How did you learn how to sing?

[Davefan0886]

I'm just curious as to how most of you learned how to sing, was it through private singing lessons, teaching yourself, or so on. I'm thinking about taking private lessons to maybe help me out. I've been trying to teach myself and I've been able to get as far as being able to match pitches and stay on key for a little bit while singing songs. Also for those of you that have taken private lessons for voice, how much has it helped, has it helped you to improve a lot and was it worth the money invested? Thanks to any replies.

Tim

[isaac]

taught myself by reading as much as i can. make sure you read up on what to look for when you have a vocal coach so you can tell whether or not you want to pay and stick with 'em if you do decide to take private lessons.

[Appfro]

i took chorus for the better part of my life. the problem w/ official lessons is that while they teach you A LOT of good habits, they also have the tendency to make you overpronounce your words which isn't good. but i would say take lessons from someone if you got the money. i mean it really is the best way. just don't take lessons from a stuck up opra singer, take them from someone that can sing and that sing the way you would like to sing. its like getting your haircut by someone that has crappy hair, don't do it. find someon that fits the way you want to be and take lessons from them.

good luck.

oh and practice every chance you get, it'll help you develop range and endurnance.

[DreaminBassMunky]

I can't actually sing note music, I just can't for some reason. I took a short class on it over the summer, and was getting ok at it, but I really just need to work on note and pitch recognition. In the mean time I just sing as much as I can from memory.

[juineaux]

If youve sung for many years can lessons help you with making words easier to pronounce? Becuase im happy with my tone and my pitch isnt too bad, but sometimes im not even sure what I say-

[fatjack]

get lessons

[Ranting Thespian]

I posted it in a another thread. I always say this, but I guess you havn't read my other posts, so I guess here goes. 4 years ago, I was horrible at singing. *looks for people shake their heads or make a glance meaning, oh god we all know that from the million other times you've said it! Shut up!* . Anyways, it's like working out. your vocal chords are muscles. Treat them like that. Work out, excersize them. Eventualy they will get better, more flexable, and more comfortable. Just think trying to work on your singing as if you are going to take them out to the gym. And it's good to get some lessons at least. I never took official lessons, but my mom has a trained voice. She used to be great in choir. She has helped me stay on key from time to time, and tell me what I need to work on. So, don't fully rely on lessons (like what I say about guitar), but it's good to go to someone who can give you a few pointers, or tell you what you still need to work on. So, get singing .

[adrianosr]

I'm surprised no one talked about breathing yet!
I couldn't sing anything, really! I took some lessons and I learned that the essencial thing is breathing correctly.
When I started I could barely sing one octave from C-C, and now I sing 2 octaves and a even a bit more - from F-F-F-G#. It's not enough for singing Jeff Buckley but...

So, here goes:
If you lie down, with your belly up, when you breath, you probabily notice your chest rising - that's wrong breathing!! You must concentrate on leting you belly rise, instead of your chest, that's the right way - that's how babies shout so loud! It can be a little tricky at first but remember: that's how you did it when you were born!

When you master this, you should try singing a note, any note like this:
- first inhale, breathing the right way;
- Now sing, contracting your abdominal muscles, forcing the air to leave with high preassure, and relaxing your throat.
You should now be singing louder than you ever did and without forcing you throat!!
If you breath raising your chest, the only way to get volume is to contract your throat, stealing your vocal chords' flexibility. If you sing 'from your stomach' you give your chords all the freedom they need!

This should get you started, but getting some lessons would be good! You can get cheaper (free!) lessons by joining a choir!

[Appfro]

I'm surprised no one talked about breathing yet!
I couldn't sing anything, really! I took some lessons and I learned that the essencial thing is breathing correctly.
When I started I could barely sing one octave from C-C, and now I sing 2 octaves and a even a bit more - from F-F-F-G#. It's not enough for singing Jeff Buckley but...

So, here goes:
If you lie down, with your belly up, when you breath, you probabily notice your chest rising - that's wrong breathing!! You must concentrate on leting you belly rise, instead of your chest, that's the right way - that's how babies shout so loud! It can be a little tricky at first but remember: that's how you did it when you were born!

