M
mark_guinn
New member
I've read that the best way to get your own "sound" is to learn imitate lots of different people. Then, when you have to sing your own stuff it comes out as a unique blend.
Also, if you are singing high (like above E or F above middle C), you are incorporating some amount of "head voice" or you are just screaming. Example: Adam Duritz from Counting Crows--he sings with a lot of head sometimes. Bono does it sometimes too and other times he pulls chest. Don't confuse the head voice w/ the falsetto, though. A lot of older singing literature referred to them as the same, but this isn't the case. The head voice is still your legit voice. It just feels "lighter" or "thinner" and will allow you to sing high w/o screwing yourself. If you keep your throat relaxed and don't let your vowels spread (don't let the corners of your mouth get any wider than they are when you just speak the word or sing it on a lower pitch), your larynx will make the adjustments automatically. It's a lot easier said than done, though. Some other examples to listen to: Jeff Buckley (in my opinion the best rock singer ever). Weezer on the song Hashpipe. You can hear him start to add chest at the end of the first phrase. I think he may start the second half of the second verse in falsetto. Sometimes it's tough to hear the difference between head voice and falsetto. There is a definite difference in feel, though, when you do it.
In singing a lot of it is semantics, though. It's really a matter of figuring out how these things feel. Once you figure out how to do it, all those terms (head, chest, light, thin, low breath, etc.) make sense. Until then, it's just confusing. It doesn't help that there are a lot of different views of how to do things. There are teachers out there that would tell you to do opposite things. It's crazy.
It's been my experience that a lot of people figure out how to do these things w/o training. The body actually knows how to sing really well. The hard part is getting out of the way. Just be sure to stop if hurts!
Wow, sorry about the long post. I'm a voice major at school, so I get kind of excited about this stuff...
Have fun,
Mark
Also, if you are singing high (like above E or F above middle C), you are incorporating some amount of "head voice" or you are just screaming. Example: Adam Duritz from Counting Crows--he sings with a lot of head sometimes. Bono does it sometimes too and other times he pulls chest. Don't confuse the head voice w/ the falsetto, though. A lot of older singing literature referred to them as the same, but this isn't the case. The head voice is still your legit voice. It just feels "lighter" or "thinner" and will allow you to sing high w/o screwing yourself. If you keep your throat relaxed and don't let your vowels spread (don't let the corners of your mouth get any wider than they are when you just speak the word or sing it on a lower pitch), your larynx will make the adjustments automatically. It's a lot easier said than done, though. Some other examples to listen to: Jeff Buckley (in my opinion the best rock singer ever). Weezer on the song Hashpipe. You can hear him start to add chest at the end of the first phrase. I think he may start the second half of the second verse in falsetto. Sometimes it's tough to hear the difference between head voice and falsetto. There is a definite difference in feel, though, when you do it.
In singing a lot of it is semantics, though. It's really a matter of figuring out how these things feel. Once you figure out how to do it, all those terms (head, chest, light, thin, low breath, etc.) make sense. Until then, it's just confusing. It doesn't help that there are a lot of different views of how to do things. There are teachers out there that would tell you to do opposite things. It's crazy.
It's been my experience that a lot of people figure out how to do these things w/o training. The body actually knows how to sing really well. The hard part is getting out of the way. Just be sure to stop if hurts!
Wow, sorry about the long post. I'm a voice major at school, so I get kind of excited about this stuff...
Have fun,
Mark