View Single Post
Old 04-18-2004, 08:11 AM   #7 (permalink)
onodrim
Cosmically Curious
 
onodrim's Avatar
 
Location: Chicago, IL
Quote:
Originally posted by Lebell

Well, if you are serious, I would take voice lessons.

Formal training will help anyone regardless of type of music being sung.

Other than that:

- use warm up excercises before you start
- always support from the mid-section
- avoid alcohol while singing, but drink lots of water
Ditto on everything Lebell said. The most important thing you can do is take lessons from someone. It really doens't matter what style you're going for, any type of singing comes out of a classical training. It's especially important with rock music that you know how to control and use your voice correctly, otherwise you'll just end up 'screaming' the notes, and your career will last about five years until your voice is gone. Your teacher would be able to give you some good warmup exercises to use, and also teach you about that 'mid section' singing, or support, Lebell mentioned. He's also right on with the alcohol point, anything that can dry out your voice, alcohol, caffeine, etc. should be avoided, and water is your best friend when you're singing. Although different things work for different people. I have friends who also study voice and they insist on drinking a Coke before each performance. When you've been singing long enough, you'll find your own good habits.

Quote:
Originally posted by balderdash111

1) PRACTICE. Especially try singing along to your favorite songs. Find the harmony part (start with songs that have someone singing harmony already and sing along). Singing harmony is harder than singing lead, and it will make you focus on the notes.
The practice idea is a good one, singing to songs you know can help you work on harmony. Another great way to really want to improve your ear, would be to join a choir. It would strengthen your voice, and you can learn a lot musically.

Quote:
Originally posted by soopafreek

halls plus. seriously.
soopafreek is right about cough drops being very helpful, but I wouldn't recommend Halls. They contain menthol which coats the throat, which is bad for singing. I swear by Riccola - no menthol, and they always save my life when I'm feeling a little scratchy. Also, tea (as long as its caffiene free) can really help clear you out and free up your voice.

A lot of great advice has already been given, and I can't think of much else to tell you at the moment, but feel free to ask me any questions you have any time.
__________________
"The world is so exquisite with so much love and moral depth, that there is no reason to deceive ourselves with pretty stories for which there’s little good evidence. Far better it seems to me, in our vulnerability, is to look death in the eye and to be grateful every day for the brief but magnificent opportunity that life provides"
-Carl Sagan
onodrim is offline  
 

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 165 166 167 168 169 170 171 172 173 174 175 176 177 178 179 180 181 182 183 184 185 186 187 188 189 190 191 192 193 194 195 196 197 198 199 200 201 202 203 204 205 206 207 208 209 210 211 212 213 214 215 216 217 218 219 220 221 222 223 224 225 226 227 228 229 230 231 232 233 234 235 236 237 238 239 240 241 242 243 244 245 246 247 248 249 250 251 252 253 254 255 256 257 258 259 260 261 262 263 264 265 266 267 268 269 270 271 272 273 274 275 276 277 278 279 280 281 282 283 284 285 286 287 288 289 290 291 292 293 294 295 296 297 298 299 300 301 302 303 304 305 306 307 308 309 310 311 312 313 314 315 316 317 318 319 320 321 322 323 324 325 326 327 328 329 330 331 332 333 334 335 336 337 338 339 340 341 342 343 344 345 346 347 348 349 350 351 352 353 354 355 356 357 358 359 360