn't seem to be too many...lol.

[DanF]

Let's see, voice...

I took voice lessons for awhile from a university professor/opera singer. Some of the highlights that I can remember are:

Warm up first, sing easy things quietly before you sing difficult things.
Pay attention to your breathing. Breathe deeply with your diaphragm.
Mouth shape/tension affects tone.
Once you have a "belly full" (as a medical person I have to put quotes around that) try to "force" the air out when you sing. Think of a bagpipe I guess - if you just try to passively sing with only as much air as needed you will have a weak sounding voice.
Finally (long list): Record yourself or find a teacher. Voice is very difficult to practice because you don't hear yourself the same way your audience will.


Anyway there's a few tips off the top of my head. The confidence stuff will have to sort itself out ;)

-Dan

[Tiger Lily]

you can have a terrible voice, and it could still work.

one of the great things about the Ramones, well the only great thing-their sound, is only there becuase they didnt know how to play their instuments, they wouldnt sing, they wouldnt fo much more then power chords, yet we love them. why? because with their terribleness and confidence, they were able to apeal to people.

If you personaly think u are capable of singing then u are, and if they dont like it, they can go die in a ditch or somehting. just let it all go.


(this all coming from Miss Tone-Deaf)

[DanF]

and if they dont like it, they can go die in a ditch or somehting. just let it all go.
(this all coming from Miss Tone-Deaf)

Well it sure wasn't coming from Dr. Phil :P

-Dan

[Tiger Lily]

dr phill is an idiot, im sorry, but NO ONE can follow is advise. i doubt Martha counts to ten before getting mad.


plus hes bald, bald people cannot be taken seriuosely.

[Bizarro]

Forum rules quote:
10. Please do your best in terms of using correct grammar and spelling.

[Tiger Lily]

Sir, yes sir!

I'll be a fixing my grammer, so I don't type bad no more.