Ok, so what exactly will vocal lessons do to improve singing?

T

twangbuck

New member
Will they improve sense of pitch? range? strength of voice? all the above?
Here's my dilemma: like many here, I'm stuck recording my own demos without a singer to work with. I like my voice on some parts, but not on others. It's not even a question of range. On some higher parts I like it and on some higher parts I don't. I definitely stray from pitch in certain passages, but I wouldn't say I'm tone deaf, just a little 'pitchy.'
So what would vocal lessons do for me? At the very least I'd like to increase my range a bit without flying off pitch.
I'd go to a vocal coach and ask them, but I'd like to get a few opinions first, so I don't feel like they're just saying what I want to hear before taking my money.
Any thoughts?
 
You will work on breathing and technique, which will eventually make your vocals stronger and more on pitch.

As with any artform where your body is the instrument, it takes a good amount of body awareness to be good at it. Things like posture make a huge difference in performance, having someone who knows what they are doing watch, listen and guide you through the processes will help get you to the point where you natually and instinctively do the right thing needed to get the point across.
 
If you can hear where you are off pitch when you listen back to a recording, that's a plus.
The question for you would be are you going off pitch because:
a) you're outside your comfort zone and straining (either high or low notes)
b) you haven't memorized the song and are shakey on delivery due to uncertainty
c) you are singing louder than the background music and have lost the key and are just guessing
d) other
 
Yes, all of the above. Depending on your age, range extension is a huge part of it. As you grow older, your vocal cords naturally slack and so the high end goes away a bit. With proper breathing, technique and posture, you'll keep more or that range as you age (especially if you keep up with the vocal and breathing exercises.) If you have a vocal coach that isn't pushing you (which will often be things you don't want to hear) you probably have the wrong coach.
A vocal coach and a vocal teacher/instructor are two completely different things although they overlap. A coach is there for performance (and not just your voice, but your persona, movements, etc.) Worked with a great one in Denver in the 80s and have lost most of what I had because I went through a decade of practically no practice.
The instructor/teacher is more tuned to techniques and dynamics. You can learn a great deal from both. Start with a teacher and get the basics and then when (if) you think you have what it takes to be something bigger, go to the coach.
 
Wow great responses, thanks! To answer Ido1957's questions, it's definitely a and a little bit of b. and yeah I can definitely here on playback where I'm off, often I can tell as I'm tracking it as well. So I guess that means there's hope! As I push beyond my range that's where I go off pitch, and my range is really low to begin with. So I 'm hoping lessons would both widen my range and develop my ability to stay on pitch.
Thanks again!
 
twangbuck said:
Will they improve sense of pitch?
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Yes.
range?
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Maybe. You don't necessarily have to include range exercises in the curriculum
strength of voice?
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Yes

Vocal lessons will also spend a lot of time focusing on non-damaging technique. A lot of things untrained vocalists tend to do instinctively are pretty bad for your voice in the long run. Vocal lessons will help teach you how to get the sounds you want using strong muscle groups and resilient body parts (e.g. your abdominal muscles and sinus cavity) rather than weaker tissues and muscles (e.g. your vocal chords)
 
VomitHatSteve said:
Vocal lessons will also spend a lot of time focusing on non-damaging technique. A lot of things untrained vocalists tend to do instinctively are pretty bad for your voice in the long run. Vocal lessons will help teach you how to get the sounds you want using strong muscle groups and resilient body parts (e.g. your abdominal muscles and sinus cavity) rather than weaker tissues and muscles (e.g. your vocal chords)
Click to expand...

This is kind of alluded to in my post, but this is a very good explanation of part of what I meant by the single word "technique".
 
A great vocal coach will start with the basics - boring or not, breathing technique is essential for a better control and support of your sound. Then, he/she will set a specific program to achieve what you want. Yes, you can improve pitch, range, strenght of voice and many other things with a vocal coach. You need to work a lot at home and trust your coach if you want to improve yourself :-) ! Most of the time, students just don't listen how important the breathing technique is, and wonder WHY there's no evolution...
You can also visit my website if you want tips about singing :-) ! It is not ready yet, but you can take a look anyway : The Zen Singing

Have a nice day :-)
 
in england we don't differentiate a vocal coach from a vocal teacher, here they are the same thing and do both. I'd recommend getting someone that can push you hard, and yes breathing is important, finding the right teacher can also be hard. You may not need tuition, it really depends how good you want to be, I discoverd that I am really good at singing but from actually doing it discovered that I prefer just being a guitarist and doing nothing else, I would rather get someone else to sing for me.
 
