Andres @dobleA
ādo a person have to be born a singer to be able to sing in tune?ā
Unfortunately I am not in position to answer that others in the community may be able to do.
Michael
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@jkahn I would agree with others that you can sing. You donāt always have to be spot on in tune to sing in an acceptable way. Your performance of Hurt would be absolutely acceptable in a live environment. A little more practice and I suspect it would be even better.
I have always sung from a young age. Never in public or for performance but always for myselfā¦quite often to the irritation of family and friends over the years. However I was never self conscious so it didnāt stop me. I never really had the courage to sing āin publicā until I started playing guitar and recording for AVOYP here and whilst I havenāt done the Chris Liepe course (I really should) my singing has improved quite considerably from continuing to practice. One thing I have always been conscious of is listening to what is being sung and then trying to replicate itā¦from a young age it was something I did to records and whilst I donāt try to 100% replicate the vocal today I can spend a long time listening and then singing to a song to get it to sound ārightāā¦so often itās the phrasing as well as whether youāre intune which makes a difference. Certainly when practicing yourself or even performing itās imperative to be able to hear yourself singing whether thats through headphones or a monitorā¦I find it very difficult when playing live if the monitor does not provide me good feedback.
I would definitely look at some vocal training whether thats in person or virtually. I would definitely keep practicing. Probably worth realising most people have a natural ārangeā but it can be improved to a degree as others have pointed out with some training.
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A lot of people at work say āI can singā and I believe I can classify myself āabove averageā in that department. I did get better at it but it takes a while.
I didnāt do any music academy and in primary school I was considered the guy āthat could drawā while others ādid musicā. I never got the fun stuff to sing and the over-zealous teacher gave me the simplest stuff on purpose.
I developed some affinity for singing when discovering more than than the religion-related songs we got in school. I remember not being any good but I could remember vocal melodies very well and I knew when I was on the note or not. I liked to sing but also learned guitar.
I always had endless respect for people playing and singing at once.
I learned guitar here but didnāt sing over it for years and years; all of that came later, when the guitar parts were auto pilot.
Now Iām the only one left of my whole year doing something with music.
Years of NOT singing over guitar but solidifying that, made a lot of it muscle memory and it gave me the processor speed to actually LISTEN to myself when singing.
A lot of you guys started singing over their playing a lot earlier than I did. Yet I donāt feel sorry for that. I only got better at singingā¦by singing yet I always had the feeling I āhad it in me somehowā since my childhood. I donāt believe in ātalentā ( Tip: My view on the concept ātalentā ) except for some genes, most of it is hard work made fun, fueled by passion 
IF you like singing, well sing
Donāt be bitter, get better!
ā¦by singingā¦listening, recording, an occassional coaching session and trying various stuff while exploring and changing your limits.
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I agree with them 
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A trick my girlfriend (who has sung in choirs) showed me, that helped me hear my own voice when singing along with recordings or other singersā¦
Plug ONE of your ears with a finger, while singing and listening.
It really helps!
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Errā¦ thatās the talent bit 
as you say, the rest (i.e. most) of it is effective practice.
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yeah but with the genes I mean: his fingered are this or his brain happens to be 0.5% more suitable for ā¦ Just like some Central African gene pools seem to have some advantages in long distance running. The significance is often overrated
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Yes but that is from centuries at living at altitude and having to travel vast distances on foot. So yes I can see how evolution plays a part in shaping their DNA. So I would guess genes play a part but how many good singers come from generations of vocal performers. So maybe not, jury is out.
But if I sing with my Leviās or Wrangerās I sing sharp but I am to stingy to buy a larger size. My Ā£8 ASDA Comfort fit ? Yep vocals and wallet sorted. So yes jeans play a part.
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So yeah people: best advice is: SING SING SING!
Doing the miles while being self critical and apply some methods along the way.
If I can learn how to sing, you can too. Same with guitar and drawing.
LOVING it is crucial though. yearning for it and seldom have it feel like āworkā.
Jup, you get better and you CAN sing in tune for sure!
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My recommendation would be to switch monitoring on while having tour headphones plugged into the AI and just firing a song away within your voice range in the background and listening to yourself in the process whole singing. After some practice it should help you hear yourself better and keep it in tune.
