Anyone ever taken some vocal lessons?

[maxit]

No never, I just studied for some reason (curiosity I think) all the physiology of larinx etc and all the muscles and mechanics involved in singing, from falsetto to belting. I let you judge if it's done me well, if I still run out of voice right after the first song LoL! Go take that lessons!

[Ted]

There's some great advice in this thread.

I took vocal lessons a long time ago, and then I quit after a handful of lessons. But what I learned I still keep with me. I often wish I had stuck with it, but rarely think about doing it again.

[guitarron]

Terrific post. Thanks Tim

I'm untrained (and untrainable, lol), but there's things I've learned about singing by osmosis. Just observations from an open mic performer.

1. Anyone with a truly great voice is born with it. They can learn how to hone it, but it's either there or it isn't. Singing techniques are just peripheral improvements to what's already there. If you really can't sing, lessons will only help cover that up a bit.

2. Hardly anyone has a truly great voice. But there's nothing wrong with 'adequate'. Adequate can get you a long way. Especially if you're a singer-songwriter: delivering your own music doesn't need amazing vocal skills, and listeners allow for that as part of the 'package'. And I should f*cking know, lol.

3. Being great doesn't matter anyway. Dylan, Cohen, Nick Cave, Knopfler and Bernard Sumner (the tone deaf one from New Order) can't sing. And yet they can. They have made art from their inability and turned it into something that works in a legendary way.

4. Know your limitations. Know what you CAN'T sing and avoid it. As an example, I had to bail on a cover of '50 ways to leave your lover' recently as there was a note I simply couldn't reach without it sounding too horrible for human consumption.

5. Experience and practice. Get to know what styles and keys and ranges you're most comfortable with. Learn how to phrase things.

6. Don't be afraid to try and fail. Failing is learning.

7. Sing it like you mean it.

8. Be yourself. Be influenced, but don't try to sing like someone else or mimic what's 'fashionable'. It breaks my heart how young girls especially think they are all supposed to sound the same.

9. Have a good mic. It's only taken me 40 years to discover this.

10. Stand up. No sitting or slouching. Give it like you're properly performing.

11. Perform live. I learned SO much about my voice and performing with it from all those open mics I've done.

12. Use a capo. Most songs aren't in 'my' key. Capo on 2nd or 3rd fret usually does the trick for me.

13. Serve the song, not showing off your vocal talent.

14. Know when to belt it and when to reign it in.

15. Don't take yourself too seriously.

[Mike_S]

Terrific post. Thanks Tim

I'm untrained (and untrainable, lol), but there's things I've learned about singing by osmosis. Just observations from an open mic performer.

1. Anyone with a truly great voice is born with it. They can learn how to hone it, but it's either there or it isn't. Singing techniques are just peripheral improvements to what's already there. If you really can't sing, lessons will only help cover that up a bit.

2. Hardly anyone has a truly great voice. But there's nothing wrong with 'adequate'. Adequate can get you a long way. Especially if you're a singer-songwriter: delivering your own music doesn't need amazing vocal skills, and listeners allow for that as part of the 'package'. And I should f*cking know, lol.

3. Being great doesn't matter anyway. Dylan, Cohen, Nick Cave, Knopfler and Bernard Sumner (the tone deaf one from New Order) can't sing. And yet they can. They have made art from their inability and turned it into something that works in a legendary way.

4. Know your limitations. Know what you CAN'T sing and avoid it. As an example, I had to bail on a cover of '50 ways to leave your lover' recently as there was a note I simply couldn't reach without it sounding too horrible for human consumption.

5. Experience and practice. Get to know what styles and keys and ranges you're most comfortable with. Learn how to phrase things.

6. Don't be afraid to try and fail. Failing is learning.

7. Sing it like you mean it.

8. Be yourself. Be influenced, but don't try to sing like someone else or mimic what's 'fashionable'. It breaks my heart how young girls especially think they are all supposed to sound the same.