Hi there

Agree with pretty much most of the above, but what I will say as being a Vocal Coach myself, is that far to much emphasis is put on the breathing aspect of the training. The key elements of the "art" is knowing how to use your instrument to it's fullest and with ease. Once you learn how to use the correct muscles and in the right way, the less the others will over compensate and hamper your performance.
Once this "ease" is achieved then the necessity to be breathing correctly is less important.
I can stand on my head and still climb nearly 5 octaves without breaking a sweat... no posture there ;-)
One thing that nobody has mentioned and is probably THE most common issue with a lot of vocal issues is tension. Whether it be in the tongue, in the throat, or in the neck - these are all contributory factors.
There are so many exercises for different disciplines that it would take far too long to go through them all, but suffice to say that for every issue there is a solution (presuming you don't have a medical problem of course).
Without hearing and seeing you it is impossible to tell what you are doing wrong and therefore how to correct it.

I get many singers who complain that after a run of 3 gigs their voice is weak and tired and croaky and they blame the clubs, the weather etc etc when in reality it's the weakness of their muscles and the fact that although they sound good they're not singing correctly.

I am using myself as an example because I was one of them - I was one that had to belt out songs and concentrate 100% on every note every song and felt exhausted by the end of it - Michael Bublé songs are quite challenging - however, after studying for the past few years I now have a comfortable 5 octave range in FULL voice (no crack) - I sing daily for 4/5 hours and wake up bright and breezy around 8am and before I've swung round to the edge of the bed I can "la" up through the registers to almost high C .... I couldn't have dreamed of doing this 3 years ago!

That is not even scratching the surface of course, it's a VERY complex subject and one that requires discipline and passion to get the best results.


Just two things that I wanted to mention simply to dispel any myths out there:

1) If you don't have vibrato - you can learn how to develop it - if you have vibrato but it's too slow or too fast - you can learn how to change the speed of it, if you have a nice 6 osc vibrato but it's constant then you can learn how to control it and bring it in and out whenever you wish :)

2) If you are "tone deaf" - you won't be for long. Most people I've coached have learned to sing on pitch after just 3 sessions. With a bit of concentration and hard work it can be achieved, despite many saying you have "no hope"

3) Go for your dreams... one of mine was to be able to sing Earth Wind & Fire's - Reasons, with the epic high notes by Phillip Bailey... it's an EASY song to sing now, in the right key and yes, I can do the high notes and whistles ;-)

Even if you're a good singer, you can develop and learn skills to make you a GREAT singer.... the only thing that will stop that from happening is you :)

Hope that helps some way into understanding a bit more.

Tony.
 
2 things after reading.
1. I played with a guy who sang top 40 pop and I mean everything, 6 nights a week. He also played keyboards on every song. He had incredible stamina and never cancelled a night even with a cold. He had been singing full time for 12 years by the time I met him.
2. Not everybody can sing 4/5 hours a day. How much is enough to keep your singing on point?
 
ido1957 said:
2 things after reading.
1. I played with a guy who sang top 40 pop and I mean everything, 6 nights a week. He also played keyboards on every song. He had incredible stamina and never cancelled a night even with a cold. He had been singing full time for 12 years by the time I met him.
2. Not everybody can sing 4/5 hours a day. How much is enough to keep your singing on point?
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Hi ido

In theory, given the correct training and access to the skills and knowledge on how to use the muscles correctly, then everyone has the potential to be able to sing for 4 hours a day without any excess strain on their voice. It's the same for someone who is trained, in, say, running - they would think nothing of jogging for 1 hour every day - but to the untrained, pfft, i'd be out of puff after 30 mins then need a lie down LOL !!

JDOD:

In answer to your question - it will cost what it costs, it's not some secret that I can reveal and you send payment, there are process involved whereby the student will learn new skills and new exercise which with through discipline, focus and coaching will enable those three things to be achieved, how long it takes will depend on the students learning curve and willingness to be dedicated to the program.
If you wish to discuss a free assessment then you're more than welcome to do that - I am based in the south of England but with technology I teach students in both the UK and Spain via video conferencing, it's very effective.
THE most important thing is that any coaching or rehearsals you do are in an environment where you are not overheard or interrupted - simply for the reason that most of the exercises involve making strange sounds and often at loud volumes (especially when concentrating on range expansion) so the student needs to ensure they are free to move about, stand on their head, make odd noises and have no inhibitions :)
If you have FB, feel free to "LIKE" my page: https://www.facebook.com/JayVoiceCoaching if not, then just send me an email to: jayvocalcoach@gmail.com

Tony.
 
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