Teach the dwarf to sing. (in 3rd person)

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dwarf

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Ok here’s dwarfs dilemma I know dwarf's not really built for singing. But dwarf would like to know how to carry a song better than he can. dwarfs vocals are weird; they are either low or outrageously high. (I mean like Ben Folds if he was a girl high) how does dwarf train his voice so that he have more mid range?

Or even how does dwarf train dwarfs voice?

Cheers.

(man I love 3rd person)
 
I have this friend

and if HE were Dwarf he would hide somewhere and sing along with his ipod, cd player, or whatever until he dropped. He would also try to match the voices that he heard (Not the ones in my head.) and he would keep getting better and better. But that's just my friend...... :D
 
I had a friend once (yes, it's true!) and he had a secret conference with his high school's chorus director wherein the Mystic Secrets To Vocal Improvement were revealed.

Eventually my friend stopped hiding and went on to become... well, not a major rock star, actually a supervisor at a bank, but he sure can sing well! (Wish I could sing like that!)

More recently, I've seen folks improve after reading Roger Love's books. But that could just be another path to the Mystical Secrets.
 
sing? nonononononono. Dwarf should scream....like this...

"AAAAAAAGGGGGHHHHHHHHHRRRAAAAAAOOOOOAAAAARRRRGGGGHHHHGETORFMYLANDARRRRROOOOOOGGGGRRRRROWOOOOOSATAAAAAAAAN"

To make sure his screaming is in tune, he should switch his TV to a dead channel, and try to match his voice to the white noise he hears.

However, if Dwarf really must insist on bringing tune to to the wonderful vocal delights he has just created, he should sing along to each key of the piano. Ensuring that correct mimicing of the highest note on the keyboard results in broken glass, dwarf should test this by singing into his kitchen cabinet.

Dwarf could do this a lot quicker however, by singing in monotone into a Digitech whammy pedel. The idea being that his foot on the expression pedal can control the pitch at which he sings with accuracy. To add to effect, the Digitech Whammy is capable of harmonies, so this will add vocal harmonies to Dwarfs repertoir aswell. With this bit of kit, not only will Dwarf become a world class singer, he will even be able to sing like that freaky opera singer in the Fifth Element. Quite a feat indeed.

In order to do this without spending good moolah on a Digitech Whammy pedal, singing along to the keys of the piano can help Dwarf get used to recognising particular notes, and also give him a good idea of what his range is, allowing him to better work on improving it. :D
 
Well dwarf is currently regreting writing his post in 3rd person, but he thanks all of you for your kind words and help.

Dwarf will try all these methods.

Dwarf would also like to hear from more people.

Dwarf sais
Cheers.
 
My friend and I wish you all the best. Keep at it. It will get better. ;)
 
Ditto...I know the feeling, I'm trying to train my voice at the moment. I've been dreading the day I have to put vocals to my stuff for years...I still havent even got to grips with singing into a microphone without going "tee hee" and clamming up like a silly schoolgirl. And as for singing itself, hopefully I'll stop losing my breath soon...I suck...

So theres a helpful hint....don't be me! :D
 
I don't know about dwarfs, but a gnome I know claims the following to be his key to success:

He wore a scarlet tunic,
A blue green hood,
It looked quite good.

YMMV.
 
Singing is like ice skating with a tuba. To ensure success, some preparation will be required :D . You need to strengthen the right muscles but you also need to practice fundamental moves to gain coordination between concept and execution. There are many books and expensive videos on the market but I think that Jamie Vendera has covered the subject well in this affordable book with free audio and video examples to aid the book on his web site.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0974941115/103-2841386-2151058?v=glance&n=283155
http://www.thevoiceconnection.com/
 
Here's a second-hand exercise from a retired opera pro.

Every note you sing incorporates both fundamental (your normal, or "chest" voice") and falsetto (the high, Monty-Python-guy-playing-an-unconvincing-woman voice). When we sing, we tend to think of the two as seperate, but there are elements of both in every note.

You probably a have about a half-octave range (for me its about A below middle C up to E above middle C) that you can easily sing in both normal voice and falsetto. That's your "break". Everyone has one, and its a common trouble zone. An exercise I'm currently doing, and which would probably help you, is this:

Pick a note in your chest voice that would be in your falsetto voice an octave up. Pick any sylable (try an "ih", I suppose). Now, slowly slide from the original pitch up to the one an octave above, and try to GRADUALLY change from head to chest voice - try to clearly flip from one to another. This is WAY harder to loud, so do it as soft as you need to in order to make it work. Do this both ways (as in, also start in falsetton on the high pitch, and slide down to the low, ending in chest voice).

This isn't a "learn to do this like a riff" thing - its literally an exercise for the muscles involved in singing. So, do it a little each day - its no good to do a lot at once, or do it for a month and quit.

Hope that made some sense...
 
i wanna retire from the opera at 25 too!

but first whats a head voice? you talk chest and falsetto but the exercise uses head too?
 
Well, guys, just signed up to this site and enjouying all the posts.

I was in the same situation as Dwarf.

I purchased a vocal training course and let me tell you it rocks. I can actualy sing in pitch now, still having problems with the hugh notes but its just a matter of practicing more. Still havn't quite got the falesetto thing worked out yet but the exercises on the CDs are very good. You can find more info on the singingsuccess web site.

Good Luck,

The CiscoKid
 
dwarf said:
Ok here’s dwarfs dilemma I know dwarf's not really built for singing. But dwarf would like to know how to carry a song better than he can. dwarfs vocals are weird; they are either low or outrageously high. (I mean like Ben Folds if he was a girl high) how does dwarf train his voice so that he have more mid range?

