As I’ve just re-watched the lesson for the second time, so much pregnant content here, I better identified the first advice that I should straight away put into practice: work out physical exercise I’m afraid I’m a lazy one And in fact while singing I run out of breath so easily! I thought to share with you this audio I recorded last month where the main focus was getting in control of my breath support, but still couldn’t completely really get rid of this nasty “breathy effect”. The song is Molly Malone.
Don’t strive, keep the volume down for now, concentrate on the tone
Think about what are the sounds you are trying to make
I love how things link up from different worlds:
Here’s a three minute video to check from a workshop on how to do mediaeval Plainchant from a twelfth century village church on the outskirts of Oxford UK. The group launch into giving it the large one… and then the penny drops:
My understanding is that this is relative pitch, not absolute or perfect pitch, which is the rare ability to sing/name a note without reference to an outside prompt.
(The mierenneuker)
Another great lesson but it’s missing something I was hoping to see which is how to get the timing right when singing. I really seem to struggle to maintain the right rhythm and keep time if I start to sing.
Maybe this is indicative of a more fundamental problem that I have personally? I can keep time playing along with songs and other people but I can’t ever ‘count’ time in my head as I play. Is that just me?
I think it’s very common for your guitar playing to suffer a bit when you start to sing along - I’m still working on it.
I find it better to keep time by moving, rather than counting. I usually start learning to sing a new song by just strumming one chord per bar while I get the melody and phrasing right for the vocal. But I keep my strumming hand moving in time with the beat.
Then I strum all downs, and then a proper strumming pattern.
If the phrasing is complicated, I’ll do a lead sheet with the count written in on top of the vocals, so I know exactly which word comes in on which beat.
If you can keep timing while playing it might be that your internal timing is already automated and you don’t need to count anymore, if not
at the beginning to get the right tempo. I tap my foot on the beat while I practice singing without the guitar, this helps me a lot. If I’m singing along with the original I tap, sing and play air guitar too…which is a lot of fun to do
A good starting point for me…I think there are a couple items I think need some mentions
First, you have to warm up the voice before really trying to sing a melody
The do re mi sequence is good for me to do
I notice my voice actually improves, not a lot but at least hitting notes
the other item to mention is that a song strummed actually helps my ear hear the notes and be able to sing along. If I try to sing without the guitar, I sound like a terrible acapelco
I find this to be pretty important, especially if what you are singing is not right in the middle of your range. I get bored with scale-like warm ups, though. I usually just sing a comfortable song, and gradually move a capo up the neck as I continue to warm up my voice.
Also worth noting that some days singing doesn’t seem to work, and other days hitting the same notes just feels effortless. I haven’t been able to narrow down why that’s the case. I have “off days” on guitar, too, but it happens more often with vocals. If you’re having an “off day” like that don’t sweat it, and don’t strain; just come back to it another time.
I agree with what you said here. Sometimes the voice doesn’t respond. Perhaps outside factors, weather, allergies, maybe even nerves…whatever it is, the warm up is good idea, and however it is done has to help. I wish my voice was better than it is, but I imagine most of us feel that way anyway, and still fun to sing along with favorite tunes.
I think it is OK to post this here as it is about singing apps and Justin does say he is not a singing teacher.
I am taking singing lessons and use karaoke versions to practice, my teacher can correct me during the lesson. But I have been looking around for something to help outside the lessons and let me know if my pitching is anything like correct or even close.
I have come across a couple of Apps, Simply Sing and Ultimate Guitar Sing, the later would seem to have become available, very recently.
I have taken an initial subscription on each to see how they work out. First impression is that Simply Sing is probably the best App but for me the available songs are extremely limited, and not a lot of songs that I would be interested in. UG Sing says it has more than 20K which seem to be based on the “Official” version of the chords/tabs.
They both can give you a rolling screen which shows how your pitch matches the song, and give you a score at the end, based on the firsts few tries at this, I have a long way to go!
Just wondered if anybody else has tried them and what their views are, also any other similar apps.
Will spend a bit more time trying them out and pass on my further observations in due course.
Michael
PS on UG sing, there is a text box which I clicked and that says as I am one of the first to use it, tell “Alex” your experience which was positive, so I did so. but not sure if I will get a response.
The point about recording yourself is well taken, but one thing you didn’t mention is how much different your voice sounds when you hear it played back than when you just hear yourself singing. I always thought I had a fairly deep voice, but I cringed the first time I heard myself on a recording! My voice sounded much weaker and nasally. So really, it’s the recorded voice that you want to work on, because that is the voice other people are going to hear.
Also, being the engineer geek that I am, I wondered if I could check my pitch by clipping my Snark guitar tuner to the end of a long thick emery board that I use for filing my nails for classical guitar and holding it against my larynx. Voila! It works pretty darn well!
This lesson is eye-opening! Until I watched it, I swore that I would be one of those guitar players that never sings. Thanks to Justin sharing the ups and downs of his singing journey, I’m encouraged to allocate a portion of my guitar journey to finding my voice. I know that it will require a lot of hard work, however, I also know that’s the price you need to pay if you want to succeed at anything. I also believe that this will make me a better guitar player which is one of my goals.
Here’s something relevant to the topic, not mentioned by Justin, that took me a long time to discover.
Do you find it difficult to keep pitch / stay in tune singing while playing? Does it seem to you like your guitar and your voice are competing with each other? Are you using an acoustic guitar?
If so: try more fundamental sounding strings.
I have a Taylor GS Mini. It came with phosphor bronze strings. It sounds great with phosphor bronze strings. But if you’re trying to sing, and you’re not an amazing singer - the guitar playing is the company, not the star; you are (or are aiming to be!). Phosphor bronze strings have tons of overtones especially with a more modern sounding guitar like a Taylor. “Lush”, but way too complex IMO unless you’re a great singer. And if you were, you wouldn’t be here
Here’s the cheap experiment: get some 80/20 strings in whatever gauge is best for your guitar. In the US D’Addarios are about $6 a pack. Don’t care about them being called “bright”. Don’t care that they “don’t last long.” I didn’t try them for the longest time for these reasons. Put them on your guitar and try singing over them! These are the strings used in a lot of 60s and esrly 70s songs before phosphor bronze took over.
I find it a lot easier to sing on pitch with 80/20s. Another good one to try are D’Addario Nickel Bronze. Those are even more fundamental to my ear, they make my guitar sound almost like a clean electric. They last longer, but they’re a bit more expensive. And if you end up liking 80/20s, there are coated versions.
I had a few years of voice lessons many years ago when I was younger and singing in university choirs or choruses. If anyone is interested I put a video in my learning log with a small number of tips for singing. I also made and posted a video of a short major scale exercise on the guitar along with my singing on a vocal exercise that I remembered from my private lessons. Learning log - singing tips - SteveL
I’m afraid I’m a lazy one 
And in fact while singing I run out of breath so easily! I thought to share with you this audio I recorded last month where the main focus was getting in control of my breath support, but still couldn’t completely really get rid of this nasty “breathy effect”. The song is Molly Malone.
