Singing

I enjoy singing and would like to sing in a band im forming, however, I am unsure of my voice sometimes and I was wondering if there's any singers out there that can lend me some tips.

Sing along to songs while driving around in your car.....The best way to practice in my opinion. The more you do this, the stronger your voice will be become.

Also, drink some lemon juice before singing, it helps loosen up your vocal cords....

I just honeslty have to say to you WELL DONE on becoming a singer, there nowhere these days.....

Originally Posted by: sigment fruedI just honeslty have to say to you WELL DONE on becoming a singer, there nowhere these days.....

except emo singers... bleh!

must.....not.....give.....into.....emo......

Whew that was close, NOT!

Listen to lots of Judas Priest and Iron Maiden. Dickinson and Halford can really belt it out. So can Chris Cornell.

Yeah, Chris Cornell has one of the best voices in Rock....
Lajon Witherspoon from Sevendust has a great voice also....

Thanks for the encouragement, anyone have any exercises?

You can alway's play a note on your guitar and then sing that note. Helps train your ears......Do it the other way around to, sing a note, then play it on the guitar....

Hum along with the notes your playing....for example, play a major scale on the guitar and hum along with the notes.

All of this sounds boring, but I think it would benefit your ears and your voice.

Other than that, I don't know of any real exercises.

I do alot of singing... for me I do alot of badcompany.... Just dont hold anything back, you cant be shy at all or your sound will stutter... :)

Bad Company Rocks!

:D :D :D yeah baby...

Originally Posted by: Army_adictyou cant be shy at all or your sound will stutter... :)

this is true... my girlfriend is an amazing singer, and whenever she sings in front of large audiences of people that she doesn't know, (like when she sung at our county fair) she gets really shy and nervous, and you can tell, when it's just me and her hanging out, and there is no one else around, and I hear her sing, she sounds so much better then in front of large audiences. but she's still good on stage

mark my words, she will be famous one day, at 16 she can already sing better then half of the popular "pop" singers of today.

Originally Posted by: stolly3Thanks for the encouragement, anyone have any exercises?

dude, if you've got comcast digital cable (or even if you don't have digital cable, just have High definition, or something else, just so long as you have that cable box) then you can go on "on demand" and find voice lessons on there (you can find guitar lessons too actually ;) )

Originally Posted by: 6strngs_2hmbkrsdude, if you've got comcast digital cable (or even if you don't have digital cable, just have High definition, or something else, just so long as you have that cable box) then you can go on "on demand" and find voice lessons on there (you can find guitar lessons too actually ;) )

alas, the problems with only having 5 channels... :(

Originally Posted by: rockonn91alas, the problems with only having 5 channels... :(

that's ok, the guitar lessons were all geared towards beginners... but the voice lessons (which I've watched through 2 or 3) actually have some good excersises in them for building your voice.

I've got Time Warner digital cable. They have on demand, which channel has the lessons?

Originally Posted by: LeedoggI've got Time Warner digital cable. They have on demand, which channel has the lessons?

well, on the comcast cable, you go to "music" and then go to either guitar or voice lessons... there is no channels in the comcast on demand

Originally Posted by: 6strngs_2hmbkrsthis is true... my girlfriend is an amazing singer, and whenever she sings in front of large audiences of people that she doesn't know, (like when she sung at our county fair) she gets really shy and nervous, and you can tell, when it's just me and her hanging out, and there is no one else around, and I hear her sing, she sounds so much better then in front of large audiences. but she's still good on stage

mark my words, she will be famous one day, at 16 she can already sing better then half of the popular "pop" singers of today.

Not taking anything from your girlfriend, Im sure shes a great singer, but I can sing better than half of the pop singers today. :D

Here's a coupla exarcises:
One, breathing,
You obviously need to learn how to control your breathing when singing. To help you build some sense of control, an awareness, try this:
As you walk, breath in four steps, hold your breath four steps, then exhale four steps. As in if you can count your steps as ONE-TWO-THREE-FOUR, it's going to be IN-IN-IN-IN HOLD-HOLD-HOLD-HOLD OUT-OUT-OUT-OUT.
It's a commonly known technique. You can vary the number of steps for breath in, hold and breath out as you please.

Two, singing,
Find a place where your voice is comfortable. A comfortable pitch for you to sing without straining or forcing anything. Just sing out your most natural "lah". Then, fing that note on your guitar or piano. Starting from that note, play a one octave scale ascending and back down. If an octave is too much for you, then do five notes. The full octave would be:
do reh mi fa soh lah ti do ti lah soh fa mi reh do.
The five note thing would be:
do reh mi fah so fah mi reh do.
After the first scale, raise your starting point by a semitone. Then repeat the sequence. After a while, you'll reach a point where the upper notes are too high for your comfort. Now, stop there, and keep doing those exercises. With time , your range and reach will improve. It's a bit like weight lifting or doing press ups. At first you can only do 2, but with time you'll get to 5, 10, 20, 50, even 100.

I was given these tips by my voice coach, and they are effective. She happens to have gone to Berklee to do her voice thing, so you may want to respect her opinion (or maybe not :eek: )
Let us know if it works!