Or even how does dwarf train dwarfs voice?

Cheers.

(man I love 3rd person)
Click to expand...

Okay, Dwarf should purchase a keyboard. It doesn't matter what type.
Dwarf needs to sing "Nay" like a little bratty kid. The notes to sing this on are: E above Middle C through B/Bb.

And go read this thread for a ton of info I put online about singing and vocal instruction. (I studied privately for quite a while.)

https://homerecording.com/bbs/showthread.php?t=160639

For Basic breath control - get a stopwatch ($15 at your local sporting goods store), hold your breath, and see how long you can hold it. Then, every day for 3 to 5 minutes per day - do each of the following exercises.

hold your breath while timing it.
Slowly release air from your lungs while timing it.
Expel all of the air from your lungs, and instead of inhavling, hold your lungs empty while timing it.

Do each of those 3 to 5 minutes per day.

Then, each day, try to add at least 1 to 5 seconds to each. Do not move on to more time until you have added 5 seconds to all threee and can easily do it.
Then try to add more time, and keep a record of your time.

When you release the air from your lungs, make an SSS sound, and make it is light as possible.

Now, two exercises.
Yawn, then point your chin, and "jut" it out.

#1. When you yawn, it will seat the larynx in a low position. But pointing the chin, you train the muscles to hold it in this position. most untrained singers raise their larynx when they sing, and this cuts off the amount of space within the trhaot, and blocks the pasage of air.

#2. Take your tongue, reach back intoi your mouth, and touch the roof og your mouth with the tip of your tongue. While applying pressure with your tongue, drag it across the roof of your mouth, and let it slide off of your teath and out of your mouth.

Do each of tehse 250 to 500 times per day. When you are done, stick your tongue out, and clamp it lightly between your teeth. with clean hands, grab your tongue and slightly pull on it. (This helps release pressure in your tongue.)

What these exercises do, is train your tongue to lay flat while singing, train your larynx to stay low, and they help train your throat muscles to stay open for what is commonly called "open thraot" singing. (i.e., like Opera style, but it won't take you 7 years to do it.) :D


Tim
 
Hugo H said:
I had a friend once (yes, it's true!) and he had a secret conference with his high school's chorus director wherein the Mystic Secrets To Vocal Improvement were revealed.

Eventually my friend stopped hiding and went on to become... well, not a major rock star, actually a supervisor at a bank, but he sure can sing well! (Wish I could sing like that!)

More recently, I've seen folks improve after reading Roger Love's books. But that could just be another path to the Mystical Secrets.
Click to expand...


Roger Love's book is indeed very good. I have just about every vocal book and video out there these days. One of my friends has suggested I start teaching since I've put so much research and time into it. I mean, it's one of the most enjoyable thing you can do - singing makes you feel good. And I just wanted to make sure I didn't lose my voice anymore - that's whay I began training. I lost my voice because I was untrained and had picked up some bad habits. And since we are creatures of habit - I decided to replace my bad habits with good habits.



Tim



Tim
 
greenie said:
i wanna retire from the opera at 25 too!

but first whats a head voice? you talk chest and falsetto but the exercise uses head too?
Click to expand...

Err - I worded that quite badly - my voice teacher is the pro. He's considerably older than 25 ;)

Head=falsetto
Chest=normal
 
LfO said:
You probably a have about a half-octave range (for me its about A below middle C up to E above middle C) that you can easily sing in both normal voice and falsetto. That's your "break". Everyone has one, and its a common trouble zone. An exercise I'm currently doing, and which would probably help you, is this:

Pick a note in your chest voice that would be in your falsetto voice an octave up. Pick any sylable (try an "ih", I suppose). Now, slowly slide from the original pitch up to the one an octave above, and try to GRADUALLY change from head to chest voice - try to clearly flip from one to another. This is WAY harder to loud, so do it as soft as you need to in order to make it work. Do this both ways (as in, also start in falsetton on the high pitch, and slide down to the low, ending in chest voice).
Click to expand...

LfO,

there's an easier way to turn your passagio/break into a bridge.

You sing "Nay" like a little bratty kid through that range. Just sing the same scales, but don't slide the notes - just sing the actual notes as steps. That way you're not trying to slide through them. If you do that for 30 minutes a day, about 2 times per week, you'll be able to completely sing throughout that range in no time. (or if you can up it to 15 minutes per day 5 days a week, you'll have it in probably a month.)

You can also turn learn to sing any note you sing in falsetto, in full voice.


Tim
 
I learned to sing by recording myself almost every day practicing my solo set and forcing myself to listen to every terrible second of it. Eventually, I figured out how to de-emphasize the things that were making me sound bad. I don't sound good now, but at least I don't sound as bad. Oversinging is one thing I have to watch. I front a 3-piece and play guitar. Alot of the time I get all caught up in my guitar playing and my pitches can get wonkie. I have learned that changing the shape of my mouth, dropping my jaw or otherwise modifying my resonator (throat/mouth/head) I can change the pitch. I thought it was more of a timbre thing, but it can really help me when I'm singing flat.

I still hate my voice but I used to be really terrible.
 
As fate would have it dwarf is being forced into participating in the school vocal group (basically 9 guys from my year being forced into it and a shit load of old who think they have tallent...some do) SO he just gets up their with his buddy and "IL DIVO"'s it. It's actually quite funny.
 
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