Once you sort this out then there is a trick of auto piloting the guitar play so you can focus on singing bit. That also comes with practice as you probably are aware by now 
If you commute just sing your lungs off in the car while playing your favourite tunes. I have a playlist on my Spotify with all the songs I want to cover one day and I just go all in, must look hilarious from the outside to others 
I wish I was into that more when I was commuting 1hr a day each way to work, now itās about 10 mins so 2 songs is tops I can do unless I drive over to the gym later in the evening 
otherwise I just play on my wifeās nerves with all the loud singing I sometimes do
I always could hear myself and I was singing all my life mostly on my own. I was pushed a bit by my mum in my early years to go for a competition for childrenās songs couple of times and once I only lost regionals with a choir who was singing with the playback on as they knew the jury and jury thought a band has a better chances moving forward. Even though I wasnāt older than 11 yo and I sang a bloody Phil Collins and Smash Mouth songs from Tarzan and Shrek which made people shocked, after all English was not my first language
You will get there JK I am sure of it, just keep practicing
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Not sure I could sing in tune even with practice. I certainly canāt practice at home as would get laughed at!
Iām currently studying guitar / music (part time) and we have to sing intervals, pentatonic and chord tonesā¦the goal is to focus on the the note youāre about to sing and when you know the interval (root note to perfect 5th for example) then you are more likely to hit the right pitch! It takes time though but a good training (also for your playing).
Cheers
Eric
Wow, this thread blew up today! Some really good advice and stories all around.
Thanks for sharing your journey Andres. A lot to relate to for me. Although at some point I decided Iād release my covers to this community anyway.
Looking forward to when youāre ready to share that first vocal & guitar cover, Michael.
Iāve listened to quite a bit of your stuff now Jason, and I think youāre quite good. Particularly with your recent live band performances. To me, what makes āgoodā? Enjoyable timbre, on key, and good projection/tonality.
My Hurt performanceā¦ I think sometimes it can come across in text as if Iām self-bashing, but Iām not. I didnāt think it was close to good. In fact, shortly after I posted it I changed the Youtube link to āunlistedā so non-community people wouldnāt find it. Generally I donāt do that. What I was OK with in Hurt, is the timbre. It was more āmy voiceā than some of the other stuff. Wasnāt on key, though, and I canāt seem to get all 3 in single performance. The ones where Iām closer to being on the right tune, itās not my natural singing voice.
But I have got the message loud and clear - donāt want you to think Iām a moaner, or helpless case - practice and training is key to improvement.
āAbove averageā is an understatement Lieven. Iāve listened to a few of your recordings and youāre awesome. TBH it was your story that made me want to ask if it was possible to improve (and hijack the old thread). I thought - here is a guy whoās always heard the melody and been able to repeat it, who took a long time to learn to sing well. And Iām a guy that never sung on tune, played drums, and spent decades listening to rhythm heavy metal (Tool, Deftones), grunge (PJ, Nirvana), and EDM (Prodigy etc) - where vocals are not the key element. Is it even possible?
I feel a bit more like @TheMadman_tobyjennerās journey speaks to me.
Iām pretty sure that some people do have significantly more natural talent than others in singing. My kids are bloody good, without even really trying, they just have the knack for it.
Me too Adrian, thatās what Iām doing! Hoping it helps . And going to enrol in the Chris Liepe course shortly too.
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if you have subscribed you should receive email today for the summer enrolment which is opening. The email said enrolment opening 9am Mountain Time whatever time that is? I can only see hills from where I am.
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Thatās the one Iām waiting for. Was going to subscribe last week but then I got busyā¦ so fortunate timing.
Well worth it guys. Check the bundle offers that are likely to come up. You may pick up some other gems if you are lucky.
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Love how this thread is inspiring a lot of people around here!
Community at its finest! <3
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But how old are they ? Voices broken yet ?
All goes south when you start discovering āthingsā in your early teens. Thatās my excuse and Iām sticking to it. Took me nearly 50 years to grow up vocally, kind of , sort of or maybe.
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I sang like a nightingale,my mother and an old teacher still talk about it often,singing every day at the end of class,and people kept listening to me (only then)ā¦the lead in plays always , the lead role in the ending musicalā¦and then the beard came down my throat (You name that voice broken(?) 
)ā¦my parents should have castrated me ( Iām not giving you a hint JK. 
)
ā¦ 
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Jk
@jkahn
āLooking forward to when youāre ready to share that first vocal & guitar coverā
I have got two songs that I can sort of sing along with, Brown Eyed Girl and Bad Moon Rising. Need a bit more work but I have agreed with my singing teacher to take my guitar in and let her see where I need to improve. I have set myself a target of posting at least one by end of July. Working on three more where I have memorised the words, the hard part for me, and starting to work on the chords.
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