When you master this, you should try singing a note, any note like this:
- first inhale, breathing the right way;
- Now sing, contracting your abdominal muscles, forcing the air to leave with high preassure, and relaxing your throat.
You should now be singing louder than you ever did and without forcing you throat!!
If you breath raising your chest, the only way to get volume is to contract your throat, stealing your vocal chords' flexibility. If you sing 'from your stomach' you give your chords all the freedom they need!

This should get you started, but getting some lessons would be good! You can get cheaper (free!) lessons by joining a choir!

interesting. my chorus teacher never taught me that. i may have to try that.

[fatjack]

yes, but what do to when you want to sing softly?

[Trippin Hillbilly]

yes, but what do to when you want to sing softly?

shutup fatjack...he knows what he's talkin about..

you could also buy a book with those audio cd's for warmups and shite...they rock..

[adrianosr]

yes, but what do to when you want to sing softly?

Easy! You can control that by pushing your abdominal muscles less harder!
You can also do a cool thing that dave does too. If you sing the way I wrote in my last post, you'll be exhaling just the necessary air to make sound. You can try exhaling some more and you get a whispering effect on your singing. Dave does this in the stone, for example.
The trick here is to let the air flow trhough your throat freely. I think someone posted something like this, about singing as if you were breathing.
A good way to train this is to inhale (don't forget the rising belly!) and then exhale with noise - Make an 'aaaaaaahhhh' sound while you exhale. Be aware of the tension in your throat - you mustn't allow any tension here as it limits your performance. It's a little tricky but with practice you'll get there.
Once you master this, you can try allowing different quantities of air to flow out, giving you a lot of different effects. The one person I know that does this the better is lou rhodes, the lead singer of the band 'lamb', check it out it's great!
Cheers

[fatjack]

yes, but what do to when you want to sing softly?

Easy! You can control that by pushing your abdominal muscles less harder!
You can also do a cool thing that dave does too. If you sing the way I wrote in my last post, you'll be exhaling just the necessary air to make sound. You can try exhaling some more and you get a whispering effect on your singing. Dave does this in the stone, for example.
The trick here is to let the air flow trhough your throat freely. I think someone posted something like this, about singing as if you were breathing.
A good way to train this is to inhale (don't forget the rising belly!) and then exhale with noise - Make an 'aaaaaaahhhh' sound while you exhale. Be aware of the tension in your throat - you mustn't allow any tension here as it limits your performance. It's a little tricky but with practice you'll get there.
Once you master this, you can try allowing different quantities of air to flow out, giving you a lot of different effects. The one person I know that does this the better is lou rhodes, the lead singer of the band 'lamb', check it out it's great!
Cheers

easier said than done. its very similar to how most brass players develop. they usually have no control over the volume of the notes when they first start, they eventually learn how to be soft when they gain more experience

[sacdeez]

I'm just curious as to how most of you learned how to sing, was it through private singing lessons, teaching yourself, or so on.

Tim

I learned by belting songs out to the radio when I drive my car.

[isaac]

yes, but what do to when you want to sing softly?

Easy! You can control that by pushing your abdominal muscles less harder!
You can also do a cool thing that dave does too. If you sing the way I wrote in my last post, you'll be exhaling just the necessary air to make sound. You can try exhaling some more and you get a whispering effect on your singing. Dave does this in the stone, for example.
The trick here is to let the air flow trhough your throat freely. I think someone posted something like this, about singing as if you were breathing.
A good way to train this is to inhale (don't forget the rising belly!) and then exhale with noise - Make an 'aaaaaaahhhh' sound while you exhale. Be aware of the tension in your throat - you mustn't allow any tension here as it limits your performance. It's a little tricky but with practice you'll get there.
Once you master this, you can try allowing different quantities of air to flow out, giving you a lot of different effects. The one person I know that does this the better is lou rhodes, the lead singer of the band 'lamb', check it out it's great!
Cheers

easier said than done. its very similar to how most brass players develop. they usually have no control over the volume of the notes when they first start, they eventually learn how to be soft when they gain more experience

word. hard to get over wanting to blow into the mouthpiece as hard as you can.