9. Have a good mic. It's only taken me 40 years to discover this.

10. Stand up. No sitting or slouching. Give it like you're properly performing.

11. Perform live. I learned SO much about my voice and performing with it from all those open mics I've done.

12. Use a capo. Most songs aren't in 'my' key. Capo on 2nd or 3rd fret usually does the trick for me.

13. Serve the song, not showing off your vocal talent.

14. Know when to belt it and when to reign it in.

15. Don't take yourself too seriously.

Indeed that is a teriffic post. I think I agree with pretty much everything Tim said. Ridiculous and unqualified as I feel contributing to a thread with vocal tips, one thing I have learned is sometimes the best vocal take technically, is not actually the best one for the track. So for example on my last song, I was undecided after doing a few vocal takes as to which was the best. I wasn't happy i was singing in tune. After trying a few more times, I replaced the first vocal with one that was more in tune "technically better", but the more I listened to it, the less I liked it. It has lost something along the way so I ended putting the first vocal back in warts and all. I just preferred it. That said I did one tiny edit where I was painfully out of tune on one line.

[Pete C]

Back in the 90's I started a band with a few friends - the singer had absolutely no musical experience and, to be honest, often sounded really bad. He started having lessons, but left the band. He carried on with the lessons and a couple of years later I watched him at a couple of charity events with a band he'd put together. His singing was really improved so it showed that the lessons had helped him.

[Bishmanrock]

I've had lessons with two teachers, and both were brilliant. In both cases however I wasn't hellbent about getting a teacher - for both I was biding my time, and found (either through contacts or searching through ads online) ones that matched what I was after, so having a good eye for how teachers conduct themselves in initial contact can help.

I've never tried anyone outside of these two, but I did get the impression from a lot of ads that many teachers were inflexible about their approach and aims. While I'm completely happy to be pushed out of my comfort zone and be try different styles in the name of learning and progression, what I'm less tolerant of is teachers who don't take my goals into consideration. I found many teachers who were looking to push people for competitions, which is completely the opposite of what I'd want. The fact that they seemed to be running the lessons for their set personal goals rather than the students end goal cost them my custom.

My second teacher (a friend at this point, but teacher for the sake of the post) is also very experienced in production, and came with the bonus that if there were notes I couldn't reach or styles I couldn't pull off, we could start experimenting with double tracking or harmonising my own voice to strengthen the takes. I appreciated that she wasn't elitist about having to do it in one take, and also we could work on practicing how to do those self harmonies. The other thing is she really liked my aggressive/punk voice, and would point out when I should use it for effect. 'Classic' vocal trainers would've gagged at the idea of me using such a style.

There's a lot of warm up material on YouTube and iTunes you can find which might be a good starting point to work through - start with easy scales. Don't be disappointed if you can't do the full range, that's pretty normal in finding where your voice sits. If it feels uncomfortable, stop. Try again another day - if you can push it further after practice, great. If you can't, that might be the genuine cap of your range. You can start with the basic scales and move up towards the scales that start jumping about and are more demanding on your voice.

If I'm being brutally honest, I'm not actually sure I achieved anything with my singing I couldn't have done by myself - but lessons defiantly sped up the process and avoided hours of trial and error.

[guitarron]

There's a lot of warm up material on YouTube and iTunes you can find which might be a good starting point to work through - start with easy scales. Don't be disappointed if you can't do the full range, that's pretty normal in finding where your voice sits. If it feels uncomfortable, stop. Try again another day - if you can push it further after practice, great. If you can't, that might be the genuine cap of your range. You can start with the basic scales and move up towards the scales that start jumping about and are more demanding on your voice

I need to look into this. I'm very undisciplined in my approach to vocal tracks. My warm up seems to be the tracking itself. By the time I get a good take it may become lifeless from all the repetition

[SteveB]

Great posts and advice from Tim G. & Hilary, and I've no great insight to offer, (I rank myself in the  sub-adequate but okay for my own stuff brigade. There's a lot of us here). The one thing I did get to witness and absorb though, was that as I was a mobile DJ for over a decade, and my end time overlapped with the beginning time of Karaoke ( I had to include a cheap set-up to continue to get bookings), the thing that you notice very quickly, and as Tim as pointed out, people choose the completely wrong songs to sing for their voices (They little care however as most are half-pissed), wrong key, wrong range, wrong breath-control etc God, the embarrassment on some occasions. But there you have it. Apparently, inside every non-singer, is a singer waiting to get out.