Vocal Exercises to fix pitch problems?

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I figured out one of my problems that cause me to sing out of tune and I think it's nearly exclusive to the home recording one man band scenario. Most times when I'm recording a song I am still writing it. I might have a rough idea of how I want the melody to go, but haven't really worked it out until I get up to the mic. So, naturally, not knowing what the melody is, how can I know what notes to sing. When I find that what I've got going isn't working, I stop, and figure the melody note for note based on the chords. I'll practice it while playing the melody on the guitar (not chords, just notes). That gives me targets to hit and knowing where I'm going is half the battle. Muscle memory is the other half, so practice it before getting in front of the mic.

Play the melody on the guitar and sing along hitting the correct notes. Know which notes you've got to sing.

my 2 cents....
 
GoblinInventor said:
I hate to mildly disagree with some people here, but you have to be very careful with extra muscle movement when singing. Be very conscious of strain in your throat, when singing with good technique throat strain should be very very minimal, actually your abs should start to hurt first. I am not an expert in this field, but I have been trained in classical technique, so that's my 2 cents.
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Agreed. If it hurts or there is strain, you are doing something wrong.
 
Lip rolls and tounge trills help with pitch up and down the scales. I used the free videos of Brett Mannings "Singing Success" to get an idea from youtube. I eventually went with the package and let me tell you it works like a charm. I never understood singing excercises, they are goofy but man its instant results after warming up before recording a vocal track.
 
The single best way to fix pitch problems is to practice scales. Familiarize yourself with every note in your register. Perfect pitch doesn't happen by chance. It happens by practice. The more you practice, the more you build muscle memory. The better the muscle memory, the better the recall of a note is when you need it to be there.

Use a well tuned guitar or piano as your guide.
 
Also, a note about vocal strain...

Singing, at its core, is all about moving air. Your vocal chords vibrate at different frequencies depending on the amount of air pressure you apply as air moves up from your lungs.

Singing high notes should not hurt, but you should feel *tension*. The key is to apply the right amount of tension while still letting the maximum amount of air pass through. More air, the bigger the sound. A true, head voice, big sound, high note is kind of a cheat move. It involves both moving air up through the vocal chords by force from the diaphragm (more on that below) AND tightening your vocal cords juuuuuuuust slightly to help with the frequency (more on that below too). Try this exercise...Open your mouth, close off your throat with the back of your tongue and with your mouth open and throat closed off, sing the highest note you think you can sing. There should be no air escaping your mouth - only your nose. Feel that? That's your head voice.

The air should be pushed up from your diaphragm. If you are unfamiliar with anatomy, your diaphragm is a tight, sheet-like muscle that sits at the base of your lungs. As your lungs expand and you breathe in, the diaphragm contracts (moves DOWN to allow for lung expansion). Exhaling, expelling air (the driving force for sound through vocal cords) is reflexive. In other words, it happens involuntarily. And when you exhale, the diaphragm moves UP and reduces the space available for lung expansion. Your job as a vocalist, is to control the speed and force of that reflex to manipulate the air pressure applied to your vocal cords as it makes its way out of your mouth. This is why there should be no strain to your larynx when singing high notes if you are doing so correctly. Because you create a bottleneck by doing so, leaving no opening for the air to escape. A lot of people make the mistake of thinking that their sound comes from their throat. It doesn't.

A more advanced technique which is kind of hard to explain (easier to demonstrate) is to *punch* a note. You do this by keeping air trapped below your larynx and then releasing it suddenly and controlled/shaped in a certain tone/note. Practicing that will help you to learn to "manage" your air to get the sound quality and volume that you want, when you want it - and also to get through lose long phrases.
 
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brettbuc said:
Clinch the butt cheeks. Seriously.
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Might break the drum stick but I will give it a shot.

GoblinInventor said:
I hate to mildly disagree with some people here, but you have to be very careful with extra muscle movement when singing. Be very conscious of strain in your throat, when singing with good technique throat strain should be very very minimal, actually your abs should start to hurt first. I am not an expert in this field, but I have been trained in classical technique, so that's my 2 cents.
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I don't think my throat strains - but after about 15 takes my voice gets pretty rough and scratchy - like my vocals chords are worn out. I actually like the sound but I stop cause I can't sustain notes and I don't want to injure myself.

Chili said:
I figured out one of my problems that cause me to sing out of tune and I think it's nearly exclusive to the home recording one man band scenario. Most times when I'm recording a song I am still writing it. I might have a rough idea of how I want the melody to go, but haven't really worked it out until I get up to the mic. So, naturally, not knowing what the melody is, how can I know what notes to sing. When I find that what I've got going isn't working, I stop, and figure the melody note for note based on the chords. I'll practice it while playing the melody on the guitar (not chords, just notes). That gives me targets to hit and knowing where I'm going is half the battle. Muscle memory is the other half, so practice it before getting in front of the mic.

Play the melody on the guitar and sing along hitting the correct notes. Know which notes you've got to sing.

my 2 cents....
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Chili - I have this same problem - I am often coming up with lyrics still and trying different melodies and stuff - makes it harder to flow - the guitar melody thing does help me a lot

jfavignano said:
Lip rolls and tounge trills help with pitch up and down the scales. I used the free videos of Brett Mannings "Singing Success" to get an idea from youtube. I eventually went with the package and let me tell you it works like a charm. I never understood singing excercises, they are goofy but man its instant results after warming up before recording a vocal track.
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I learned some of those too from a vocal coach - great warm-ups

triquee said:
The single best way to fix pitch problems is to practice scales. Familiarize yourself with every note in your register. Perfect pitch doesn't happen by chance. It happens by practice. The more you practice, the more you build muscle memory. The better the muscle memory, the better the recall of a note is when you need it to be there.

Use a well tuned guitar or piano as your guide.
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Yeah I really need to dedicate some serious vocal practice time in a regular basis.


Great tips from everyone!
 
QR: when you go flat, I can almost guarantee you're late forming the vowel. When the pitch wavers I can almost guarantee that your vowel placement changes. 1 mm can make a huge difference. Vocal coaching really does help. Daily practice also helps. Regular warmup, then practice singing yours and others songs.
 
Julia_B said:
QR: when you go flat, I can almost guarantee you're late forming the vowel. When the pitch wavers I can almost guarantee that your vowel placement changes. 1 mm can make a huge difference. Vocal coaching really does help. Daily practice also helps. Regular warmup, then practice singing yours and others songs.
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+1000. Right on Julia.
 
The funny thing about singing is people consistently try to do more to sing when they should be doing less. Any by less, I don't mean support it less. Look at babies and how they breathe. Also think about how they can scream for minutes and minutes without hurting themselves. It's because they know how to support. Your job as a singer is to get back to the roots of being a baby that society and bad singing advice has screwed up. Once there's that foundation, then you apply the necessary pressure to the vocal chords to produce the necessary sound.

You should know that certain types of singing quite naturally put MUCH MORE STRAIN on a voice than others. You really don't want to have NO pressure on the chords; if they're just flopping around in your throat without any tightening, it's great resonance, but it's musically stupid. So apply as much pressure as you need to, and with practice, you'll find your REAL limits before you start to hurt.

For example, as a baritone, I can sing from a low A to a high A fairly comfortably. That Bb is a stretch for me, and knowing my chords, I'm not going to LEARN to sing a Bb unless I experience a radical improvement in technique. And I do seek a radical improvement in technique, but I certainly do so to strengthen my healthy 2-octave full voice range rather than make it bigger. The size comes naturally with technique.
 
It's all about breath support dude. Do some warm ups too! there's some great one's on youtube
 
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